Reply #5: my co-op was organized a little differently

[MassLiberal]

We had a secretary too, and part of his/her job was handing out a monthly balance sheet of everyone's hours. Then, instead of going through the secretary to find a sitter, each parent could choose his or her own sitter by looking at the balance sheet and seeing who needed to earn a few hours. Ater sitting, the sitter would call (in the pre-email days!) the secretary and report the hours so that the secretary could record them. It worked great.

We also had monthly meetings, just so co-op members could hang out and get to know each other better, and we had an annual family holiday party in December, an annual family camping trip in June, and family picnics every spring and fall. The kids loved it--we all did. Most of the co-op's members were transplants from out of town and had no extended family nearby, and we all became like each other's extended families. It was a wonderful time in my family's life, and we're still close with most of the friends we made through the co-op.