Conference moira::parenting_v3

One suggestion is to see if you can find a high school or (less likely) 
college student who might be interested in providing daycare for your son in 
your home.  Problem is, it may be too late for this, since most kids pretty 
much have their summers planned by now.


Clay

    I haven't had to address this problem yet but I have thought about
    it.   If my daycare provider were to take time off that I or my
    husband could not cover with vacation time, I have a couple of
    full-time mom friends who have offered to take Jason in emergencies.
    These women could take him for a week or two here and there, but
    aren't interested in doing daycare for a living.
    
    Jason is beginning the seperation anxiety phase, so I'd be hard
    pressed to leave him with "strangers" at this point.   He is also
    a baby that thrives on routine which is why we would try to 
    cover the time off ourselves.
    
    cj/

    Some private childcare providers offer this service.  
    
    The sisters that watch my son (in Hollis) will take children 
    during the summer (or anytime) as a backup for parents for just
    this situation.  They are licensed for more than they want to 
    take in on a full time basis.  
    
    I believe the Childcare Resource center can provide you with names
    as well.     
    
    -ali

    Call the Office for Children in Worcester or Framingham and they
    will send you a list of liscenced providers you can call. Also,
    if your sitter is liscenced, she is required to have a backup by
    the OFC (I have filled out the applications in the past).
                                                           
    Dot

    I have two backups for these occasions and they are both stay-at-home
    moms.  One is a licensed provider who normally only takes in one
    child besides her own two and the other is a friend who has only
    her own two-year old daughter.  My daughter knows both of these people
    and their kids so she doesn't flip out if I bring her there when her
    regular sitter is on vacation or if one of her kids gets sick.  It's
    hard to find backup, though.  I consider myself very lucky.
    
    - Kathryn
    

    Both our homecare providers came with their own backup networks,
    through other providers on the same street.  It worked wonderfully. 
    They would arrange their vacation schedules so there was always
    coverage without too many kids.  They covered for each other either for
    expectable appointments or unexpected illness.  Since they got together
    for group play fairly often anyway, the kids already knew both the
    alternate provider and the kids in her care.  And the providers and
    parents knew each others' routines, and could rely on the usual
    equipment, etc.  The first time we lucked into such an arrangement; the
    second time we actively sought it out.
    
    		- Bruce

    In our area over the last eight years their are a few woman who 
    are professional Providers. These women developed over trial and error
    several backup systems. All of them take into accout Child's Safety,
    Overenrollement, and amout of time for planning.
    
    During planned vacations Cathy usually leaves town and has each parent 
    take one of thier own vacations days and do sub-care.(this is
    stipulated in the contract I signed.) For the other week she hires a 
    substitute at her expence to do Sub child care in her home.
    
    The sub has already been trained and the children already know her.
    The parents are visible to the children at one time or another and they
    know them that way. The children stay in the same situation with thier
    "buds" while Cathy is away.
    
    This method was developed over time and the first time we tried it
    it was a "would you do this for me" type situation. I really liked the
    idea because it gave me the opportunity to really get to know what she
    does for me.
    
    More resently(In the last three years) their have been times when
    we (clients and cathy)have had to think of something because
    Cathy needed two operations. Both were nessicary and both
    were sudden neccesities. In these cases temporary care was always 
    provided if you wanted it but you could chose to take your children
    somewhere else for a while or permentally. Temporary care came once in
    the form a close family friend flying in to do sub-care for 6 weeks
    while all attemped to make sure Cathy would not get out of bed(we
    wanted her to heal quickly).
    Once we filled days with grandmothers of the children who were in
    care.
    
    As clients we worked with Cathy to help her continue to provide 
    loving service she couldn't possibly be payed enough for. It benifits
    me and my children.
    
    More resently an intense personal trama caused all of Cathy's friends
    to work together to find subcare for her clients and we ended up
    agreeing to split the children between two other licenced Day Care
    Homes in the city. I already knew both of the suggested homes and
    thier kids. These women believe that Family Day Care is 
    "Family Oriented". They strive to offer safe loving care for my 
    children and they ask that I do some things to help them be long 
    term providers. Cathy has done this for years and is now in Boston
    trying to sell a training package that will help other areas create
    envionments for people who want to do childcare and not get burned 
    out. 
    
    
    When you start hearing the term "Master Provider" you know she has
    hit your area.
    janet
     
    

    RE: .4  
    
    I believe that the back-up that the Office for Children requires is for
    emergencies only, such as if you need (God forbid) to take a child to
    the emergency room etc.
    
    Just my .02

    Just a quick follow up on the base note.  I called Child Care
    Connection as well as Child Care Search.  FYI if you call these be
    quite sure to mention you work for DEC.  One of them is charging a
    minimum fee to non-corporate users, the other has shortened it's hours
    considerably, except for corporate users.  They also have specific
    contact people for DEC employees.
    
    On the solution, I found both places quite willing to give me halfdozen
    or so names of people who would take my son for the two week period. 
    As it turned out I ended up using a daycare center sponsored by the
    YMCA, which has several branches around Worcester County.  AJ has had
    almost two fabulous weeks and I think he's really going to miss it when
    he goes back to his regular daycare home.  His potty training was a
    real problem and they seem to have gotten it under control, he hasn't
    had a single diaper on in the whole time there.  He comes home in such
    a wonderful mood and can't wait to get there in the morning.  Now if
    only I could get my act together and start liking to pack him a lunch
    every day.  With my regular sitter increasing her rates in Sept to
    premium price, this could be something we could get used to.
    
    Lyn