"It's very difficult to find a babysitter, [because] Harvard undergraduates are very busy," says Theresa M. Sull '84, who is married to Donald N. Sull '85 and is raising three children: Charlie, 5, Phillip, 3 and Elizabeth, 17 months. "Babysitting is a worthwhile activity, but it's not going to go on your resume."

"But then once you do [find babysitters], they're fantastic," she adds. "I mean, Harvard undergraduates are the greatest people in the world."

What Harvard Has to Offer

And according to parents and kids in the houses, Harvard's resources for children and families are some of the best in the world.

"My wife and son during the weekdays and myself on weekends often go to Harvard museums," Cryns says. "[Avery] loves the Peabody Museum, with the stuffed animals and the fossils, and he loves the art museums as well. It's really a very rich environment for him to grow up in."

An administrator at the Graduate School of Education echoes that view.

"I would think...it would be very advantageous, in terms of being in an environment where academic work and studies and [books] and the like are always present," says Vito Perrone, director of teacher education programs.

"And they likely see a lot of musical performance, and they likely see a diversity of students in terms of background and culture," he continues. "I tend to see the environment as mostly a positive environment."

Powell Graham, 7, son of Currier House Masters William and Barbara Graham, has lived in Currier House for five years and seems to have imbibed some of that richness.

Sometimes, Powell "comes out and plays violin for us," says Currier House Committee President Zachary T. Buchwald '96. "That's pretty clever.... I can't imagine that taking place not having grown up in an environment of this nature."

Where They Meet

The center of interaction between students and children seems to be the dining hall.

"We like watching [the kids] at dinner, because they're really funny," says Kristy L. Garcia '98, who lives in Leverett House. "They're really cute, because they run around in capes and stuff."

And Sozinho said that the Leverett kids follow him around in the dining hall.

"Sometimes things get a little serious in the dining halls, and [the kids] come in and break it up," he says.