People cannot seriously be equating babysitting to a 9 to 5 job. Employee theft?

If they want to equate this with a ‘job’ then I’m sure those people are paying sitters at least minimum wage, social security and Medicare taxes, sending them a 1099, etc., right?

YTA people need to chill. I've never had issues with this and have worked for many families (nanny and baby sitting). Did I gorge myself on their food? No. Did eat with the kids and maybe had a little dessert when the kids went to bed? Yes. At least Midwest culture is ‘help yourself to whatever’ and then be respectful about how much and what you eat.

Yikes... these hardline "YTA" folks must be maga'ts. Let 'em go find their own kind to babysit their spawns next time.

Wtf are those people telling her that she js stealing? Seriously? They have some twisted idea over what a babysitter is and does. Amy and all of our babysitters were always told that they could help themselves to anything in the kitchen, just to jot it down on the shopping list (we have a whiteboard to note down all food shopping we need), if they finished any item. ...... Babysitting isn't a recognised employable role anyway, with set wages/benefits. Its a favour for a family with children, in exchange for payment..be that in money or food. If you trust someone enough to watch your children, you should also trust them enough to know that they may need sustenance during that time. Caring for children can be challenging!

I can't conceive of someone being barred from eating when they are feeding my kids in my home, it's just plain rude not to include them. They are not servants or slaves. All the UTA comments bother me, they intrinsically view a fellow human being as being somehow lesser and find it perfectly okay to have them hungry and salivating in front of what is plenty of food for everyone. My heart can't imagine putting anyone through something like that.

Here's my take on this. Babysitting isn't just a job. When you hire a babysitter, you are hiring someone to be friendly to your kids and care for them when you're away. These kids develop an attachment to the babysitter, and treat her as a friend or another parent. So, here's the question. If your kid had a friend over, would you have your kids eat and not the friend?

I thin I would have accepted 1 more job, and showed up with a meal, beverages, my own table and chair, water, shoe covers, gloves, a permission slip to use their toilet, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer. When I babysat, I had parents upset I didn't fix myself a meal and that I washed up afterwards .

Those cheapskates saying YTA have unhappy sitters. Food = happy baby sitter. Happy baby sitter = happy kids. Get it, tightwads?

The YTA people are the type who would go to lunch with you, then send you a Venmo request of $0.25 because you ate the last mozzarella stick they said they didn't want.

I babysat a lot as a kid, if it was over dinner I was always provided with some. As a parent, I do not want some hangry person looking after my child, and sitting down eating as a household is a great example to set.

Omg, that’s entitled AF! So, what if the babysitter happened to have low blood glucose … do they expect her to wait until they’re home before she goes into hypoglycaemic crisis, FFS?? If they don’t want the babysitter “eating THEIR food”, it’s their duty to tell the her to bring her own food/drink along & give her enough notice beforehand to do so (or at least give some money to get her own food). Otherwise, they can’t expect her to watch their kids with nothing to conserve energy levels for that time-period, unless they are okay with poor quality care. Honestly, though? They’re being insanely petty, so blatantly greedy & setting a terrible example for their kids; basically teaching them to never show any compassion or treat anyone hired to provide a service with dignity. Make sure to bring a bag of food/drink next time … then pack some VERY tasty stuff, refuse to share & say the parents won’t let you eat, so this is yours alone (& watch the parents face up to their bad choices). 🤷‍♀️🙄

I hope their kids don't grow up to be petty skin flints like their parents.

Anyone who says she is the AH is delusional.

Do these people who are saying she's TA have any idea what a gift it is to have a babysitter you trust and your kids like? Most parents go out of their way to show their appreciation for a good babysitter and letting them eat what the kids are eating is one way of doing that. Plus, a lot of kids like to share their food. How would they feel knowing that they can't even offer their babysitter a piece of pizza because their parents consider it stealing?

Wow….I guess I’ve been a little thief since I was 15. I regularly babysat for certain families throughout all high school (small town USA). I was always invited to eat the same food I made for the kids OR make myself so thing else with what they had in the house. I would want my babysitter to be happy and comfortable in my home and that would include eating meals with the kids, snacking during a movie, or treats at the park.

YTA people have any of you ever babysat a day in your life? The custom is for babysitters to come over, take care of the kids, feed them, and eat with them, have a conversation and be a person with them. If you she can't even share a meal with the kids then there is something very wrong with tgis family. Truly, you should never babysit for these people again. Not only did they get upset when you ate a meal with the children, but this was after the fact. They didn't tell you ahead of time. These are people that find joy in creating mistakes that others have committed that don't actually exist. They will find other things you've done and at some point probably decide not to pay you or get you in trouble in someway.

Maybe the were planning on feeding the kids leftover pizza for the rest of the week. Either way, it is their problem not yours...NTA!

Their toilet is just begging for an upper decker

I've never babysat, but comparing it to working in a restaurant or grocery store is absurd. You know what's rude? Having someone in your house, for hours, expecting them to watch over your kids, and not offering them something to eat or drink. She may be an employee, but she's also a guest. And when it's in your own home, you treat your guests with courtesy whether you're paying them to be there or not. And to have them, as a guest, server your family food but expect them sit there, smelling it, watching your family eat but not join? That's an extremely high level of rudeness.

I feel that a slice or two of a delivered pizza is more than acceptable, especially if it isn't a personal sized pie. I think that pizza is generally considered a social food, and I'm surprised the topic of eating hasn't come up because there are some mild variances between households. It really just depends. For example, maybe they hadn't ordered pizza in a while, so there would be a special circumstance at play.

It is actually a good practice to have the caregiver eat with the kids. It improves social-emotional co-regulation. Kids tend to eat at a better pace (not too fast, not too slow), when accompanied. They also practice their manners, and engage in the give and take of social conversation. Furthermore, if you tell your children that the babysitter cannot accompany them in their meal because the sitter is not entitled to the food, you set up a power dynamic where the children see the sitter as "less-than". They will be less likely to listen to and respect the sitter, especially if the sitter needs to steer the children out of dangerous or unhealthy situations.

I was one of many babysitters once in a babysitting situation for teachers during a workshop. The school district supplied food for the children AND us babysitters. No one made a big deal over how much we ate and we still got paid very well for it.

Easy solution to this is to simply not think about it anymore and never babysit for them again. Do people really let stuff like this eat at them or is it nothing more than an artifact of AITA sites existing?

They're just selfish people. So she made a mistake by assuming that she could have some pizza too. She's used to others being kind and ok with it. They're just teaching their children to be greedy. You people saying she's TA are just as bad. It's a few pieces of pizza. Get over it.

NTA.. maybe it's because it's been almost 40years since I babysat, but every parent who has had me babysitting for them has always allowed me to eat if they ordered out OR told me what I could eat in their pantry... has so much changed with babysitting in this time? Other than the cost of babysitting I mean.

Damn. I used to work for a couple of daycares in my mid-large city and we all babysat on the side back in the day. Not a single one of the Richie rich parents would dream of not allowing us to eat a bit of their food while we babysat. We're taking care of your kids for God's sake, a piece of pizza or two is not a bank breaker. Hell, not a single one of the daycares's wouldn't have fed us either. I had chicken nuggets and apple slices as a lunch for years. As a matter of fact my spouse currently works for a daycare and eats the same things as the kids after they've all been fed. It's just part of the job.

I truly shocked at how many people went with YTA. I guess maybe babysitters should start asking for tips now then, instead? What a joke! U ALWAYS feed the babysitter! And how much could 2 pieces and a breadstick REALLY cost?! It's a "side gig" and not a 9-5 like they r implying with their "the parents r the employers" OP is SO NTA!

Wtf you always let the babysitter eat, I always tell them They can have whatever they want. What is wrong with people.

It's always been my assumption that my babysitter should be allowed to eat (I always made sure there were snacks) and if I'd ordered pizza, f*ck yeah I'd expect her to have some. I was taught that you always offer service workers (cable guy, contractor, etc.) something to eat or a beverage. I have always done so. Mostly they seem surprised and almost always decline. But my contractor, Robert, has a real soft spot for my homemade chocolate chip & walnut cookies.

Why the fuss over 2 slices of a pizza and a bread stick? Is the pizza made with extra-old polar bear's milk cheese and organic bonsai hand ground quinoa flour? These people sound awfully territorial about their groceries.