Ya' know, it would be so nice to go out and have some fun. And ironically enough, my problem isn't even that I can't get a date.....it's that I can't afford a sitter so I can go out. I'm so frustrated!

I don't want to introduce new men to my kids, so I won't let them come here. And my friends have watched the kids for free at different times. But I get so frustrated when I meet someone I'd really like to go out with every weekend, but I can't afford to shell out $20 a week for a sitter.

Got a suggestion? Or you can whine too and we'll have a pity party....

Anna,

Do you live in a neighborhood? You could start a babysitting co-op. I was president of ours for awhile. It's a great way to meet new friends. If you don't know how it works, here's a little info.

You form a club. You make business cards and distribute a number of them to members. Here's a site I found and below is similar to how we did it...

http://mt.essortment.com/babysittingcoop_rvzh.htm

* There is no need for a secretary to keep track of hours with the hour-card system. Each member receives 30 hours worth of cards in one, one-half, and one-quarter hour increments. She pays whoever babysits her children with these cards—a one-hour card for one child per hour and a one-half hour card for each additional child per hour.

I don't remember if we did 30 hours worth of cards. It seems like we did a little less than that.

Anyway, we had a small fee as well...Not much, I think it was $7.00 each.

We had meetings, we had cookie exchanges, and so forth. It was a lot of fun!

Hope this helps!

The other ANNA

I'm sorry Anna. Y'know, lots of 3rd world countries have children do manual labor for pay... maybe you can teach your kids to make outfits for that SCA org you participate in? <grin> It's not child labor if it's your own kids right? LOL.

I'm curious... have you talked to your kids about dating? Maybe to them, it's not the issue you think it is? Perhaps you could work out a deal whereby they save their allowances or do chores, etc. and then "buy" you a night out as a present for their mommy? There has to be a creative way around the lack of cash issue.

Hmmmmm........not sure the child labor thingie works. Unfortunately, I can't afford to give them allowances either. They don't mind me going out.....in fact, they love having a sitter! But at 7, 10, and 11 I can't really leave them alone for any length of time. We haven't gotten child support in several months, so we're trying to make it on $800 a month and it's not exactly easy.

What about getting a babysitter and then going on dates that don't cost money?