Parents: Take a night off! Published Sept. 11, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Connie L. Bias 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Your kids are your life. You love them dearly and would do anything for them. That "anything" normally means work, laundry, bills, dishes, playing chauffer, helping with homework, making dinner... The list is endless, and parenting is nothing short of exhausting. Parents at Fairchild, however, can look to the Child Development Center and Youth Center for a few hours' break from the constant rush. The centers provide two programs designed to let you sit back and take a break. Parents' Night Out Parents can enjoy more than four hours of childcare on the third Friday night of each month, 6:30 11 p.m., for just $10 per child, a childcare rate you just can't beat. Children 6 weeks to 6 years attend the program at the CDC, and older children through age 12 go to the Deel Community Center and are hosted through the Youth Center. According to childcare professionals here, there are always slots available for the older age group. "The majority of folks who use the program have younger children; the CDC is always full," said Stacy Compton, Family Member Program flight chief. "It would be great, though, to get more of the school-age parents involved. They need a break as much as someone with a newborn does." To run the school-age program, a minimum of eight children must be signed up for a Friday-night session, though the center can accept as many as 24 at once. Youth Center staff use the Deel because it has a wider variety of age-appropriate activities, such as fuse ball and pool tables, and arts and crafts designed for the older children, said Michelle Crawford, school-age coordinator. She also said parents can rest easy that their children are well cared for during the program. "All of our staff complete our training modules, and they're all First Aid and CPR certified," she said. "We would really love to have people utilize it more, and it's really dirt cheap when you think about it. Who can find a babysitter for $10? And everyone here is trained." The next Parents Night Out is Sept. 21. Parents must sign up by noon Sept. 19. No referral is necessary. Give Parents a Break The Give Parents a Break offers "four hours of free childcare to those who need that break," said Ms. Compton. The program targets families who have more than four children or a child with special needs, a deployed family, or a family with other extenuating circumstances that place them under significant stress. For GPAB, parents must obtain a referral from the Airman and Family Readiness Center, the CDC or Youth Center, or a chaplain, first sergeant or commander. The signed referral then goes to the child's age-appropriate center where parents can sign up for the next available GPAB session. GPAB is held twice each month. The first session, held the second Saturday of the month from noon - 4 p.m., is for general-referral parents. The second GPAB, held the last Saturday of each month at the same time, is specifically for deployed families. "The deployed program is an Air Mobility Command initiative," said Ms. Compton. "AMC wanted to do a little bit more for our deployed families, so they found funding to create a second Give Parents a Break. It's free to the parents, but so the CDC and Youth Center aren't going into the hold for operating free childcare, we get reimbursed for some of our costs by the sponsoring Air Force Aid Society." Like Parents' Night Out, the school-age GPAB sessions always have open slots, and the Youth Center staff would like to see more children attend. The signup cutoff for GPAB is also the Wednesday prior to each session at noon. For information or reservations for either program, call the CDC at 247-2403 or the Youth Center at 247-5601.