The Baby Sitters Club

I loved this series when I was a baby sitter. And now the concept has come back into my life. Sort of....

I'm part of a babysitting co-op that started last October. I know we aren't the inventors of this concept and I'm sure there are many like it all over Parentingland. The idea is amazing enough that I had to share the concept and spread the word in case anyone else wants to give it a go. I highly recommend it!

Mom's Day Out (MDO)--The first Monday of the month. Eight Mom's participate watching about 9 kids. Most of the older siblings are at school during this time so it's totally doable. Two mom's sign up to watch the kids together one Monday and the get 3 MONDAYS OFF in return! That's right, a free Monday from 9 am to 2pm!! One day of babysitting with another Mom is totally worth getting 3 Mondays to yourself---Kid Free. It is truly magical. All you have to do is drop your kids off with snacks, lunch and a smile and then you can head for the hills for the next 5 hours!!

We also have a Couple's Date night on the third Saturday of the month. It is structured a little differently because there are more kids involved since it isn't during school hours and we invited a couple of working parents to participate. The concept is also totally doable. Since there are more kids involved now, we don't share duties with another couple at one house. Instead, 3 couples watch several kids at their own home and we draw names out of hat to decide who will go to what house. It sounds confusing as I type it out but it is actually even easier than Mom's Day out. We have 16 kids involved and 9 couples. Because there are more kids, we have 3 date nights and divide the kids between 3 houses. You watch about 5 kids (including your own) from 5 to 8:30pm. All that is required is $3 per child to cover dinner which is a sweet deal for 3 1/2 hours of couple time. You babysit one time and get two dates in return!

Hopefully we can keep this going. Since October, I've had 3 Mom's Day Out days and Mark and I have gone on 3 Dates! Technically, one of our dates was while an was at Sundance. Mark got to go on a date by himself which was a well deserved break during his Mr. Mom stint.

If I could come up with a modern day version of The Baby Sitters Club Portrait, I think it would look a little something like this.......





We'd probably look a little more frazzled and there wouldn't be any fancy appetizers or cocktails served but you get the idea.........