Parenting Co-Op

[Kendra Flowers]

Dear neighbors,

I've been toying with this idea for a while now and with summer rapidly approaching it's starting to feel more urgent...

Has anyone heard of a babysitting co-op?  A handful of families rotate the responsibility of free childcare for each others' kids, resulting in one big fat playdate for each household per week, and two days of "off" time for each parent involved. 

Ben and I don't have any family nearby and I know a couple hours off every now and then would be a life-saver.  I thought some of you might appreciate the option too. 

I know some of you may have part- or full-time childcare currently, or will soon.  No need to commit to trying this if it doesn't suit your needs.  Equally, if you have schedules that are too unpredictable (or kids who are, for that matter!), then no pressure, of course.  I just thought I'd run the idea by the parents in the neighborhood whom we already know and love to see if anyone else is interested in this kind of arrangement.

So here's an example of how it might work:

WEEK 1
	Mon 3-5pm	Tues 3-5pm	Wed 3-5pm	Thur 3-5pm	Fri 3-5pm
Mom/Dad on Duty	Bethany	Ben	Paige	Erinn	Rachel
Mom/Dad using co-op	Ben, Paige	Paige, Erinn	Erinn, Rachel	Rachel, Bethany	Bethany, Ben
Total kids	6	5	5	5	6

Does anyone think this model could work for us?  If there's enough interest I'm happy to put together everyone's preferred times/dates and make up a tester schedule.  We could try it for a week or two and iron out the kinks if and when they arise.  Maybe once every couple months the parents could gather and see check in on it's all going, bring up any concerns, etc.

Let me know your thoughts.

Happy spring!
Kendra

[Erinn Conn]

I love this idea :)

Erinn Conn

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[Erinn Conn]

I'll be able to do Tuesdays for sure. I love this idea!!!

Erinn Conn

On Mar 12, 2013, at 3:46 PM, Kendra Flowers <kendra....@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Rachel Osborn]

I am definitely interested in participating! I have a couple thoughts though.

At this point I don't think I would be comfortable watching 5 or 6 kids. Once Isaac is older, then yes. But for now, I would be comfortable either watching one other toddler or sharing parent duty with another parent so we could collectively watch 5 or 6 kids. For example if we had 2 mom/dads on duty and one mom/dad taking advantage of the coop. I think the current schedule would be perfect if all the kids were toddlers but since there are a bunch of little ones, the child care situation is a little more complicated (at least in my opinion!).

This is a great idea though! Thanks for starting to organize this Kendra!!

[Paige McCollum]

Hi all,

I love this idea.  Thanks, Kendra, for getting the conversation started. 
Rachel: I totally hear you re: your ability to manage a group.  PJ was a little baby not long ago and I couldn't imagine throwing too many other kids into the mix.  Wednesdays and Fridays between 9-4, Clem's at school, so with just PJ, I'd could easily co-host with Rachel, then solely host another group at another time during the week when Clem's home. 

Another thought I had on how to make the schedule would be to perhaps mix up the time slots?  Some folks might want to opt for an earlier playdate, say 10-12 or 12-2?  I do believe for this to really work and be easy, we'd want things to be quite regular, not changing from week to week.  So once you've picked your spot, you're sticking with it, yes?

I'd be happy to go ahead and commit to hosting on Monday at my place.  I'm afraid Wednesday or Friday 3-5 would not work, as I need to pick Clem up from school. 

Paige

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From: Kendra Flowers <kendra....@gmail.com>
To: soend...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2013 3:46 PM
Subject: Parenting Co-Op

[Amy Jaffe]

Hi all – Thanks for getting this conversation going. While I love the concept, I’m not sure if my family’s age, schedule and needs sync up. I’m wondering if there might be a way for us to participate one morning a week, with weekly rotating responsibilities, as opposed to daily? But since our summer schedule is still up in the air anyway, I’ll  be a fly on the wall of the conversation, to see how it all comes together. xo

[Kendra Flowers]

Thanks, Amy, and everyone else, for the great suggestions.

I think to start out it might make the most sense to pilot the idea for just a few days a week, with a few interested families for whom this sort of arrangement presents an immediate benefit.  After we see how it goes we can begin to incorporate more scheduling options and overlapping-parents ideas.  And do keep the ideas coming - this will definitely be a work in progress.

Thanks so much for the enthusiasm! 

Best,
Kendra

[Prudence Jones]

I like the idea.  Thank you for including us but I'm not sure it will work for us with work, school, a crazy summer travel schedule and so on.  Like Amy, I will keep reading the emails to see how things evolve and if the co-op will work for us.  

Best
Prudence

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Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:38:00 -0400
Subject: Re: Parenting Co-Op
From: kendra....@gmail.com
To: soend...@googlegroups.com

[Bethany Hutchinson]

I agree that this is a GREAT idea, but as is the case with a few others, this isn't the right time for us to participate.  I'd like to get my feet under me with the new guy and then join in.  I'll keep up with the emails as well. 
 
Thank you, Kendra, for getting this started!  
 

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From: prudenc...@hotmail.com
To: soend...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: Parenting Co-Op
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:44:51 -0600

[Kendra Flowers]

Thanks again to everyone who offered such helpful suggestions.

We've got a pilot group started for April and will keep everyone posted on how it all goes!

Hope to see you all soon, one way or another.  For now, signing off and closing this "string"! :-)

Kendra