Are you a stay-at-home/work-at-home parent of an under 2 year old in the Ballard area in Seattle?
Stay at home parents and toddlers need childcare too! Swapping childcare often seems like a good idea--but then it’s hard to follow through on it. This is a proposal for a stable, reliable childcare swap in Ballard.
Your child gets:
- Socialisation
- Play time
You get:
- Free time
How does it work?
Get matched with families who are looking for similar days and hours as you are. Generally we aim for cooperative child care Mon-Thur from 9am-12pm. In teams of 2, parent participants will engage our young toddlers (12-24mos as of 10/1/12 preferred, if your child is close in age to this don't hold back--apply) in a morning of play, snacks and activities while the 2 (or more) other participating parents can enjoy a toddler free morning. So each parent will work 2 shifts a week and have 2(or 3) shifts for free time. Each family takes a turn hosting the child care group, round-robin style.
This arrangement will work best for parents who can dedicate two mornings a week to child care and can be a stable participant in an on-going monthly scheduling process.
Some more info:
Why are parents in teams of 2? In order to care effectively for four (or more) children, two parents are better than one. In the unlikely event of an emergency there are two parents on-site to navigate any tricky situations. Plus child care is way more fun with a buddy.
How much does this cost? It’s free! For those of us who are stay at home parents or parents with flexible schedules we are better able to use our time than our cash for child care.
How can I trust these other families? We’ll arrange a family meeting night/BBQ before the co-op gets started so we can meet and get on the same page as much as possible. Each family will need to commit that sufficient child-proofing has been done and a play space is available.
What if my child gets sick/someone else’s child gets sick? We’ll need to come up with a plan for children getting sick, one idea is to have some back-up families who’d like to participate only occasionally that we could call. Another option would be for the sick or missing parent to pay a provider to take their missed shift, pay for 1 or 2 missed child care shifts, still get 2 more that week! More discussion needed.
What if I need to miss a shift in the rotation? In order for this project to be successful, each parent needs to be a stable participant. However, in the course of life missing a shift is unavoidable. For planned vacations and events, maybe we could agree on 4 weeks notice. More discussion needed.
Sound good? We'd love you to join! Go to this link and apply:
