Michigan: No Free Babysitting allowed!

Common-sense government at work:

Each day before the school bus comes to pick up the neighborhood's children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms, welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they left for school.

Regulators who oversee child care, however, don't see it as charity. Days after the start of the new school year, Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services warning her that if she continued, she'd be violating a law aimed at the operators of unlicensed day care centers.

Snyder's house is at the bus stop, so sheltering the kids for an hour a day or so seemed to make sense. But, hey, a rule is a rule!

Under state law, no one may care for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are licensed day-care providers. Snyder said she stopped watching the other children immediately after receiving the letter, which was well within the four-week period.

Apparently, a local Mrs. Kravitz dimed her out. Meanwhile, I'd suggest that Snyder start organizing her fellow Bus-stop Sitters into a union (local B.S. #1?) for protection and potential compensation down the road. Hey, it worked for crossing guards....