A woman has gone viral after revealing that a parent withheld part of her babysitting pay because she didn’t clean up the family home.
The babysitter, Paige, explained that she had been watching their son, Nick, and that the house was already in a mess when she arrived, adding that she refused to clean up after them as it was not part of her responsibility.
The parents disagreed, leading to the pay dispute.
“Hey Paige. I appreciate you watching over Nick, however I feel like I need to get it off my chest. We are very disappointed with your overall service,” the parent wrote in their first text message.
“I’m sorry?” Paige responded
“You know this isn’t our first rodeo with a nanny, so we know what should be expected. You left the house a complete disaster, dishes weren’t done, cat litter was still full,” the parent hit back.
The babysitter said she was confused by the messages as she claims she was only hired to take care of the child.
“I did what I was hired to do… take care of Nick. I wasn’t hired as a house cleaner, so why would I do any of that?” she wrote.
“We realise we made the mess Paige. However, we paid you to be at the house all day and you didn’t do a single thing,” the parent doubled down.
“We believe somebody worth watching our child should go above and beyond. And if you’re sitting down all day, the least you could do is unload the dishwasher.
“We had to come home from work and clean it all up ourselves.”
@paige_.music AM I IN THE WRONG HERE PLEASE TELL ME??! Song made on @Suno btw #babysitting #nannylife #textintosong #crazystory #musictok ♬ original sound – paige_.music
Paige then hit back saying: “Well yeah… that would make sense… considering you made the mess.”
“I really don’t appreciate your attitude. I don’t feel like you met expectations, and I feel like that is going to reflect your pay,” the parent retaliated.
The babysitter then asked whether she was in the wrong for refusing to tidy up, which prompted mixed responses online.
One person wrote that they always “went above and beyond” when babysitting and “would have cleaned the kitchen”.
Paige responded that while she understood their perspective, she explained that the house was in such a “disaster” that she worried “every time I tidied, the next time would be 10 times worse”.
“If I make a mess, I’ll clean it, but I’m not cleaning your mess,” another person argued.
Others said that it was common for babysitters to help out around the house, but that responsibilities should be discussed prior to taking on the job.
“You could definitely have a nanny who does both things, a housekeeper and childcare, but you better have discussed those expectations during the interview and pay should be worth it,” one person wrote.
Image: TikTok
