By April MacIntyre Feb 3, 2009, 4:14 GMT
The line between a housekeeper and babysitter is often times blurred by expectations.
Do you expect your babysitter to clean your house too? Many do, and it set off Momlogic.com's resident blogger "Mary Poppins" to pop off on the subject.
Poppins notes: "I hate to sound greedy, but if you want me to clean your house you are going to have to pay me more than $10 an hour. In fact, even if you did pay me more, I would still not do it because I'm also watching your three kids all under the age of 5."
Is it abusive to expect a babysitter to clean the house too? Some say yes.
"I don't know what world you live in, but FYI watching three toddlers IS hard. I don't have time to steam their play clothes, mop the floors and dust the furniture. I barely have time to get their breakfast bowls in the sink by the time lunch rolls around..." says Poppins on Momlogic.
She lambasts parents who assume she will fulfill a list of chores as she watches their kids: "So please spare me the lecture that you and your husband are OCD germaphobes and you like things overly cleaned because guess what -- I'm NOT DOING IT! I refuse wholeheartedly to iron your 10-month-old daughter's socks so that they don't have wrinkles when we go for a walk. I also refuse to iron pajamas."
"When you take them to your firm's holiday party, yes. I will dress your girls in the taffeta dresses and I will iron your sons' dress shirts so they all look adorable. However, please refrain from explaining to me for the ten millionth time how you like YOUR clothes to be washed. Because again, I'M NOT DOING IT! You are seriously deranged if you think for one second I'm going to go into your and your husband's hamper and wash your clothes. Get a maid or learn how to sort your whites from your darks and press start."
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