University Sitters

February Deals

2012-02-13T15:42:00.000-08:00

Great Valentines!

2012-01-30T13:21:00.000-08:00

Its that time of year again. Time to send your child off to school to pass out valentines with little snack sized candies strapped to the back of each small card. Who will your child be this year?

The Hello Kitty Kid

For the girl's girl and teacher's pet. Passing out pencils instead of candy to ensure that A+.

Image from HelloKitty.tumblr.com

The Creative

Hand crafted with construction paper making the most basic (and inexpensive!) candies into their most appealing self - like this candy airplane.

Image from FamilyFun.Go.com

The Gardener

This garden savvy kid comes with small baggies of seed packets with nice notes taped to the back or makes their own envelopes decorated with stamps and markers.

Image from Martha Stewart

The Crowd Pleaser

It may be Harry Potter or Twilight if they're older. But 90% or more kids are going to know and love it.

Image from Amazon

Old School Cool

Scooby Doo or Barbie -- this kid isn't into the new shows because mom and dad have been loving introducing them to the classic cartoons.

Image from EZ Skins

Mother's Helper

These include home made baked goods in fancy bags with bows tied in uniform shapes. Kid was present for the production, mom and child had a great time, but ultimately Mom's the one getting credit here. *Recommended that recipients hide this baggy, because the treats are of premium quality.

Image from PaperCrave

The Whatever Kid

This kid isn't into Valentine's day and may have gone to Rite Aid before school to pick up a bag of bite sized candy. May or may not sign the back of the Nerds boxes, depending on homework assignment.

Image from Carnival Source

New Years Deal

2012-01-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

We just sent out the following deal to our email subscribers and would like to extend the offer to our blog followers and friends! Happy 2012!

Want to Receive Exclusive Deals on Child Care?

2011-11-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

Gift Card Giveaway!

2011-11-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

Thinking of joining University Sitters for access to experienced, screened, and professional sitters handpicked for our on call agency?

Now is the time!

Sign up for a year subscription and get a $50 gift card in the mail for you or a friend. Subscriptions are based on $30 monthly and priced at $360 total.

Special price valid Monday November 28th, 2011 through December 2nd, 2011.

See the ad from this week's exclusive deals emailer:

Seeking Full and Part Time Nannies

2011-11-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

University Sitters is currently seeking applications for the following positions:

Temporary Nanny in Beverlywood
M-F 4:30-8pm
Sunday 4-8pm

Two children ages four and eight. Nanny needed to help with school pick ups, general after school help, light house help (sweeping, dishes, and kids laundry). Job begins in December with two weeks off during the holidays then picks up January through June. Hourly negotiable between 15-20 hourly.

Santa Barbara Part Time nanny

Family of three seeks help for the following times:
Tues and Thursday 8:30-5:30
Wed 12:45 thru 5pm
One late date night week
Salary 500-550 depending on experience
Seeking flexible nanny who is firm but loving. Cheerful and patient person will do great. Start asap

To apply for either position, or to get on file with us for later jobs, please email kasey [@] universitysitters.com

Thank you!

Outstanding Halloween Costumes

2011-10-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

The Dirt Devil

Three Little Lambs

Mosquito

One Eyed Monster (Pottern Barn)

Pet for Sale

Movie Popcorn

Spring Chicken

Stay at Home Calculator for Parents

2011-10-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

Thinking of staying home with the kids? Today's Parent has a great calculator for parents to assess their options.

Check out their website here:
http://www.todaysparent.com/lifeasparent/workfinance/article.jsp?content=3254&page=1

Twin Baby Talk

2011-10-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

In honor of this month's activities with Parent's of Multiples in Santa Barbara...

Great Kid Activities!

2011-09-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

We found this blog about a new company Kiwi Crate (launching soon!) who will send great activities for kids by mail. Awesome idea.

Then we found their blog which samples the wonderful ideas...

Fishing! Peanut butter on the end of a long pretzel dips into a cup of goldfish.

Spray bottles with thin paint to create backyard masterpieces.

And much more.

Take a look:

http://blog.kiwicrate.com/

Candy Pizza Summer Break

2011-09-01T15:51:00.001-07:00

Samantha Bee chimes in on her break with her kids this summer in an article from the Wall Street Journal.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424053111903596904576516753267688990-lMyQjAxMTAxMDMwMDEzNDAyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email_bot

Nanny and Housekeeper Placements

2011-08-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

University Sitters and EK Domestic Placements have a special for all new nanny placements and housekeeper placements.

Meet great candidates who have the qualifications you require. Candidates will be fully background checked, CPR certified upon hire, and have a replacement guarantee.

Irvine Mixer with CityMommy OC at Tanaka Farms

2011-07-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we had a wonderful mixer with several of our sitters and the moms of CityMommy OC. We had a great time and shared our experiences with child care to veteran and new moms alike.

A BIG "thank you" to all of the families who visited, the sitters who helped us, to Tanaka Farms for the location, and to Karen for everything!

Here are some shots from the day:

Info packets and homemade cream scones.

Moms and sitters "mixing"

Karen, our CityMommy OC pal, packing up with baby in tow!

Chelsea helping with the kid's planting station.

Orange County Baby Expo

2011-05-18T23:16:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we met hundreds of new and expectant parents at the OC Baby Expo. We are in the process of picking a winner of our lovely baby basket made possible by our partnership with the following essential baby product makers:

Boon

TwisterzToys

G Diapers

Jubilee Design Studio

Tegu
Petit Collage

Everything looked amazing and we had lots of questions and interest in each piece!

Nice to meet everyone!

Spring Plans

2011-04-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

Spring is among us and our allergies in the office are in full effect! University Sitters has big plans for the season with a new service location in Orange County, more nanny placements, and mixers.

Orange County has long been a location we'd like to approach with on call babysitting with our pre-screened sitters. We plan to introduce ourselves to many families in the area on May 14th with the Baby Expo at St. Jude's hospital in Brea, CA. Our booth will be front and center and we are excited to raffle off a big baby basket full of everything to get new families started with modern, interesting, and helpful products. More to come from these sponsors shortly.

Nannies and Sitters are always on our minds. We are always taking applications for full and part time Los Angeles nannies, Santa Barbara nannies, Newport Beach nannies and San Diego nannies. We have some amazing people that we have met as well as candidates we have longer relationships with. Interviewing nannies with our service has never been easier.

Families call us with their info about the job they are placing and we use our contacts to put the family in touch with the best candidates to fill the position. We seek experienced, professional, loving, intelligent nannies who will become a long term part of the family.

Our mixers have always been a fun way for us to get parents and eligible sitters together. We are currently talking to Peanut Vine in Santa Barbara and Twist Frozen Yogurt in Los Angeles to get some events together.

Looking forward to meeting new people and creating positive parent, child, caregiver relationships.

Baby Expo in Orange County

2011-04-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

Look out Orange County, University Sitters is heading south. We look forward to meeting all the new and expectant mothers in Brea and OC at large at the Baby Expo on May 14th at St. Judes.

We are currently putting together giveaways and prizes.

Here is the event info. Come say "hello".

IRS Dependent Care Credits

2011-03-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

Do you know the specifics on the federal tax credits for dependent care?

Read through this list provided on the IRS website here. University Sitters has just passed out many year end receipts to clients using our service for their dependent credits for tax purposes.

Let us know if we can help you.

The care must have been provided for one or more qualifying persons. A qualifying person is your dependent child age 12 or younger when the care was provided. Additionally, your spouse and certain other individuals who are physically or mentally incapable of self-care may also be qualifying persons. You must identify each qualifying person on your tax return.
The care must have been provided so you – and your spouse if you are married filing jointly – could work or look for work.
You – and your spouse if you file jointly – must have earned income from wages, salaries, tips, other taxable employee compensation or net earnings from self-employment. One spouse may be considered as having earned income if they were a full-time student or were physically or mentally unable to care for themselves.
The payments for care cannot be paid to your spouse, to the parent of your qualifying person, to someone you can claim as your dependent on your return, or to your child who will not be age 19 or older by the end of the year even if he or she is not your dependent. You must identify the care provider(s) on your tax return.
Your filing status must be single, married filing jointly, head of household or qualifying widow(er) with a dependent child.
The qualifying person must have lived with you for more than half of 2010. There are exceptions for the birth or death of a qualifying person, or a child of divorced or separated parents. See Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses.
The credit can be up to 35 percent of your qualifying expenses, depending upon your adjusted gross income.
For 2010, you may use up to $3,000 of expenses paid in a year for one qualifying individual or $6,000 for two or more qualifying individuals to figure the credit.
The qualifying expenses must be reduced by the amount of any dependent care benefits provided by your employer that you deduct or exclude from your income.
If you pay someone to come to your home and care for your dependent or spouse, you may be a household employer and may have to withhold and pay social security and Medicare tax and pay federal unemployment tax. See Publication 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide.

Grandmother Gives Birth to her Grandbaby

2011-02-16T11:56:00.000-08:00

A story of a woman who acted as a surrogate for her daughter. What an amazing gift to share.

Read more.

Via LA Times.

School Auctions

2011-02-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce that this year so far we have received 5 requests to make donations for auction fundraisers. We have accepted the opportunity for each.

Bidders, take note of the following schools where our donation of free sitting and subscriptions can be found:

Roosevelt Elementary in Santa Monica
Evergreen Community School in Santa Monica
Ralph Waldo Emerson Middle School in West LA
San Marcos Preschool in Santa Barbara
Franklin Elementary in Glendale

If your family is interested to request a donation from University Sitters, please be in touch with Kasey [at] universitysitters.com

Sitter Cancellations

2011-02-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got a call from a mother who had just been cancelled on by her babysitter on her husband's birthday.

The babysitter was booked from 2:30-7pm. I could hear kids playing in the background and the mother's tone was anxious. Was she going to be able to replace the sitter who had cancelled?

We let this mother know that we were going to be able to book her and to not worry. This is the reason for University Sitters (among other things)! In less than 5 minutes this mother had heard from babysitter Linze, an LMU senior with our service for 2 years.

The date was saved. Dad had a good birthday, Mom was able to pull off her plans, and kids had a blast with their energetic sitter.

Happy we could help to make the day happen.

What is Slake?

2011-02-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

Slake is a literary journal. The Los Angeles answer to the New Yorker -- but in color and with better binding. It feels like home and we hope that everyone who loves original and local interest writing will look to Slake for their short story, art, and poetry fix.

More about Slake.

Enjoy!

Daily Affirmation

2011-01-18T13:22:00.000-08:00

This is amazing!

Homemade Musical Fun

2011-01-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

A great song with a family fun twist!

Children's Gift Ideas

2010-12-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

Of course we know that your children probably have their own ideas of great gifts to receive this holiday season. We have found a few things that may get Mom and Dad just as excited.

Art Book for Children
Explored different artists and encourages kids to explore the functions and creations of art.

Hex Bug
Fun electronic bug that responds to sounds and avoids obstacles on the floor.

Sweetest baby clothes, blankets and more at Sweet William

These baby backpacks are available for just 18$.

And For the crafty ones in your life, this Friendship bracelet kit will keep them happy through summer break. 18$ at Amazon.

Casting for the Busiest Families

2010-11-29T15:30:00.000-08:00

Someone special is creating a new network with a new show and is looking for families who recognize their struggle for a perfect work/life balance.

The show will be an uplifting and encouraging documentary. If you think you qualify, but don't want to be on TV airing your "laundry", then call us and we will help you find child care support. 877-41-SITTER.

Otherwise, here is all the info you need to participate.