Growing Up Gardens of Friends, Community Networks for Parents, Nannies and Other Caregivers and Kids

After getting excited about the Make Music New York events in June annually (and getting to three musical events this week outdoors for free no less) I decided this is a good time to launch more networking ideas that have been hatching out quietly among friends, playgroup pals, and others all wanting to make a little more time to have meet and greet socials and do a little more with our young uns here in the city.  Caring for the caregiver is part of the juggling act and networks like FG Kids online has an array of topics to tune into from events to recommendations for help or listing needs for childcare, housework or even a plumber. I wrote the following for those 4K members which is a bit daunting, but likely it's old school to some of them. We'll see what works, Also there are FB pages and I heard of one Circle of Moms with 75 million online talking about parenting among many parents, not just Moms.

There could be encouragement for everyone to find a few pals or more (maybe up to 20) who they feel they know by name or can get together with at a park to let kids play and adults talk. Taking time to do some chores together (cooking, cleaning, housework, childcare) as may be okay with all parents and such with pre-approval and terms spelled out may also evolve. Ideally most could do things for free or on a trade basis when networking, but with someone working that would be paid or as decided and hopefully be clear with any precautions or information (about allergies, locking doors, keeping eyes on kids at all times especially in a bath tub or small pool etc, and just promoting safety and hygiene overall.) On that note, here's part one of what I shared and then the next post is a follow up.

Greetings from a newer Grandma (Cath) in the neighborhood. The Fort Greene Park Concerts have started on Wednesdays and were enjoyed by plenty. I have more idea for growing community in posts on my blog www.livfully.org such as Turtle Garden Circle of Friends (TGCOF). I hope to have others join me in setting some times to meet and enjoy socializing to supplement the playgroups and events happening in the area.

 Getting the word out is a bit challenging as is 'self-organizing' and making small commitments, but the overall idea is to encourage more families and caregivers to create a friendly environment and share skills, social ideas for young children and welcome newcomers. 

Many other topics are explored (in journal format) on the blog so feel free to chime in on a comment section and I'll try to get a lot of local voices on there. I have a sample flyer for the TGCOF idea and hope to hear from others so we might add more to that for summer fun.

Ideas for 'starting meeting times' for children of various ages with caregivers at playgrounds such as 1 year olds on Mondays at 1 o'clock and 2 year olds on Tuesdays at 2 o'clock will be explored and 3's on Wednesdays at 3 o'clock, 4's on Thursdays at 4pm, and 5 year olds on Fridays at 5pm. Children through age 2 could meet from 10-11 am on Saturdays and  ages 3-5 from 11a -12p on Saturdays to allow parents to network. 

People could stay for the whole time and join in any session but the idea would be to focus on each age in a special way weekly (even if at home or visiting with others in the area or at events or even online..maybe with FB pages if needed to supplement others.. having a 'special time' to think about both the children and their caregivers, plan for the week and share ideas can be encouraging.)

 Infants could meet at noon. In case time is limited, having girls meet during the first half hour and boys on the half hour could be used (or do activities with each group whether boys, girls, or other grouping of fall/winter birthdays and spring/summer birthdays or however it may be of interest.

More meeting times could be made that work for any given group. Again some 'volunteer planners' to form ideas that could work for those interested would be great. Hope this is helpful. This will be a short term project as I can get to it for now so help is welcome!