I recently had a discussion with my mom about the differences in parenting nowadays versus when she was a new mama. I was lamenting on the absence of flexible childcare options, specifically for those of us with alternative careers in which we may only need a few hours to go meet a client or get some writing done. Everything is so formalized and strict nowadays and flexibility seems like an alien concept when it comes to childcare. My mom told me about their old neighborhood Co-op- a group of neighbors with kids all around the same age that decided to work together to provide safe, reliable and free childcare. What an awesome idea!! But why hadn’t I heard of on one in my neighborhood? I mentioned the concept to a few of my mama friends who all stared back at me with wide as moon eyes, “you can do that, what a good idea!” but then , “yea but what if the neighbors are weird… I’d rather pay someone and have a background check”. Whatever happened to community guys?! I understand safety is a priority but I don’t think we are any more un-safe than our parents were 25 years ago?! I think with the right mix of like-minded people looking to achieve a common goal there is incredible opportunity to make lemonade out of life’s childcare lemons : )