Busy mom comes up with a time-saving hack by using her babysitter for housework

For parents, especially moms, it feels like there’s a never-ending to-do list of things that just don’t get taken care of around the house, and when you do get an actual break to tackle some of these pesky home chores, you’re too tired to do them. We truly cannot do it all, without a little help. Busy mom and teacher Katrina Ivan decides to fix this ongoing issue with a perhaps genius idea.  Her idea, asking for help from her babysitter via a list of additional chores she can complete while babysitting her kids, is going viral on TikTok. But the catch is, she monetizes these chores and says they’re an “option” to do if the sitter would  like to make extra cash.

She begins her video showing all the areas in her home that need a little TLC, captioning, “I’m a working mom and some of the important things have been let go too long in the past weeks.” She shows her disorganized and dirty fridge, her toy corner, and an almost empty and a disheveled silverware drawer to start. She said she was going to stay home and clean, but she also could use a date night, so she thought this list would be a good compromise.

In her note she left the babysitter, she said she was more than welcome to hang out and watch TV after the kids went to bed, but if she wanted to make some extra money, “these jobs are up for grabs.”

She lists chore items worth $10 each, including organizing the island, organizing toys, cleaning glass mirrors and windows, scrubbing and reorganizing the silverware drawer, and sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor. For $15, the babysitter could scrub and clean the fridge, and reorganize it.  And for $3, she could vacuum the couch.

“Just let me know if you decide to do any of these and the grand total I owe you on top of the babysitting money. Thanks for being here.”

Ivan then asked her followers if this was a good idea or not and to let her know in the comments.

As a person who was basically a professional babysitter throughout college, I personally would absolutely feel obligated to do all of these chores since she left the note. I may be the most anxious person on the planet, but I’d feel like if I didn’t do them, she wouldn’t want me to come back, even though she said they were “optional.” And I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable cleaning and scrubbing a fridge for $15. People in the comments were on the same page as about her pricing, and were saying her pay offerings were too low, with one person saying, “Those are 1990 prices.”

But most people did think she had a great idea, even if the payment for the tasks were too low.

Many former babysitters even said it was an excellent idea, and they typically clean when they babysit anyway, so they’d be thrilled to be paid for the extra work.

“As someone who used to baby sit regularly for a family, I would do these little things throughout the week without being asked,” one former babysitter said. “That house would be spotless since, total, it would get me the same amount as a 5 hour shift, on top of getting paid for being there: a win, win, win,” said another.

One person commented, “Wait, I absolutely love this. I feel like parents now just expect this with babysitting, so yay for you.” A self-proclaimed “broke college student” said that as a student working full-time for free, she loves this idea.

So what did her babysitter think? She seemed thrilled according to the follow-up video. She counts down the list, looks at the camera, and smirks and nods, conveying, “heck yeah I can do this” energy.

Perhaps this trend will really take off, and babysitters can now add “home organizers” and “housekeepers” to their already shining resumes for babysitting gigs.