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 Finding the right babysitter for your children can seem like such a process sometimes. It can be very difficult for parents to find someone who they trust to watch their children on the schedule that they need. The tendency is to take the first person who can meet your scheduling needs. Don’t fall into this trap. Good babysitters can make a world of difference. You can be assured that your house will be kept in order, that your kids will be safe, and that your children will actually benefit from the experience. Good babysitters add value to your children’s lives. They add one more “grown up” to model good behavior, good values and even a little bit of fun. Find a bad babysitter and they may ignore the kids, watch television and maybe even teach them a few things that you would rather them not learn. Taking the time to find a good babysitter will pay off. With online services, like Sittercity, you can even search babysitters in your local area day or night, check their references, do a background check and arrange an interview in no time. All Sittercity sitters are over the age of 17, located nationwide, and are often skilled in areas like pre-med, early childhood education, CPR, and first aid. So don’t settle for just a warm body there for your kids, take the time to find a babysitter you will love. Your children are worth it. They deserve a great babysitter and so do you. By: Beth Howland About the Author:
 Busy Life: The economy is shot. Mothers are returning to the workplace in record numbers. More and more people are having to hire Babysitters, or Nannies, to look after their children while they are at work. But did you know doing this could get you in trouble with the IRS? You still have to pay the nanny’s SSI taxes and report their monthly income! Say What? Don’t worry. I’m not talking about paying the teenager across the street 20 bucks to watch your kids for an hour. The IRS is not concerned with that chump change. But if you hire a Nanny who watches the kids full time or even part time, that person is classified as a household employee. And you’ll need to know how to handle her taxes. Household Employers: When you hire your Nanny, you become a household employer. You’ll have to pay Social Security and Medicare Tax for your Nanny. But only if their cash wages exceed the threshold amount for the year. The threshold amount is subject to change. Here’s a way to understand it better: From IRS Publication 926 “IF you…pay cash wages of $1,600 or more in 2008 to any one household employee…THEN you need to Withhold and pay social security and Medicare Taxes. The taxes are 15.3% of cash wages. Your employee’s share is 7.65%.” How To File: File Form 1040″Household Employment Taxes.” Friendly Tip: You do NOT need to pay taxes if the Nanny/Caretaker you are paying is: Your spouse, your child under the age of 21, Your parent, Any employee under the age of 18 at any time in 2008. But there is one loophole to this rule. If the employee is under the age of 18 and total cash wages are $1,000 dollars or more in any calendar QUARTER as of 2007 or 2008, you still need to pay Federal unemployment taxes for the employee. Now You Have The Smoking Gun…Use it! By: Richard Close About the Author:
Richard Close was an IRS-Hitman. He worked as a revenue officer for the IRS and his father was the head of the collections branch for 30 years; so it runs in the family. He left that behind and now he’s partnered with Tax Defense Network to help thousands of Americans with their tax problems. He gives the tips and tricks for you to fight the IRS and win! Visit him at: http://irs-hitman.blogspot.com or http://www.taxdefensenetwork.com or contact: email irs-hitman@taxdefensenetwork.com or 1-888-248-9058.
 If you are like any good parent, then the top priority on your list should be ensuring that those who are responsible for helping take care of your children need to be trustworthy. The last thing any parent wants is to hire a pedophile to watch their child while they are at work, or even a thief or any type of criminal for that matter. No one wants these kinds of influences near our children while their minds are still growing. When it comes to a nanny there should be no differences. Granted when hiring your nanny or babysitter, you probably went through hundreds of applicants, interviewed each one and then finally narrowed the search down to the point where you could introduce the child to the potential applicant to see how they get along. But did you ever stop to think that you should make sure you run a background check on them? The nanny background check of course should be the very last step of the process though, but you must remember that a nanny will be living in your home and be responsible for your children when you are not around. There have been too many instances with shaken baby syndrome or other issues relating to a nanny or au pair. The best way to make sure that they can be fully trusted is to make sure that their criminal record is completely free of anything that could be questionable and may later come back to haunt you. Furthermore, in the event that you are hiring an experienced babysitter, chances are that she has already been added to a database with known aliases and experiences with regards to being a nanny. If she has the experience, doing a background check will be so much easier as there are several major databases which build and maintain information about the world’s nannies and au pairs. Save yourself the headache of hiring the wrong person and make sure you perform a background check on your new babysitter before she is hired. By: James Dean About the Author:
 Not many things are more upsetting than discovering that your child has been abused, in any way, by your babysitter. People think that to be a babysitter means you must be a nice person. WRONG! Some of the nicest people turned out to be Serial Killers, so don’t ever give a Babysitter the benefit of the doubt. You should always ask for references. Check out the references. Make phone calls to see if the reference sounds credible, or is it a friend of the babysitter. Don’t laugh, it is easy to have a fake reference. It happens, don’t let it happen to you. An Interview is in order before actually hiring anyone for anything. See how your child feels with the new babysitter. Does he or she feel comfortable? Are they talkative? Shy? Afraid? Kids have a good “Gut” level of feeling comfortable or afraid of people. Don’t ever “force” a babysitter on your child. A good general conversation will bring out much in a potential babysitter. Make sure they will not smoke in your house, nor use your phone for personal calls. Also, make it clear that they are not expected to be on their cell phone all night long. They are there to watch your child, not to entertain guests. Well, what if you suspect that something negative is going on? Does your child freak-out when you talk about having this Babysitter come back? Has your child gone through a Personality Change since being with a certain Babysitter? Has your child ‘s eating habits changed? Is there a weight change? Any new Bruises that resemble being grabbed and/or squeezed? Nightmares? Ever hear of a “Nanny Cam”? There has been alot of media coverage lately showing how a Hidden Camera helped expose Abusive Babysitters. This is the best way to catch a person in the act, and have taped evidence to insure a conviction. You can buy either a Wired Hidden Camera, or a Wireless Hidden Camera. Either one will work fine, but it depends on your situation. Some Hidden Camera Items would be expected to have a cord hanging from them, making it easy to place anywhere. This would include items like Hidden Table Clock Cameras, or Hidden Caneras in a VCR, or a Lamp. The Wall Clock Hidden Camera is a very good choice. A Wireless Camera can often be placed in a better viewing point because it is wireless. Keep in mind that even a Wireless Camera must have a power supply. This power supply takes the form of either a “battery” or a plug in power adaptor. The thin wire from the power adaptor is easy to conceal, and it will give constant power. A battery usually only lasts about 4-5 hours, and the picture degrades quickly. The Wireless/Wired Hidden Clock Color Camera offers the best of both worlds. It houses a high resolutiuon lens, and a Transmitter. It can also be used direct wired. This type of Hidden Camera can be placed high, and out of the reach of prying eyes. Also, the Wireless Calculator Hidden Color Camera is also an excellent device. These devices are not expensive, and could save a childs life. By: Robert Nelson About the Author:
Robert Nelson is a staff writer at Spy Supply Depot, the largest Spy Supply Website on the Internet. All kinds of Hidden Cameras are shown. Feel free to visit their website: http://www.spysupplydepot.com
 Figuring out what fair babysitter rates are can seem confusing, but there are many ways to determine an appropriate hourly wage. If you are a sitter and need to determine how much to charge your families or you are a parent who needs to know what a fair rate is, it’s easy if you follow these simple guidelines. Some sitters charge as little as $3 per hour while others can charge as much as $20 per hour. The appropriate rate for babysitting services depends on five factors: 1) Age/amount of experience of the sitter 2) Your location 3) Number of children/pets 4) Age of children 5) Time of job/level of care expectation Most babysitters are teenagers ranging in age from 12-22. Going on age alone, normal rates for individuals aging 11-14 are $3-$5 per hour, adding $1 per hour per child. This rate increases by about $1 to $2 for teenagers aging 15-16 and then jumps to $8-$12 per hour for those who are 17 years-old and older and who have experience. Some individuals have CPR and first aid training, and these added skills allow the babysitter to charge more. Your location also has a significant amount of influence on the rate. If you live in a large city, you can expect to pay a few dollars more per hour than individuals living 50 miles or more outside of an urban center. The farther out you live, the more the rates will change. The number of children and their ages play a large role. It is a general rule to pay $1 more per hour per child, but if you have three kids under the age of five, you might be expected to pay a slightly higher rate because they require more attention. Pet care should also be considered in the price if you are going to ask the sitter to groom, walk, or feed your dog or cat. Lastly, the length of the job and the duties you expect your sitter to complete also go into the price. If you need the babysitter to drive the kids to a birthday party, want her to take them to a movie, or fix dinner, you need to compensate for her time accordingly. Reimburse her for any expenses and extra duties you ask of her. Considering these above guidelines, here are two extreme examples. If a 12-year-old sitter were watching your 6-year-old for three hours on a weekend afternoon in a rural area, it would be appropriate to pay her $4 per hour. On the other hand, if you have three children, live in New York City, and hire a CPR-trained college student from the hours of 6 PM to 2 AM, expect to pay her around $15-$20 per hour. If you still are unsure, try to ask other mothers living in your neighborhood what they pay for their babysitter. Always talk to the sitter before she sits for you to determine her babysitting rates so that you can both come to an agreement on something that is fair. By: Jane Worthington About the Author:
If you would like more information about how to how much to pay a babysitter [http://www.ebabysitters.com/babysitter-rates.html] or typical babysitter rates [http://www.ebabysitters.com/babysitter-rates.html], please visit the eBabysitters website.
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