MOMS Club of 

Falls Church-North

Phone: (866) 841-9139 ext. 2245

[email protected]

www.geocities.com/fallschurchmomsclub

   Babysitting Co-Op Rules      and Procedures

OBJECTIVE

MEMBERSHIP

POINTS

COORDINATOR

MEETINGS

GENERAL INFORMATION

OBJECTIVE

To provide occasional, quality child care for one another through the trade of babysitting services.

MEMBERSHIP

1. Only members of the MOMS Club of Falls Church are eligible to join the Co-op.

2. There is no cap to membership in the Co-op. If the roster gets very large, the membership may opt to split into two smaller groups.

3. Prospective members must be added to the membership roster before they may use or provide babysitting.

4. Members must attend a yearly membership meeting to retain membership in the Co-op.

5. Members pay $2 in yearly dues.

POINTS

1. A point system will be used to keep track of the amount of time each member is available to trade.

2. Upon joining the Co-op. a member with one child will be allotted 40 points, with 2 children 80 points, with 3 children 120 points, etc.

3. Points will be “spent” and “earned” on the basis of how many children are       left with another member and the length of time they stay. A member leaving one child will pay two points per hour, a member leaving two children will pay three points per hour.  A member leaving three children will pay four points per hour and so on.  (Two points for the first child plus an additional point for each additional child.)

4. For partial half-hour periods, the guidelines are as follows: less than 10 minutes, no points charged or earned. More than 10 minutes, points are earned for the entire half hour.  All points used and earned shall be rounded up to the nearest whole point value.  No half-point totals should be reported to the pointkeeper.

5. If a sitter goes to the child’s home, the sitter shall earn one extra point per hour regardless of the number of children.

6. The Coordinator will maintain a log book of hours used and earned by each        member.  

7. When a member either uses or provides babysitting, she should call  or  e-mail the Coordinator to report the number of points used and by whom.

8. When a member's account drops to 0 points, she must baby-sit for others before she can use any more services herself.  The ideal would be for each mother to keep between 25 and 75 points.           

 COORDINATOR

The Coordinator shall:

1. Oversee efficient operation of the Co-op and serve as the liaison between the Co-op and the MOMS Club Executive Board.

2. Preside over membership meetings.

3. Arrange sites for meetings and notify members of the time and place of upcoming meetings.

4. Maintain an account of the points used and earned by each member.

5. Maintain and distribute a roster of current members, to include relevant information about members’ homes.

6. Write a monthly report of the Co-op for the MOMS Club of Falls Church newsletter.

 MEETINGS

1. A membership meeting will be held yearly to discuss any necessary business and to allow parents and children to become familiar with the other participating families. Membership business will also be handled over e-mail.

2. Responsibility for hosting the membership meeting shall rotate among Co-op members.  The hosting family shall earn 5 points per meeting hosted.  

3. Members must attend at least one meeting each year in order to remain active in the Co-op.

4. All decisions of the Co-op will be made at meetings and by majority rule.

 GENERAL INFORMATION

1. The babysitting activity group is set up as a co-operative, with mothers trading hours of babysitting and no money changing hands.

2. Every house used for babysitting must be baby-proofed, even if every house is not expected to be used for babysitting babies.

3. An emergency medical authorization for each child must be filled out by the mother and left with the sitter each time.

4. Only MOMS Club members may sign up to participate and only members signed up with the Co-op may participate.

5. There shall be no “group sits” in which one mother or family baby-sits for more than one other mother or family at a time unless agreed upon by all parties in advance.

6.  All babysitting must be 100% adult supervised by the MOMS Club member in the babysitting Co-op. No child or children may be left alone under any circumstance, and they must have direct adult supervision, in the same room, at all times.

7. Neither the MOMS Club nor the Co-op members make any endorsement about the safety of any home nor any member’s babysitting ability.  The Co-op may decline a member’s request to join the Co-op based on home conditions or their assessment of the member’s babysitting techniques. The fact that the Co-op has allowed a member to join the Co-op does not in any way indicate that the MOMS Club or the Co-op endorses the use of the home or the member for babysitting.

8. All arrangements through the Co-op are voluntary—no mother has to use any particular babysitter and no mother has to baby-sit for any particular mother/child. No reasons for declining to use a particular sitter or for refusing to sit for a particular member are required. All decisions concerning the safety or appropriateness of any situation rests with the mothers involved.

9.  Children shall not be taken from the sitter’s home without the parents’       permission.

10. The Co-op is an arrangement made among friends and based on      consideration, trust and fairness. It is suggested that members call their sitter the day before a scheduled sit to confirm arrangements.  Phone calls for Co-op business should be made between 8am and 9pm.  Cancellations should be made with as much notice as possible.

This policy was last updated May 4, 2003.  For additional information,

please contact Ari A.