When does the line between family member and full time child minder become blurred?
A concerned mum has taken to popular parenting forum Mumsnet to ask if she is being unreasonable to expect her sister to pay her for childcare. Due to the flexible nature of her job, the mum would be able to offer her sister seven hours of care per day Monday to Friday, presumably until the child is ready to go to school. While we’re all for helping out your family, at what point do you have the awkward conversation about some compensation in return?
A Full Time Arrangement
Posting on the forum, the worried mum says she dreads the thought of having to talk to her sister about the issue. “My sister has told me she is pregnant,” she wrote. “I currently work from home part time in a job that is very flexible and fits around looking after my own children. My sister would want to go back to work full time after the maternity leave. We previously discussed me possibly being able to look after any potential future children due to my work flexibility, but no actual in depth details were ever really discussed.” We can totally understand the awkwardness of the situation, especially given how close the sisters are, but in addition to her part time job and caring for her own children, the mum would be taking on a huge responsibility…
Total Madness
Responses to the post highlighted the day to day challenges of taking on such a commitment. “What if you are sick? Your children are sick? You want a holiday?” asked one reply. “Your sister will benefit financially from you allowing her to go back to work with no childcare costs. Why on earth would you think that’s fair that she benefits 100 percent and you benefit 0 percent? That’s madness.” Even though the mum later clarified that her sister had offered her some money, she said that she felt guilty accepting it, but said she was determined to have a proper discussion and work out an arrangement that suits them both.
Discussions involving family and money are never easy, but we think clear communication from the start could have avoided a lot of stress for this generous mum!
In what situation would you ask for financial compensation from a family member? Tell us in the comments!
We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.
12:15 pm
11:25 pm
7:36 am
7:36 am
2:46 pm
9:16 pm
10:38 am
9:15 pm
6:13 pm
8:33 pm
11:59 am
5:14 am
10:11 pm
11:07 am
5:03 pm