Childcare Co-ops
Dateline: August 28, 2003
By Ann Zeise
You don't hear about childcare co-ops very much any more,
but back in the 70's, when I was a young mom, they were all the
rage. I started one up in McMinnville, Oregon, that lasted for
years, long after I had moved away.
Here's how I remember setting it up with my friends.
A core group of friends that all had young children eight
years old or younger met at my home for an organizational meeting.
We talked about why we might need such a co-op and how we could
make it fair and safe.
There's always one person who shows up to such an organizational
meeting who will say that they never need a babysitter, they
have a teenager, their mother lives nearby, or something like
that, but they want to support the endeavor. Fine, let them spread
the word about the existence or the group, but don't let them
be members. You only want members that will USE the co-op in
both directions. A member must want to take in other children
to their homes and they must have the need to get out some of
the time, even if just for a dinner "date" with their
husbands once a week.
Safety: how do you ensure the members are all "good"
parents and that the kids are decent enough? We decided that
any new members had to be recommended by a current member, and
that the current member had to have left her own child (at least
one of them) with the parent AND that she had to have had the
new children over to her home for a spell of child care. We weren't
specific about the length of time, just that it be enough to
form some sort of opinion. This just kept totally obnoxious people
out of the group. No one would EVER be forced to leave their
child with a member they, personally, didn't trust, nor take
in children that were troublesome. I suppose these days you'd
want to check that no one had a record as a child abuser.
Fair: this was a tough one to iron out, as how can you make
this fair for small and large families? Fair for those that went
out a lot and those who didn't? We decided on a scheme using
raffle tickets, which are fairly easy to come by. Each ticket
had a set time value. At this moment I cannot recall if we valued
them at a half hour or an hour. Each family got a set number
of tickets per child. As a bonus, each family also got a "Weekend
Off" card, good for the parents to get away from Friday
night to Sunday evening or however long they were comfortable
with. Hours didn't count for the weekend. Each family got one
weekend away card and no one could have more than two in their
possession at a time. This gave the fathers some incentive to
be more than just tolerant of the co-op, as they then could get
some extra time to be with their wives alone for a whole weekend
every month or so.
We created a member list to distribute among all with contact
information, any major concerns (allergies, can't be in house
with cats, no peanut butter, etc.), and emergency numbers. We
made copies of a form for each parent to leave with the sitter
so they'd know the particulars for that period. (Back in those
days, that meant using carbon paper and typing it up! You younger
gals have it easy now!)
Some interesting excuses and uses came out in the discussion.
One group of moms were all from the same religious group.
They felt that they were just fine, freely exchanging casual
child care among themselves. I pointed out that perhaps some
of the time they might want to do some church event together
and would appreciate that the rest of the co-op could take care
of their kids. Perhaps one of their group's mothers was feeling
a little put upon, and they didn't know it.
Some moms needed regular child care in order to take a class
or part-time work. If they were willing on off-hours to do some
care, that would not be a problem. Some of the moms willing to
watch their kids liked the idea of knowing there would be a regular
flow of "income" for child care. The co-op probably
would not work for those needing care for 40+ hours a week nor
for moms badly needing income from childcare work.
Some moms just sighed. What they wouldn't give to just have
two hours maybe twice a week to oil paint or practice their violin!
They couldn't justify paying a sitter to do this, but with a
co-op, they wouldn't need a "good" reason to line up
a sitter! Once the concept was clear that the co-op tickets could
be used freely for ANY reason, even ones a mom wouldn't think
of paying for out the grocery money, the co-op really took off.
Moms who just needed peace to read a book or take a nap could
"hire" a sitter and for free, as long as they were
willing to watch another's child later on.
Some of the moms wanted to have a more organized co-op with
more structure and regular meetings for the kids to do art, science
experiments and such. Could the childcare co-op work for them?
Sure! The moms running the "class" for the kids would
earn the tickets and then use them for their own child care needs
or to pay the moms who ran the classes on other days. This sub-group
of four moms and a slightly larger number of kids worked it out
so that they each took a turn Monday through Thursday entertaining
the whole gang for two hours. Other members of the co-op could
also have their children join in, so these moms wound up ahead
on their tickets. They used the extra earnings to have fun on
the weekends with their husbands, or extra time for a hobby on
Fridays. And they got the preschool co-op that they wanted to
have.
What if the kids just liked to play together, did a mom have
to use the tickets? No. Neighborhood play was not something that
we'd ask to exchange tickets for unless the other parents left
the neighborhood, leaving the first responsible. If a family
invited another child over to play, they didn't ask for tickets.
Parents with a number of children found it nice that they
could then afford to leave each child with a friend with children
of the same age and interests rather than having a single sitter
who was suitable for one child but not the other. It wasn't always
going to be easier for them, but such is life in a large family.
At least the co-op helped economically. They were concerned about
reciprocating. How in the world could they earn enough tickets
back? They were concerned about having too many kids at their
house. They found that, though, having a older child come to
be with them was often very helpful and kept their little ones
entertained, so it was actually easier to 'sit' than not. They
would use their weekend off ticket to have the toddlers and preschoolers
watched while they did something with just the older kids.
What about teenagers? Could they earn tickets for their family?
We came to the conclusion that we all wanted adult sitters most
of the time. We also didn't want to curtail the earning power
of teenagers. So it was decided that if a family was willing
to have a teen sit, the teen would be paid in tickets but their
parents should give them fair value in money back. This was the
only way tickets could be bought: parents from their own teenagers.
Sometimes it was easier for a parent with one child to go
to the home of another to watch all the children. Any physical
arrangement was fine.
The co-op was not good for moms who worked 40 hours a week,
but this was back when most moms of young children did not work
full-time. Perhaps this is why co-ops sort of vanished from the
scene as more women wanted reliable all day childcare.
Our co-op was totally free. We asked no fees. Contributions
for the startup costs were welcomed, but not required.
Ticket halves were given out, and it was noted which number
range each person got. This prevented us from having to have
to do much record keeping. If a member lost her tickets, we would
just declare the missing ones to be invalid, and give her some
more. We were so trusting. No one would think of betraying the
group! Conniving would be grounds for being outlawed from the
co-op, and no more free childcare! There was surprisingly little
abuse of the system, as it was a network of friends.
The roll of secretary rotated every 3 months. This mom kept
a log of any parents who phoned her who were getting more than
a little desperate to sit or in need of a sitter. Parents were
supposed to use the contact list most of the time. The secretary
would also get the letters of recommendations for new members.
The letters had to come from a current active member and had
to report on the child care exchange the two families had done
recently. If someone needed to trade in well-worn tickets for
new ones, she did that. The secretary would arrange the potluck
and make sure the new families were invited.
Once a month we had a potluck in a park or somewhere so that
families could meet other families, and the kids could get to
meet and figure out who liked who best. This helped the adults
to come forth and find others who might be willing to watch during
specific times the following month, rather than having to call
around from the contact list. Potential, already screened, members
were welcomed at this time, their sponsoring family introducing
them, and if they seemed amiable at this gathering, and they
liked us in general, they were issued their tickets near the
end of the gathering.
At the monthly meeting, inequities were ironed out. One person
had too many tickets, and not enough of a need to get out. She
came up with the idea of using the tickets to barter for other
services. We thought about it, but didn't want to inflate the
value of the tickets, so we said, fine, as long as the value
of the tickets remained the same. In other words, if some family
needed her tickets, and she needed her lawn mowed or car washed,
she could pay the mower in sitting tickets on the same time basis
as their original value - 1/2 hour work per ticket. But we were
clear from the start: the tickets could not be bought or sold
for money or material objects, only services. The rich were not
going to have an advantage over the poor in this group! After
all, the whole purpose of the group was to give moms a budgetary
break as well as a physical and spiritual break. Those in town
who wanted to continue to pay for childcare services and never
have to sit another's child could continue to do so. That wasn't
our concern.
If a family did want to leave the group, say, if they were
moving or had just outgrown the need, they tended to just use
up all their tickets, which put the tickets back into circulation
within the group, or they could also give the leftovers to a
friend or turn them in to the secretary. Mothers didn't tend
to hoard a lot of earned tickets and then leave the group!
That's how your hippy mothers of the 70's got you youngsters
out of their hair for a bit. You had a good time playing with
your friends more often, and it was a win-win deal for everyone.
The idea to put this essay up on a homeschooling site came after
a meeting the was held for our Milpitas Homeschool Support Group.
Several of the moms have young children, and though they loved
them dearly, they both want their children to have some social
time away from mom, as well as some breaks themselves. The thought
occurred to me that a homeschool support group could also be
a childcare co-op, if that is what some of the members needed.
Many homeschool groups I know have casual child care or emergency
care among friends in the group. It is still hard for a mom to
say, even to their best friend, that they just need two afternoons
this week without kids so they could complete their oil painting
or shop for a dress, something not critical, but deeply personal,
self care.
Take what you will from this essay, and leave the rest.
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