Mother's helper

Posted: Thu, Jul 10 2008, 12:52 pm Post subject: Mother's helper

I hired a mother's helper to watch my 1 yr old daughter for the summer while I am getting some rest before the baby comes (im 36 weeks pregnant).
I'm not paying her a lot at all ($100 a week which comes out to about $3 an hour) so I guess I cant expect to get the best service but she just sits on the couch and when dd starts touching something she shouldnt be or goes into another room she gets up to bring her back in front of the couch.
How do I tell her that she should be actually playing with dd and keeping her busy instead of just watching her?
Can I expect more than what she is doing now for the price I'm paying her?
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Diamond Member Joined: Jun 24 2008 Posts: 3345

You can suggest that she take her into the playroom or play area.
For a salary as low as that I'd assume she's very young.
Can she safely watch her in a park?
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Posted: Thu, Jul 10 2008, 12:59 pm Post subject: Re: re: Mother's helper

Posted: Thu, Jul 10 2008, 1:00 pm Post subject:

you can definitely ask her nicely to play with her. while she'll rightfully want some breaks, and your daughter will need downtime--most of her time should be interacting via toys, books, etc with your child.
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Posted: Thu, Jul 10 2008, 1:01 pm Post subject: re: Mother's helper

how about a walk around the block? you can ask her to do other things with the baby, this is what a mother's helper does. make occasional suggestions. if the baby is happy, though, don't ask for too much.