Tickets are used as compensation for babysitting. The family providing childcare collects tickets from the family requesting care. Payment is per family, not per child. Members count their tickets each month to double-check their Co-op activity records.

Upon joining, members are issued twenty tickets. Ticket value is:

A member holding twenty tickets has a zero balance—no hours owed or earned. If a family has used all their tickets, they cannot ask other members to provide childcare (no IOUs).

Conversely, members should not accumulate more than forty hours of tickets, except in special situations; e.g. when no other Co-op family can provide childcare. Members who have more than forty hours of tickets should try to use the excess tickets promptly.

Members can sit for two Co-op families at the same time and earn double tickets. Exception: they can also provide care for a member along with a non-Co-op family, although payment for the non-member childcare should be agreed upon in advance by both Co-op families.

On the third Sunday of the month, the secretary calls each member. She logs their monthly activity and their number of tickets.

Families in the Wexford neighborhood can join the Co-op. There are no restrictions on when the Co-op can be used—members can exchange childcare during weekdays, evenings, or weekends. New members receive a directory that contains information about contacting other members.

Responsibilities:

• Keep other members informed. Update the secretary about extended vacations and changes in work or family that could affect other members.
• Discuss details of childcare with the parents who provide care.
• When the secretary calls, report childcare exchanges and ticket count on the third Sunday of the month. If members are not home on the third Sunday, then contact the secretary no later than 9PM, Monday. Members may also report activity in advance.
• Provide or use childcare at least every six months.
• Take turns giving a coffee, which is held every four months. At this informal gathering parents get acquainted, update the directory, and discuss Co-op business. New members are encouraged to host a coffee soon after joining.
• Discipline Co-op members’ children using a “time-out” or other corrective method. Spanking a member’s child is not allowed. If a child requires discipline, the parent should be notified as soon as reasonably possible.
• Lock all firearms in a secured area. This ensures the children’s complete safety.

The secretary position rotates to a new member each month in alphabetical order. A schedule is periodically updated and distributed. A new member shall join the secretary rotation when they have been a member for at least six months. If a member cannot perform secretarial duties during their assigned month, they can:

• Calls all members on the third Sunday of the month
• Finishes calls by 9PM Monday, including following up on messages left on Sunday
• Enters all member transactions in the account ledger (Co-op Secretary's Book)
• Records the number of tickets each member holds
• Balances the (Co-op Secretary's Book)
• Sends an email to all members informing them of the three families that are most in need of sitting hours
• Gives the Co-op Secretary's Book to a board member before the end of the month
• Contacts board members with account ledger balancing or other questions

• Discuss and make decisions on Co-op issues
• Updates and distributes secretary schedule and member directory
• Arranges and participates in new member visits and coffees
• Audits the Co-op Exchange Book after the secretary balances each month (duty rotates among board members)
• Delivers the Exchange Book to the new secretary before the third Sunday of the month

The maximum number of families in the Co-op is fifteen. However, additional families may be admitted at the discretion of the board or placed on a waiting list.

Three members serve on the board of directors, either on a voluntary or appointed basis. Each board member serves an eighteen-month term and every six months a new board member begins a term. A member may be elected to the board after being a member for twelve months. Appointed members are selected by seniority of the date they joined the Co-op.

A majority of households must be present to vote at a meeting, and a majority must vote to change the Co-op rules.

Members must return tickets worth twenty hours to the Co-op--thus leave with a zero balance. Members can buy or sell tickets to other Co-op members at a rate of $10 per hour.