Need a Break? But How...

Ring, ring.

Me: Hello?

Friend: I need a break!

Me, sighing: I know.

Friend: How am I supposed to get a break? My baby won't nap unless I'm walking, my hair is actually two tone now, I've been wearing the same clothes for three days, and I have no one to look after the baby. I just want an hour! One freaking hour!

So, as I have mentioned, I am lucky to have some incredibly special mommy friends. Some old, some new, and all very important to me. And we all need a break sometimes. Man, do we love our kids, but the transition from all night party girl to dinners and movies to nothing is a huge lifestyle change. It is all worth it, and what makes us all get up again and again and again through the night is our children. But sometimes, we just need some time to ourselves.

I've had the same circular conversation with my friends for years. With the skyrocketing cost of childcare, busy friends and some with no help from their families, how does any mom get a minute to herself? I am so lucky to have my parents living around the corner. Once a week, they pick up my son from preschool and also take my daughter for a few hours here and there so I can do some work, become a "natural" blonde again or just grab a coffee and read a book for a little while. Most of my friends aren't so lucky. Some don't have parents, some have parents who live far away, and some just don't have that kind of relationship with their families.

So I decided to do some research. With all of the delicious stuff online for moms, I knew there had to be some solution. And lo and behold, there is! Launching in June, sitswap.ca is (http://www.sitswap.ca/) the answer to the problem almost every mom faces at some point in her child raising years. Sitswap.ca is like match.com for moms: an online community of moms who can build friendships, find other moms in their neighbourhood, and eventually, exchange babysitting. And we can go and do whatever--get a relaxing massage, go shopping and actually try on clothes or unbelievably, see a movie. During the day. Alone.

It sounds a bit sketchy at first, I'll admit. It is extremely hard to trust anyone with our kids. Before I let anyone near the two most important little people in my life, I thoroughly check them out. I researched the hell out of my son's preschool, and I have seen inside the lives of the new people I've met. But everyone you meet is new in the beginning. To find more people in my neighbourhood, who perhaps are like me, simultaneously working from home and being a fulltime mom, would be awesome. And to meet online? It's kind of exciting to see who I might find.

For all of the moms who can't find babysitters, can't afford the almost $2000 a month for daycare or are at the very bottom of the never ending subsidy list, sitswap.ca is revolutionary and timely. This Toronto-based website will bring together moms and kids and create the village that it takes to raise great children. Because their moms will be happy. And there is nothing more important than that.