Was this too much money?

[flybye023]

We were on vacation last week and my sister had asked the 12 y/o son of a friend from church to feed our cat 2 times a day, clean the litterbox, put out the garbage can on trash day, water the potted plants outside and set sprinklers on the garden. She paid him $5 a day for the 8 days we were gone, so $40 total. (he's saving up to buy an iPod or something like that)

She stopped by today to pay him but he wasn't home so she gave it to his mom who said "no that's too much, just give him $10." My sister politely refused and left the full $40 telling her friend to give him however much she feels is right. Also, we're assuming the friend had to drive her son to our house twice a day so there's some gas money involved even though they're only a couple of streets over. My sister was a little taken aback about it though and we all started wondering what would have been a fair price. We (my mom, sister and I) still think $40 was fair.

What are your thoughts?

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

I think his mother kept the money and the boy should have been paid when you saw him.

But my family is twisted like that.

I think that's a fair price. Moreover, that's what you agreed to pay him. Paying less would be dishonest, no matter what his mother says.

Might want to make sure next time you see him he got his money. Don't be accusing, just smile and tell him you left this 40 with the mother.

[MaggieTheCat]

Considering that professional pet sitters get $40 a day or sometimes even as much as $40 per visit to the house (so $80 a day for 2 visits a day) I think it's more than fair. Obviously a 12 year old is not a professional pet sitter but like you said, there was gas money involved and, what sounds like a pretty good amount of time as well so I would consider $40 a steal.

[Squeaksmyalias]

I think it's fair enough, my company charges between 15-18 PER visit.
I get $20 a day for friend's dogs.

It's teaching the kid responsibility and he is learning how to save. He did the work I don't it's fair of his Mom to change the amount he is paid, especially if he was told the amount he was going to be given before hand.

I realize the mother was just being polite by saying to give him $10 but she needs to consider the fact that this was a job for her son and he needs to be paid fairly. It might encourage him to do more side jobs and he can save money to put songs on his ipod.

[flybye023]

Well, I don't think any price was agreed on beforehand 'cause I know during our trip my mom and sister discussed payment several times. This is the price range we've paid other kids that we've had watch the cat. And even though they probably drove, it's only a 10 minute walk to their house from ours. I think my sister was even assuming he would be walking but maybe not.

The only difference this time is this boy is younger than the other kids. They've usually been 14-16 years old.

[Sonoma]

$40 sounds fair to me. I housesit for some friends, taking care of a horse, dog, and a farm full of cats. Normally get around $60 for a weekend (5 feedings total), but I have to factor in 30-miles of driving round trip for each feeding. I don't get rich doing it, but it's nice to get out of town on occasion.

[RetailWorkhorse]

Sounds fair to me.

[Dreamstalker]

I normally get $50/day for in-home stays and $15-$20 for visits (a good hour or so to play with the animals in addition to cleaning/feeding/walks).

A friend of ours once paid $20/day when she was gone for 3 weeks and then after cutting her vacation short, demanded I owed her $150 worth of walks (if you asked nicely I might have agreed; rather you assumed you had a 'credit' and declined to explain why you thought so). She had me make a few bank runs for deposits while she was away, so I know her crying poor is a load of crap.

[Crossbow]

$5 per day is perfectly fair. That's about what our friends get when they cat sit for us. And I agree with making sure the kid knows you gave his mother the money.
$10 for a week is too low.

[BookstoreEscapee]

If there was gas money involved, it was his mother's, not his (or whoever was driving him). But if the driver wanted reimbursement for that, it would be up to them to discuss it either with you or the kid (really the kid). Personally I probably would have paid more for all the chores he did (assuming he did all of them every day, but then trash usually only goes out once or twice a week, and plants might not need to be watered every day, etc.).

I would have waited and paid the kid directly, also, conisdering what the mother said. Hopefully she is not that sneaky.

[draggar]

My wife charges $25 a visit for dog sitting (usually 3 30-60 minute visits a day).

$5 a day for the child to come and check on the cats twice a day etc.. is good assuming that he didn't need a ride there (he could walk / ride his bike there) and nothing to strenuous (taking care of cats is pretty easy).

$40 would have been good pay for 8 days and would have been a nice dent in his iPod fund.

I'm thinking the mother might have been afraid to hand her son that much money - sometimes kids do get a little crazy when they see a large amount of money (maybe to him $40 was a lot?).

I hope the mother did pay him - maybe next time she sees him at church she can ask him (innocently) if he got the money.

[Jester]

If I was going to have a neighborhood kid do the chores mentioned, I would pay them $5-10 per day. I think that range is fair for a non-professional person who is, after all, a kid. There are two reasons I have ever employed children to do various things for me. One is you can pay them less, obviously, and to them it's still good money. The second is, with few exceptions, they make sure the job is done thoroughly. The WORK for their money. Hell, the best car washes I ever get are when schools are doing fund-raisers and the kids are the ones washing the cars. I see one of those going on, I almost always pull in and get the Jestermobile shined up!

I know that if I, as a 12 year old, had done some work for a neighbor, and the neighbor had dropped by with some money for me, and my mother had told the neighbor to only give me a FOURTH of the money offered, I would have been PISSED OFF at my mother.

Did you pay too much? I don't think so. Some people could argue that you may have actually paid too little, but again, this is a 12-year old, and this is not heavy labor. I say you were right on the money. Pun intended.

[flybye023]

Some people could argue that you may have actually paid too little, but again, this is a 12-year old, and this is not heavy labor.

See, that's just it. He's only 12.

I can see where there might be gas money involved but you can't tell me that the mother used $30 worth of gas just driving to our house. I've been to their house and back in under 5 minutes, driving. I would think that splitting it in half would be fine, $20 for her, $20 for him but like Bookstore Escapee said, that would be between the mother and son.

Also, she's a good woman--nothing sneaky going on. I guess if she feels he's only entitled to $10 that's okay. We were just feeling a little embarrassed to offer "so much" to a 12 year old but it seemed fair.

[Plaidman]

Decently fair. It's likely not even a full hour of work, and minimal wage is higher then five bucks. So yeah.
Very fair.

[Jester]

guess if she feels he's only entitled to $10 that's okay. We were just feeling a little embarrassed to offer "so much" to a 12 year old but it seemed fair.

Put me down as someone who thinks that it is NOT okay if Mom decides he is "only entitled" to ten bucks.

Also, there is no reason to be embarrassed, as you did not offer "so much" to him. You offered him a fair wage. Ten dollars would be a rip off. If I were that kid, and I did what he did, and got ten bucks for it, I would never be willing to do that again.

Seriously.