Hello, everyone. I posted a question on a different thread, and Jaysdad suggested I repost it here (thanks for the advice!) My idea goes like this...I was thinking of trying to find enough parents in my community that have difficulty paying for childcare, and organize a trade-off. The idea is that each parent would have a little more personal time, and in exchange would help another parent do the same. So my open question to the board is this: Would you be willing to have a few extra kids in your home for a few hours a day in exchange for a few hours each day to do what you need/want, free of charge? I don't know if this would work on a larger scale, such as on an 8-hour shift,but it could free up time for school, shopping, etc.

Hi Martin,
In theory it sounds good, just not sure how it would work in real life particularly on the larger scale.
If you were to find just the right group of people and just the right schedules to intertwine correctly maybe, but there is where I think the problem might come in.
On a smaller scale I think people/friends could benefit from the thought, for the occasional type thing.

Oh and I moved it back to Child Care forum, but as a new post it should still get good response.

A friend of mine and I tried this for a while, and it worked for us for several reasons. We are both single moms and only live a few streets apart. Our kids have grown up together from being in the same daycare and now the same school. She worked nights and I worked days. She would pick my son up from school w/hers in the afternoons. I picked the boys up from her when I got off from work so she could go to work. In the mornings, she would swing by my house and take the kids to school. I only had to stop it because I was having no interaction w/the people that cared for my son all day, and I didn't like that. I still watched hers at night for her. It will work, but, like Don said, it would require the right group of people w/the perfect schedules to intertwine.