Frugal Fun
(featured column)
Enjoy
Evenings Out: Set Up a Child Care
Co-op
by Shel
Horowitz
When my kids were younger, we still managed to
see a lot of concerts, plays, and so forth, and we did it without spending fifty
bucks a night on babysitters--because we shared childcare with another
family.
*
* *
By taking turns, we created solid, enjoyable play dates
for our kids, under supervision of grownups that we trusted to provide
appropriate activities, nutritious food, and reasonable limits. Also, the four
kids (their two and our two) got very comfortable with the idea of sleeping
over, at a very early age, and that opened up many choices for mini-vacations.
Another lasting benefit in this particular case (although it doesn't always work
out that way): My (currently 16-year-old) daughter has a life-long friendship
with our friend's child, who has been visiting our house without her parents
since she was just a few months old. Last year, they even convinced the two
families to overlap our vacations and spend time together in Italy and
Switzerland. (Our sons are also still friends, though they don't have the same
kind of powerful bond--in part because they are a full two years apart.)
A child care co-op can work really well. But it has to be well-thought-out.
Choose people whose values, child-rearing style, and tastes in food are
reasonably similar to your own. If one of you uses the TV as an all-day
babysitter and the other family focuses many hours on interactive activities
such as reading together or doing art, it isn't going to be smooth. It also
helps if the two families are within a short drive of each other.
Where do you find such a good fit? The easiest way is to pick people who are
already your friends, whom you know from other parts of your life than the
playground--people who participate in the same community groups, worship in the
same congregation, or share similar interests. If you live in a community where
your values are common, you'll be able to find the right people.
Before starting to switch, visit each other's
households a few times. Observe how the children are disciplined, what the
tolerance is for clutter (in our case, both couples had a fairly high tolerance
for clutter). Watch what the other family expects of their children. And
think--is this a place where my child can have a good experience for several
hours at a time? Your instincts will tell you a lot.
* * *
Copyright
© 2004 by Shel Horowitz
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