I've had two children visit my house so far this month as a result of our childcare swap. One mom was able to pack for her trip while I cared for her daughter, another visited the Apple store to deal with a malfunctioning phone (hopefully she'll be able to edit our GoogleDoc now!). Both times my daughter really enjoyed having company her age, and our visiting child had fun too. In both cases I had planned to devote the 'childcare' time to entertaining toddlers, but in the end they entertained themselves (mostly) and I got more housework done then I often do when just my daughter and I are home. Laundry folded - check! Dishwasher emptied - check! Dinner prepped - well, let's not get ahead of ourselves.This week I have some time scheduled for my daughter to be cared for by another mom, and I'm planning to do homework, although I'm sorely tempted to escape to a cafe and sip tea.
So far our group is just four families. I want to grow the group so that we all have a better shot at getting care when we need it, I'm not sure how best to add people. I want everyone in the group to feel comfortable with each other, but social networks only overlap so much. There are a few other mamas that I'm starting to swap childcare with (outside of the group, which is confusing), but they're not well-connected to the families already involved with the swap. Maybe each group member should be free to invite other participants to the group, and we could schedule once a month play dates where we could all get to know each other? I think I'll keep it small for the month of September, and plan to expand in October.
Here's what our swap page looks like for September (names and phone numbers have been changed for annonimity): September Swap Page
I love the idea of you documenting how to make mommy connections for people that don't have family to help in the same city. This has been one of my concerns about having kids in the future, since my whole family lives down south.
ReplyDeleteYou are definitely more organized and proactive than I was. I have a friend who has a very strong community of support. One of the things she did, similar to your play date idea, was to host potluck type events to help mingle the families. One event she does every year is a Halloween costume party, usually earlier in the day, before trick-o-treating, and have the kids do a parade. Totally cute, and a good time to have families get together.
ReplyDeleteThis is so great, Esther! I'm sure having that time to do homework, empty the dishwasher and fold laundry felt amazing! I think you are on to a wonderful idea and community!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea Esther. It is nice to be able to have others to help. I have been blessed to have family live near by who help take care of my kids when I need to work late or on the weekends, and now, while I'm in class. It is great that you have found several families to form a community to help each other with childcare.
ReplyDeleteHi Esther,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. I am grateful to have had my parents around to assist with my kids when they were little. They were a tremendous help and they were flexible as my husband and I both commuted and worked long and sometimes odd hours. I lost much of my support when I moved to Sacramento and even though my kids are much older now (7, 9, and 15) I still find myself struggling to find care for them during holidays, vacations, and for after school extracurricular activities.
Building a support network is vital and kudos for you to taking this task on.
Looking forward to hear about your "village" develops.
Jessica Martinez
Teaching Assistant for Professor Fraizer
Social Media and Crowdsourcing
Excellence and Innovations Group
Career and Technical Studies
Esther, because of your awesome organizational skills, I'm confident you could have a house full of kids just like the Duggars (AY YI YI) and be successful. You rock!
ReplyDeleteEsther, because of your awesome organizational skills, I'm confident you could have a house full of kids just like the Duggars (AY YI YI) and be successful. You rock!
ReplyDeleteIs this the only technology you are using? As your group grows, do you think you'll try something different to improve it?
ReplyDelete