In the past couple of decades, a lot of parents have relied on the services of babysitters when it comes to handling their childcare needs. Working parents who are too busy to look after their kids will usually look for a nanny or a babysitter to take care of the children while they are away. Although this is a method that is widely accepted as practical and efficient, times are quickly changing and new child-sitting alternatives are starting to surface. With the current economy causing an uncontrollable increase in the costs of babysitting, hiring a babysitter to take care of the kids might not be a wise decision anymore.

Unknown to many, there is a cost-efficient alternative to hiring a babysitter that parents can actually take advantage of. Known as babysitting cooperatives, these community-based childcare groups can actually eliminate the cost of babysitting through a system of sitting exchange. For those who aren’t familiar with babysitting cooperatives yet, it is a term used to define a group made up of parents that exchange babysitting with one another. Instead of hiring a babysitter, members of babysitting coops handle their child care needs through babysitting exchange. This helps parents save thousand of dollars a year in babysitting expenses and can even help in improving their relationship with the community. Read the rest of this entry »

Dads being involved in the lives of their children is one of the hot topics in parenting. Society has changed and as child care centres we can welcome greater involvement of Dads in the family role and in the day to day routines of children at our centre.

However, in our desire to be all inclusive, and embracing of Dads in child care, we often bypass or forget the fathers’ perspective. In general, Dads are more involved in the life of their children than previous generations. They enjoy being part of their child’s daily routine, and sometimes this is not just an enjoyment, but a necessity with many Mums in part or full time work. Child care services see more Dads dropping off and collecting their children. However, does this mean that Dads want to be more involved in our child care services?

The options of working from home and more flexible employment may support Dads being more involved in child care services. However, we need to be sensitive to Dads who are stretched for time already with work schedules and outside demands, and we need to look for ways of embracing a greater role of fathers in children’s lives while respecting their time and other commitments. Read the rest of this entry »