The Rochester Sweet Peas Playgroup
Connecting families in the Rochester, NY area one meetup at a time
Member Guidelines
The following guidelines have been put into place with the good of the group in mind. We hope that these guidelines will serve to help acclimate our new members, as well as provide direction for our current members, regarding how The Rochester Sweet Peas Playgroup operates as a social network. We know that this group may not be the best fit for everyone so if after reading the Membership Guidelines you feel this group is not a good fit for you/your chil(ren)’s needs, you can remove yourself from our group by visiting your personal profile. We hate to see members go but we understand that we are all different and may be looking for different things.
To be considered an active member of The Rochester Sweet Peas Playgroup, please adhere to the following guidelines:
Profile
- Your member name needs to include your first AND last name.
- You must have a profile including your name, phone number, town and child's name and age (or birthdate if you prefer not to update it often). Also nice, but not required, is spouse's name, info about you such as your job, his job, hobbies, etc.
- You must post a picture. A picture of your child(ren) is necessary to help all of our members become familiar with each other and helps put faces to names when meeting at playgroups. A photo of mom and child(ren) is encouraged, but not required however, since mom is often behind the camera. If you would like one taken, just ask the organizer or a fellow Sweet Pea! We're always happy to help :)
Attendance & Participation
- We are looking for moms who truly want to be active group members. No lurkers please! We want this to be a place for true friendship and support. We ask that you attend at least one meetup per month. Of course we understand that as parents we lead very busy lives and therefor there may be times when you can't attend. All we ask is that you contact the organizer and let us know (obvious exceptions made for illlness, childbirth, etc).
- You must log into the web site at least every week (if you are going to be away for an extended period of time, just let an organizer know so you are not removed from the group).
- Please contribute to the message board. This will allow everyone to get to know each other, and become more comfortable in conversation. It can make some members uncomfortable when a discussion has 200 views but only 3 replies!
Respect & Behavior
- Remember the Golden Rule - Treat others as you would want to be treated! - We are always trying to set a good example for our little ones, so please remember to be respectful and kind towards your fellow members. We will by NO means tolerate any verbal or physical attacks, meanness, rudeness, insults, unwarranted drama, etc. That goes for in-person, gossip, at events, and on-line through e-mails or the message board. Please remember this rule above all others...your membership is at stake!
- Any child that shows a pattern of aggression (physically or verbally) may be removed from the group if the parent(s) do not handle their child's behavior to keep other children from harm. All children go through phases but we as parents are expected
to intervene when necessary so that all children may play safely.
- If you/your child(ren) cause damage to someone's property, the expected behavior of The Sweet Peas would be to offer to pay for/replace the damaged property. No one likes to have to worry about their belongings being damaged when getting together with their fellow playgroup friends :)
- Membership in other local parents' groups must be disclosed to the Organizer upon joining. Conflicts of interest will be addressed by the Organizer and may result in removal from The Rochester Sweet Peas Playgroup.
- Promoting competing local forums or mothers'/parents' groups is not permitted. It took a lot of work to get where we are today, and we will not allow anyone to use the results of our efforts to benefit competing organizations.
Membership Fees & Housekeeping
- All members will be required to pay a $12 membership fee per year to help cover the cost of running the web site. This will be effective 30 days after you sign up for the playgroup in case you decide this is not the playgroup for you! This will be payable to Stephanie and can be paid either in cash, or via Paypal (no credit cards, please!) through the web site. Members who join in the middle of the billing year will be pro-rated based on the month they join at the rate of $1 per month.
*The $12 fee may be adjusted if need be. If $12 is too much/too little, it will be raised/lowered accordingly and members will be notified promptly.
- You must email the organizer from your personal email account so your email is on file when needed.
- You must electronically sign a copy of our Member Liability Release Form and submit to Stephanie via email within your first 10 days of joining.
Event Etiquette
- When you RSVP "yes" to an event, you take up a spot. It affects others when they were blocked out of a playgroup because there were no spots left. You would not stand your best friend up for a coffee date and not notify them if plans change - we expect the same courtesy! :)
- If you RSVP "yes", please come. If you are not able to come, please try to change your RSVP at least 24 hours prior to the event. It is helpful if you do this early in the day or the night before so someone else can have your spot. Ten minutes before the event really doesn't help anyone. All playgroups that have limits will be set up with an Automatic Waiting List, therefore moving the next person up in line into your spot and they will be notified of the change via a system email.
- When RSVPing for yourself and children, please do not add the children as guests, unless we describe it in the event's description. A guest means an adult that you plan on coming with. Guests are allowed occassionally at public events.
- Responding "yes" and not attending an event will result in removal if it happens more than twice. Please just change your RSVP if you are not coming.
- To encourage members to host in-home playgroups, as well as keep things fair, members who host in-homes are allowed to attend other people's in-home playgroups. This ensures that everyone has the opportunity to attend fairly.
- If you/your child(ren) cause damage to someone's property, the expected behavior of The Sweet Peas would be to offer to pay for/replace the damaged property. No one likes to have to worry about their belongings being damaged when getting together with their fellow playgroup friends :)
- For in-home playgroups, please respect the age range of our group. In bringing older children, playgroup hosts would need to re-allocate the number spaces available for the playgroup to accomodate older children, and this is not the focus of the group.
- Please leave feedback after the event. It helps us to plan future events by bringing you the events that have lots of positive feedack. However, please use also use caution when rating events! Excessive disapproval could really damage our appearance to potential new members. If you have a concern and want to share it please contact the organizer first.
Let's Stay Healthy! (Sickness Policy)
Please do not attend a playgroup or event if baby or mom:
- is acting sick
- has thick/yellow/green nasal secretions
- has or has had diarrhea within the last 24 hours - frequent/watery/mucousy/bloody
- has vomitted within 48 hours
- has a fever of 100 or higher taken under the arm or 101 or higher taken orally
- has had a fever within 24 hours
- has eye drainage or bloodshot eyes
- has sore throat
- has continual/harsh/barky cough
- has an undiagnosed rash
- has spot-like rash following low-grade fever and tiredness (might be chicken pox)
- has been on antibiotics for less than 48 hours
- has a communicable disease such as chicken pox or head lice
If clear runny nose, then use your intuition as to whether it's sickness or allergies/teething. (Likely if it's after sickness, it's still contagious.) If you decide to bring baby with clear runny nose, please be diligent about wiping baby's nose.
If you or your child(ren) get sick soon after playgroup, please send an email to the group or post on the message board so they understand that they may have been exposed to a cold, etc.
If you are not coming to playgroup due to sickness, please email the playgroup hostess to let them know.
And Please Consider:
* If you or your child has had something more than the common cold, please confirm with your doctor when they are no longer contagious.
* When in doubt, sit it out! Use your Mom instincts :) If your gut says you or your child is coming down with something or not quite over an illness, then please stay home. We will miss you, but will catch you on the next go round! With children in close proximity it is better to err on the side of caution than cause an illness to travel through the playgroup! If you/your child(ren) wouldn't want to be sick with the illness again, then please stay home and rest until you are well :)
* If you're the mom of an infant or a child with a special health situation, you have to use your best judgment. These guidelines have been set up to avoid the spread of disease as best that we can, but the fact is, at every event, there is something there that could get your child sick.
Marketing Your Business
If one of the main reasons you have joined The Rochester Sweet Peas Playgroup is to sell your at-home business, this is not the playgroup for you and you will be removed. There is to be NO self-promoting (spamming) your business on the message board except in the thread on the message board titled “Got a Business?”. You must be a member for at least 3 months before posting your advertisement. Also, spamming our members via email or greetings (meaning sending unsolicited information about your business to random members) is prohibited. The main purpose of this group is to give our kids and moms a close-knit social circle, not for sales and self-promotion. :)
Waiver/Disclaimer
By applying for membership to The Rochester Sweet Peas Playgroup, you are agreeing to bear the sole responsibility for you and your child(ren)'s safety, comfort, and cost at all events. Regardless of the presence of other adults at events, it is imperative that you be responsible and watch your own child(ren). In addition, event postings are not venue endorsements. You are the only one who knows your child(ren)'s abilities and/or limitations. It is your duty to take these things into consideration before attending an event. Once you have decided to attend an event, you assume full responsibility for any and all associated risks, foreseeable or not. The organizers, assistant organizers, hostesses, as well as meetup.com, are not and cannot be held responsible for any injuries or altercations while at any of The Rochester Sweet Peas Playgroup events. Only moms and their immediate children will be accepted into our group due to liability concerns. Before participating in group activities, you will be required to electronically sign our Member Liability Release Form and return it to Stephanie K. within the first 10 days of membership.