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| Sharing is caring
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| 3 ways in which we can divide and conquer
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Apparently despite everything we try to teach our children and after everything our parents tried to teach us about sharing, and even with old sayings like "a problem shared is a problem halved", we are in fact, quite resolutely a nation of non-sharers.
1. Car pooling and before/after school and child care
- 81% of parents who took our survey said they don't car pool or share before / after school care with other families.
- Only five per cent said they car pooled or shared before and after school care regularly.
- Nine per cent said they shared "occasionally".
We are disappointed… for a number of very practical reasons, because car pooling and sharing before and after school care make so much sense:
- Saves petrol and money
- Saves time/commuting
- Reduces carbon footprint
- Creates entertainment for kids
- Engenders a sense of community
- Helps young children get over "attachment"
- Is sociable and supportive for families
- Enables one set of parents each day to go straight to work without the added hassle of "drop off" and pick up.
There are so many other reasons to share this sort of chore. It simply MAKES SENSE!
This is the perfect scenario for families who live in the same area and have children at the same child care, preschool or school. And let's face it when you turn up at child care, usually you walk through the doors at the same time as the same people, every day, who probably live within a five minute drive of you. Do you all have to be there, every morning and every afternoon?
It means that at least one parent has the freedom to work 2-3 full or half days a week without the need for child care.
Clearly once you get into school situations with after school activities etc, this does get a bit trickier, but certainly when it comes to child care or pre-school, really the only after school activity you need to think about are play and tea!
2. Sharing child care
Another aspect of sharing we could be better at is sharing the child care itself. We do not do this nearly enough and we should because for the same reasons as sharing drop offs and pickups etc, it really is a win-win situation.
Sharing care:
- Allows mums (and dads) to work part time with little or no child care costs
- Fills child care shortfall
- Encourages relationships between young children
- Helps young children get over "attachment" and get used to not being with their parents 24/7
- Engenders a sense of community
- Is sociable and supportive for families
It's such a brilliant way for mums to be able to get back to work for a couple of days a week, with vastly reduced or no child care costs or hassle, and it's particularly useful in the school/child care holidays - in fact we could go as far as saying that sharing child care can be an absolute lifesaver when it comes to vacation care.
By the time you have to go back to work after maternity leave, you will most likely have met a lovely group of locally based mums (through your early childhood meetings, antenatal classes, the park, playgroup etc) who are probably in much the same boat as you.
So if you're finding it hard to find a child care place for all or some the days you need it, or if the cost of care sends you into a panic, then you really should consider having a chat to some of your new friends and sound out how they'd feel about sharing.
There have always been rumours going around about whether friends can mind your children on a regular basis without being registered child minders or registered for family day care. In the same way as with grandparents, your friends are legally able to look after your children in their own home or yours, with no requirements, as long as no money changes hands, including petrol money and lunch expenses etc.
Once you start paying them expenses or any other money towards food, bills, petrol or entertainment, you are technically paying them for child care and they would need to register as a carer. So keep things totally informal. If you're looking after their children too, then expenses are bound to even out.
Only a couple of generations ago, we were still very much community driven and lived in tight knit packs as opposed to being lone wolves, living side by side, but not interacting. Child care was a family or community group activity. This is still very much the case in many other parts of the world, and in remote or country parts of Australia, but city and suburban dwellers tend to go it alone.
That sense of community has been lost to a certain extent. However with both community and economic benefits for all concerned, it would make sense to re-instil that sense of community and shared responsibility in to our modern suburban lives.
3. Nanny share
If you aren't in a position to take on any reciprocal child care with friends, but still like the idea of sharing, then nanny share could be for you. Increasingly popular due to its flexibility and reduced costs (as opposed to having a nanny to yourself), Nanny Sharing can be great for parents who have children of a range of ages and needs, especially if you need before and after school care/school pick up etc.
Kids get to form really great relationships with the children of another family, older, like-aged children occupy each other while nanny can spend more time with the smaller ones and guess what, introducing a two family set up, particularly if yours is just the one child, helps to teach…yes you got it… SHARING!
Most nanny and au pair agencies now offer a nanny share option whereby they will either find a nanny for two families who approach them together, or they will find another family on their books that matches your needs and then find a nanny for you.
So if you're finding the daily juggle a bit tricky on your own, make it your resolution for July to think about what aspects of your life could be shared to make a significant, positive difference to both your family and your friends' families too.
Sharing is caring!
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