Babysitting Co-Op

Hello Gals!
I wanted to share an idea with you all and see if anyone is on board. If we can get enough moms to participate, then it may be a very worth-while adventure. Let me explain more about the Babysitting Co-Op.

As a full-time Mom of 3, I feel as though life is moving at an extremely fast & hectic pace. Having a 1 to 2 hour kid-free grocery shopping experience would be a great start to my heaven on earth. However, that usually doesn't happen. But what if there was another option? In my last ward in San Clemente, I discovered the joys of a Babysitting Co-Op. For an exchange of time and energy, it offers me a guilt-free, and money-free break from my children. These are some of the things I can do in a 3-hour window of time:
• Do my visiting teaching
• Lay out on the beach with a good book
• Go grocery shopping
• Clean my house
• Take a nap
• Go on a lunch date with a friend or even your Hubby!
• Go to the Temple
• Work out
• Make dinner
• Do other projects that never get done because you are too exhausted by the time the kids are in bed at night.


Other pros to having a Co-Op is the children have a play date at least once a month, if not more, depending on how often you use it.
The Co-Op pattern:
MONEY - Everyone starts out with a certain number of tickets or points or whatever credit system we want to use. In my last ward, we used small card-stock "tickets" that resembled money.
TIME - You offer to host at least one day a month. With each child you watch, you receive 1 "ticket" per hour per child. Typically the shifts were from 9am to 12pm - a three hour block of time. So if you watch 3 or 4 more children than your own, you will receive 9 to 12 hours to re-use throughout the month until your turn comes up next.
CALENDAR - Ideally if we had 20 - 25 Moms wanting to participate, each would be scheduled one day during the month. Thus, hopefully filling the weekdays with someone in need of tickets.
USE - If you commit to participating in the Co-Op, you must utilize it. The tickets that you earned would not be worth anything to anyone else, if you do not let them cycle through, as with any economy - you must use it to support the system.


I have a list of guidelines (nothing major) that I'd be happy to share with you. I'm also happy to answer any questions you may have. Please call, email or text me. We hope you can join in the fun.
Amy Clark
h. 858.412.5857
c. 949.212.6849
amyclark1@gmail.com