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Babysitting Co-Op
Filed under: Playground Bureau, Sex
Finding a babysitter to watch your kids while you and your spouse enjoy a night out can be a difficult task. If you can find a sitter, it's often an expensive add-on to dinner and a movie. Stefania Butler's sometimes avoided the babysitter tab by exchanging babysitting with another couple friend. Heather at four sweetpeas has a variation on that theme with her babysitting co-op. Every fifth Saturday 10 kids gather at her house for four hours of "screaming and laughing and sometimes crying (that would be me)". They do a craft, have a snack and gather on the sofa with pillows and blankets for movie time. The reward for all the chaos? A night out every other Saturday without kids.
I've been a part of a couple of Babysitting Co-Ops, some have worked for me better than others and I've mainly used the Co-Op for daytime sitting needs. I love this idea, because my kids are older now and could have a later bedtime without all you-know-what breaking loose. One problem I have is that my group of friends likes to go out together with and without the kids. [link via Loobylu]
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
3-29-2006 @ 12:59PM
Ethel said...We have a group at our church called "Parents Club" (since it is for the parents and not the kids) where we make use of the onsite nursery, since it is equipped for the weekday preschool. Once a month two sets of parents take care of the kids while the rest go out for the two hours, usually there are about 7 kids. We need two sets of parents though as there are a lot of babies and toddlers in our group. It works pretty well, it is central to our community and with a wide span of ages, from 3 months to 7 years, we have many toys and spaces that are appropriate.
Plus, since a babysitter in our area is about $10/hour, and sometimes more for multiple kids, it is financially more doable since otherwise the expense of going out for the evening would be out of reach (three parents are graduate student families). And we are building relationships with other families in our mostly gray haired congregation.
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3-30-2006 @ 11:57AM
mar said...I do belong to a babysitting co-op that is really quite fantastic. Although many of the moms are friends, and we have all helped out each in times of need, the "business" side of it is run in a very efficient manner. I haven't paid for a babysitter in 10 years! I also belong to a group that does a first and third Friday night outing - usually 4 hours, 6:30-10:30 p.m. (although we are thinking of changing one of them to a Sat.!) The host family usually does dinner - pizza, maybe make your own tacos, etc. and a game and a movie, the kids have fun playing with other peoples kids (and toys), and with 7 families, you go out 2x a month for 3 months before it is your turn to mind the animals!
Our kids are all getting old now, and I'm sure there will be a time soon when we will bow out of this, but it has been a wonderful resource for us for years - I encourage anyone to try it!
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