HO here. I wouldn’t be bothered about a day’s worth of dust. Especially if you have a litter tray, dust is an occupational hazard. As others have said, please be kind to yourself!
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Serenity. I want to be your friend, you are so supportive!
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OMG. Who’s house is it? Your’s or your kids? You need to establish a NEW RULE w your kids.
NEW RULE:
You want to stay in MY house for FREE while I am away You take care of the pets if they can’t abide by that they find their own place to stay.
We fo a BIG disservice to our kids and to ourselves if we dont establish certain boundaries. They need this to face the rest of the world which will not easily accommodate them.
Be kind, but be FIRM.
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It’s true to stay true to yourself. However as home and petsitters we are dealing with an unknown quality. Namely the host. The host is an unknown quality because we as sitters know very little of them (just as they know little of the pet sitters). Some are not as easy going or conscientious, some are even more easy going as anticipated and some are very aware of responsibilities or real ‘work’ sitters went through to prepare for their return.
My conclusion: as a sitter best I can do is do what I do best: this is to be myself, act where needed when I think acting is needed and report on issues when and where is needed too. To give an example: Homeowner has ok dogs but their home is an unsafe set up. Dogs are known in neigborhood as aggressive and escape artists. Actually it’s easy to escape as the property is not fully fenced and dogs are - by order of the host - always be kept on a leash. Yet sitters had a marvelous introduction, a dog ran free in the garden, and sitters were told the dogs are rescues (No rescue quirks though, but irl many quirks)
Coming up with the truth like: Dogs ran over to neighbors to react to the agressieve neighbors’s dogs and we controlled the situation in 2 minutes, is not always seen as an - accepted can happen issue - but seen as lack of organisation qualities. It can cost you two stars. This to my account is showing the Host’s total untrustfulness.
This site is called trusted housesitters, Great, but no where Trusted house owners are mentioned. What do you consider untrustful hosts home owners?
Ok. Take a deep breath. Don’t you see what is happening here. The last bad review has taken control of you, and you have allowed it to still your fun from the sit. You are not required to leave a sit cleaner than when you arrived. You are not a maid. You are required to take care of the pets and give them love and attention, clean up after yourself and respect the owner’s home. Don’t be controlled by the fear of a bad review. Do a good job and have fun.
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So sorry this happened to you and I so understand. I used to get so worried at the end of a sit or if something went wrong or got broken. We also had a super bad review last year and actually took a year of because I felt so bad. Head up thought, we have had 4 5 star sits now that we are back on the website and I have a different attitude that helps. Things happen and this is a free service, so, if you are a HO on this site you can not expect the level of service that you would get if you paid for a house sitter. That said we do our very best but I am no longer getting tied up in knots for providing a free service.
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Awwww:two_hearts:
. Hug, got a little teary (im easy that way but you seemed so stressed and sad) and im happy you got sweet reassurance from homeowners.
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