The first few years that they were parents, Gail and Darin dreaded the stress of the Christmas season. The difficulty of shopping with a child in a stroller made an already arduous task even more tiring. The only way to avoid taking their baby daughter with them was to do all of their shopping seperately, while one spouse stayed at home. They avoided Christmas parties, caroling with their friends, and many of the activities they would have loved to take part in. They werent bitter or begrudging-they loved their daughter and loved being with her-they just found that the constant attention a child requires prevented them from enjoying many of Christmass traditions.

By the time they had their second child, a son, their little girl was in preschool, and Gail and Darin knew some of the other school parents-parents with the same Christmas-time issues. But, along with the other parents, they developed a solution, by forming a babysitting pool.

Around Thanksgiving, the parents share their planned schedules with each other via e-mail-which nights theyve been invited to parties or other holiday functions which might not be enjoyable for their kids, etc. They also share the dates on which theyre willing to babysit each others kids, including weekend days, when most people do their shopping. Then someone in the group collates all the information and dates, and draws up a calendar, with each set of parents babysitting schedules. And usually, each household only has one day or night for which theyre responsible for the other families children.

And the group, as a whole, strives to make each familys babysitting night or day as easy and effortless as possible. When they drop their kids off at the designated baby-sitters house, they also drop off food or games for the kids to share, so everyone shares the time and expense of the pool.

The kids all love the plan because it means that three or four times a season, they go to "parties" with their friends, where theyre much more comfortable than they would be at Dads bosss house or running from mall to mall while Mom and Dad shop. The parents love the plan because their kids are being supervised by other adults they trust.

And the parents who babysit always end up enjoying their time as well. Besides the food that the other parents drop off, they can rent videos to keep the kids occupied, or supervise games with holiday themes. One family loves to have all the children help to trim their Christmas tree and decorate their house.

At the end of the season, Gail and Darins group gather at one familys house for a New Years Day party-they usually hire a babysitter for the day, and reserve a portion of the house for the children, while the parents gather together for a relaxing day of food, friendship, and football.

Many parents find themselves dreading all the hassles of the holiday season each year, without realizing that their friends-other parents-are in exactly the same boat. With a little communication and cooperation, parents can work together to make sure everyone in their circle has as pleasant a Christmas as possible.

Gail and Darin love Christmastime, now. Theyre able to share the joy of the season with their children and spend time alone together, as adults, in ways they thought they never would-at least for another decade.

About the Author

J Gardener, a writer for Imaginary Greetings, Inc. (http://www.imaginarygreetings.com), is an award winning screenplay copywriter and a regular contributing author on many family oriented issues. Imaginary Greetings offers highly imaginative personalized family oriented products and services. To make your holiday display magical, visit http://www.holidaylighting.com.