WFMW: Date Nights and Swapping Children
Sometimes it is hard to find the time and money to go on a date with your spouse. Adam and I make the effort to go out together at least once a month. A typical date night is dinner and a movie. Unfortunately by the time we get home and pay the babysitter, our “entertainment” budget for the month has been spent. Grandparents are not a childcare option because none of them live in town. As our solution we have been trying to organize a babysitter swap among our friends.
What is a babysitter swap? A babysitter swap is where you trade childcare. If you watch a friend’s child for two hours, then she owes you 2 hours of childcare. If you have a larger number of people who want to participate you can form a babysitter coop.
How do I get started? Find a group of parents who are interested. Establish ground rules and procedures that work for your group. One group that I am aware of operates on a point system. Another great idea that I came across here is to begin by handing out a set number of tokens to each parent (12 tokens). Each token is worth a set amount of babysitting time per child (one half hour). So if you have two children and you are gone for two hours, it will cost you 8 tokens. You can earn back tokens by reciprocating childcare.
Who benefits from a babysitter swap? Spouses desiring to reclaim date night. Single parents needing time to themselves. Stay-at-home moms needing to run errands during the day.
I’d love to hear from you if you have other creative ideas for childcare or if you are part of a babysitter swap. Tell me what works for you. Go to Rocks In My Dryer for more great Works For Me Wednesday (WFMW) tips.
January 16th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
This is an awesome idea!!! I don’t have kids yet, but I will remember it and tell my mommy friends. However, I do do this with dog sitting. We have a few couples that will take our dog for a weekend trip, if we take theirs. And we go on a credit system: You took care of our dog for 5 days, we had yours for 3…we still owe you two…it has worked out really well so far!
January 16th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
What a great idea!
January 16th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
We do the same thing with our best friends (our kids and theirs are close in age) and it is wonderful. The kids have so much fun playing together that the babysitting parents don’t have to do too much. Last weekend they kept our kids for the whole day while we went out–we did the same for them before Christmas.
January 16th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
I’ve thought of starting one of these with my friends at church. It’s a great idea!
January 17th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
This Sunday, we are doing something new. We are going to a friends house for a family sleep over! They have a daughter and son who are near in age to our little ones, so we all love hanging out together. But we have never been able to play games (something both couples love to do), because usually we are chasing after kids. So, the sleepover idea was born. I love date nights, but I also love doing things with other couples, so I am excited to see how this goes!
January 17th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I never thought of the sleep over idea, but it’s a good one. We’ll have to try it sometime.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Becky, that’s a great idea!
January 18th, 2008 at 1:13 am
What a wonderful idea! I am going to share this with my church friends who have been looking for ways to get out of the house and away from the kids!
January 18th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Have fun on your date nights! Babysitting partners can be VERY beneficial!
http://homeschoolmommyfromoklahoma.blogspot.com
January 23rd, 2008 at 7:15 pm
In case you were wondering :), the family sleepover was a huge success. It took the girls until 10:30 to fall asleep, but I realized something afterwards- it was the first time that Lindsay successfully slept in the same room with someone other than her immediate family (she is only 4 1/2). I want her to be comfortable sleeping at other peoples homes, so this is a benefit that I hadn’t even considered. In 2 weeks she is going to spend 4 nights at another friends house while her daddy and I take a trip to Chicago. I think she’s ready!
It was great to play a game for 2 hours and actually finish it without having to worry about the kids bedtimes. So, I would highly recommend it!