What to do with all those kids?
Monday, Gov. DeWine announced K-12 schools will not be returning to the classroom and will finish the school year at home. As parents struggle with ensuring their school-aged children have the resources and attention needed to complete their school work remotely, another challenge looms for many parents.
The state is inching closer to the May 1 date when some businesses will begin to reopen under strict guidelines. That means some parents being called back to work. However, in the same Monday press conference, DeWine says “we are not ready yet to open up any daycare facilities.”
“As you have a number of kids together, and then you have them going back to their respective homes, which is a perfect recipe for spread,” he said. “That’s true with whether it’s the flu or whether it’s COVID-19.”
This leaves parents without daycare options in a tough spot as many will not be able to go back to work even if offered the chance. This is an especially difficult choice for single moms who may have no option but to stay home and not work.
One strategy may be to look for temporary babysitters or nannies using the wide-variety of online apps built for just that. Think Lift or Uber but for babysitting. Most feature background-checked sitters and some even reference your social media friends to suggest sitters your friends have booked before.
These sites offer everything from last-minute sitters to regular, every day au pair. Local rates range from $10-$20/hour based on experience, scheduling and frequency. A few of the top sites include:
Sittercity (app)
Bambinositters (app)
Sitter (app)
If you have a friend in a similar situation, you also might think about joining forces to split the cost of temporary childcare until normal daycare operations resume. If readers have any other resources or ideas they would like to share, please leave them in the comments below.
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