海角大神

Within walking distance of our home lives another couple that鈥檚 about our age. They have two children, both of which are in the age range of our own children, and the older ones have become friends due to interacting at the same preschool.

Over time, we鈥檝e developed something of a babysitting exchange with them. Once every few months, we watch their children so they can do something together for an evening, and then they reciprocate. In an emergency (like a recent medical one), we also have a very convenient place to leave our children.

There鈥檚 no cost to either of us for this. It鈥檚 just convenient. It鈥檚 with people that we鈥檝e built a relationship with, so we feel secure leaving our children there. It鈥檚 a win in almost every way.

Naturally, the idea of such an exchange will raise a few questions.

First, how does one start such an exchange? The best route is to talk to the parents of friends of your children, particularly those that live nearby. Invite them over to dinner and get to know them a little. In most cases, they鈥檒l eventually reciprocate, which will give you a better glimpse of their home life.

If you seem to have an ideal partner in this, suggest a monthly babysitting exchange. One evening a month, you watch their kids. One evening a month, they watch your kids. You can set up additional guidelines however you like (the kids have to be picked up by 8, for example).

Another useful tactic is to get multiple exchanges going. If you have two or three potential eligible families for this, start exchanges with all of them. You鈥檒l have double the kids two or three nights a month, but you鈥檒l also have two or three nights a month without children 鈥� and there鈥檚 no cost to it.

There are also a lot of little things you can do to keep an exchange going. So often, it鈥檚 the small things that make all the difference in making something like this work.

Be flexible and expect that things won鈥檛 always work out perfectly 鈥� after all, you鈥檙e dealing with busy schedules and busy parents and kids that sometimes get sick or have other concerns. If they have to cancel once or twice, don鈥檛 get angry about it. It only means that you shouldn鈥檛 feel bad if you need to cancel.

Give plenty of notice. Check on potential dates at least a week in advance. Don鈥檛 show up at the door of your exchange partner one night and hand them your kids or you鈥檒l find the exchange ending quickly. Also, if you know there鈥檚 going to be a change, let your exchange partner know as soon as you can.

Treat the children you鈥檙e watching in the same way you鈥檇 want your children to be treated when they鈥檙e away. It鈥檚 a great idea to plan an interesting kids鈥� activity for the day when you鈥檙e watching those other children. The last time we watched children in our exchange, we had a do-it-yourself pizza night and worked on multiple art projects, for example. It kept both their children and our children entertained and focused and they all had a great deal of fun, meaning that the children were really looking forward to the next time we could do this.

If you鈥檙e a parent and would love to have an evening or two a month free without having to pay for a babysitter, a babysitting exchange or two is pretty much perfect. It gives parents a free evening, both in the financial sense and the 鈥渘ot worrying about kids鈥� sense.

This post is part of a yearlong series called 鈥�365 Ways to Live Cheap (Revisited),鈥� in which I鈥檓 revisiting the entries from my book 鈥�365 Ways to Live Cheap,鈥� which is available at Amazon and at bookstores everywhere. Images courtesy of Brittany Lynne Photography, the proprietor of which is my 鈥減hotography intern鈥� for this project.