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How many times have you wanted to go out on a date with your husband or get away shopping alone for just a few hours? However, when you looked into your checking account, you saw that the funds were lacking. So, knowing you couldn't afford a baby-sitter, you either ended up staying home or dragging the kids along.
The above scenario is played out in countless homes every single day. It's no surprise, considering the high cost of child care. Once they tack on the price of a responsible baby-sitter, many married couples find the cost of a simple date to be exorbitant. It's no wonder that nice dinners and weekend getaways are a luxury that most people with children don't indulge in.
THE SOLUTIONS
1. You can simply give up and bring your children everywhere.
2. You can give in and pay high baby-sitting prices, which might leave little money leftover for anything else.
3. You can create your own baby-sitting co-op.
Let's concentrate on the third solution.
First of all, you need to get together with a group of like-minded parents who are interested in taking part in your co-op. People in your neighborhood are ideal, but don't let location limit you. A good number to start with is between six and eight moms(don't worry if you have more or less than the ideal). Get together with these mothers for an initial meeting to lay out the ground rules and establish the procedures. It's good to have everything written down and photocopied so that everyone involved will have a handy reference sheet at home. On this paper, phone numbers and addresses will also be listed.
At this meeting, hand each mom twelve poker chips or tokens along with the paper that has the rules, procedures and phone numbers of the participants listed. Explain that each token will be worth one half-hour of baby-sitting per child. EXAMPLE: If you have two children and will be gone for two hours, it will cost you eight tokens.
THE PROCEDURE
Mary has three children and needs to run a few errands. She scans her list of friends in the co-op and notices Susan's name. She calls Susan up and asks if she will baby-sit tomorrow afternoon for one hour. Susan agrees. Mary drops off her three children at the appropriate time. She "pays" Susan six tokens. Susan now has eighteen tokens(her original twelve plus the six that Mary paid her). Two days later, Susan decides she wants to go out to lunch. She looks on her list and calls Amy. Amy agrees to baby-sit Susan's four kids and is paid sixteen tokens for two hours of baby-sitting(4 kids X 2 hours X 2 tokens per hour).
PROBLEMS
With an arrangement such as this, it's very important to be clear about the rules before you start. Make sure everyone involved understands the procedures. Have clear-cut guidelines. For instance, know in advance what will happen if someone is late picking up her children. Some co-ops charge an extra token if the mother is more than ten minutes late. Whatever you decide, make sure it's agreed upon by all. If everyone knows the rules, no one can complain. Have regular meetings-monthly if possible-to discuss how your co-op is working. If you need to make changes, you can implement them at this time(add new members, decide to hand out more tokens, etc.).
BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF I RUN OUT OF TOKENS?
Theoretically, if everything works perfectly, everyone should be trading baby-sitting, and the tokens should move freely amongst the participants. However, sometimes one person ends up with most of the tokens (she baby-sits quite frequently) while someone else will run out of tokens(she utilizes the baby-sitters frequently). In this case, the person who is out of tokens can purchase tokens from the person who has spare tokens. Usually a dollar per token is a good price to charge. It's best to "buy" tokens in this way and not to actually pay cash directly to a co-op baby-sitter. This maintains the integrity of the baby-sitting co-op.
A co-op such as this does take some advance planning, but it can be very successful. Not only that, but it provides a cheap or free source of baby-sitting.
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