helpin' out a friend; or, breakin' the law??

one recent morning, i wanted to know what the weather people thought the weather was going to be doing. so i decided to switch on matt and meredith on nbc. instead of our usual fare of "handy manny" in the early mornings. and oh, what a delight that was! instead of the tools trying to mastermind a way to help manny get over to kelly's hardware store (because manny secretly loves kelly is my whole take on that show, but that is another post.)...i got to hear about a woman from michigan who is deep, deep trouble for letting her neighbors' kids wait for their schoolbus at her home. at first i was all "what the hamfat is that?!". and then after hearing about the michigan state childcare and wellfare (or whatever it's called...) regulations and the reasons "why" this lady is breakin' the law, i was still all "what the hamfat is that?!". so, let me get you up to speed:

a mom in Michigan who watches her friends' children before the bus comes each day received a letter from the state saying she's violating the law and could be fined or even go to jail. watch the video here. she is not being paid by the other 3 families. just helping them out...since she is a SAHM and they all work. seems logical to me. especially the ole saying of "it takes a village to raise a child". i know of moms who trade "childcare" all the time to help one another out. i also believe in some type of karma reaching the person who "ratted" on this mom and her supposed in-home daycare! in Michigan, they even go so far as to say if you host a playdate and the other parent isn't home (chooses to run an errand), then the host parent is now considered a "childcare provider." i decided to check out my state's regulations regarding this...and oh boy! here it is:

nebraska law requires that anyone providing child care to four or more children at any one time from families other than that of the provider must obtain a license.

so, she'd be breakin' the law here, too! ikes! for a mere 45 minutes, five days a week...interesting.

i think i should call my sister-in-law (who works for cps) and get her take on this...maybe i'll report my findings in another post. i'm all nancy drew like that, folks.