Mind blown with bubble wrap.
It took a little time but having a baby has opened up a whole new universe of friends to me. I didn't do National Childbirth Trust (NCT) classes, where many new parents meet each other, because we couldn't afford it and at first I thought I'd made a big mistake. At the end of Frankie's first 8 weeks of life, after the visitors had left and the cards stopped coming, after my mister got busy with work, and Frankie-Rose started to settle in to a routine, I started to feel a wee bit lonely. Shortly after this, we joined baby swimming classes and I forced myself to be brave and ask other mums if they wanted to meet for coffee and it sort of spiraled from there; I've met friends of friends of friends, their families, their NCT groups, yoga groups etc. This is one of the many reasons that having a baby in London is brilliant, I think. Just a tiny bit of effort and I find myself in the midst of a group of new friends.
When Frankie-Rose was still tiny, I met some other mums who wanted to organise a group focussed on sensory activities for our babies. Word spread and after a flurry of emails, 12 of us found ourselves organising a weekly baby group that we each take turns to host. The host chooses the theme each week and organises a few baby activities, and everyone turns up with biscuits and cake.
Here are some pics of our little group over the last year. (Not all of these photo's are mine)
Playing with silk scarves
A ball pit!
Sensory bottles (water, food colouring, olive oil and glitter, I think)
Bubbles! Lots of bubbles.
Crinkling tissue paper. (also sporting a bib I made)
Some potato printed goodies- this was more fun for the mum's I think!
Salt Dough hand prints
Potato printing
Crappy instagram pic of my 'space snakes' (spaghetti and strips of plastic bags plus blue food dye) and 'radioactive space swamp'! (glittery red jelly)
Our little baby group has become one of the highlights of my week and I have loved everyone's creativity. The babies have ridden a submarine under the sea, taken a musical trip to animal farm, and enjoyed a metaphorical trip around London to the rhythm of an amazing made up song. We have brandished flags in celebration of Albanian independence and covered the floor in food. We've waved silk scarves over the babies heads, acted out stories for them, bounced them along to lots of different music, bent and stretched their tiny limbs in yoga moves, sang Geordie folk songs to them and taken them on a 'bear hunt'.
One afternoon, I filled an array of plastic tubs with jelly and cold spaghetti and plastic bags, and ceremoniously named one tub Space Snakes and another Space Swamp. The babies plunged their hands and feet into the gelatinous, e-number coloured goo with glee. Another day we let the babies loose on a basement filled with musical instruments, including a full sized drum kit.
The group tends to last for hours, with everyone enjoying a good excuse to chew each others ears off about baby stuff, politics, partners and life in general.
The same group has just set up a babysitting time bank too, whereby at least two people go to your house and look after your baby for between 2-3 hours to give you time to do something on your own. It's heavenly. You give two sessions to receive one and everyone is loving it so far. If you're in a similar group and are in need of a bit of a break- suggest this! It's great!
What do you think? Are you part of a baby group or 3? Would you consider starting your own? Did you find it easy to meet other people?
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WOW, this sounds seriously brilliant. What a great idea. I must say I loved the new friends I made as a side effect of having a baby, it's such a intense period of change being a new parent and sharing that makes a great friendship-foundation.
ReplyDeleteYes,such a ot of change in such a short period. I think the main benefit is having other people to ask 'is this normal'!
DeleteWhat fabulous ideas - both the sensory play and babysitting. Having a lovely group of mum pals is such a lifesaver and it sounds like you have hit on a fantastic crowd. I know I would have been lost without my NCT ladies xx
ReplyDeleteP.S. is it possible that I might recognise a couple of those gorgeous littluns from Sing and Sign? If so - small world!!
Meg- yes! hah! such a small world! I think 3 of the baby sensory group g to sing and sign!
Deletesounds fab. When my son was born I lived in quite a rural area of Wales but i joined a baby and toddler group ( my daughter was 15 months) and we had an absolute blast, trips out etc was one of the happiest times ;)
ReplyDeleteOh wow this looks amazing I'm so jealous! We couldn't afford NCT either and a couple of people I know around the country having babies are bestest buds with their NCT people. I'm struggling to get out there especially because I'm leaving my village in a month but hopefully when we move to a city (albeit the only city in Wiltshire haha)I'll be able to throw myself into baby groups
ReplyDeleteThis is such a wonderful idea and has now got me thinking! I joined a baby sensory group when I had my first daughter (who is now 3). I only joined to meet other mum's in the area and at £6.50 an hour I thought it was a bit of a rip off to sit in a circle singing and popping bubbles. I also did baby massage. I had my second daughter 7 months ago and feel awful that I haven't done the whole mummy group thing with her-difficult when you have a three year old in tow.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to set up a toddler/pre school baking/cooking group. To teach children where food comes from and how to cook and bake. I actually met another mum who didn't know how to make a basic sponge and would buy those packets of cake mix for her daughter to bake cakes with. I bake nearly every day with my 3 year old. She actually asked for her own set of utensils and mixing bowl for Christmas.
Love your post. After my first son, my baby group was a life saver!! I had no family near by and no mum. So I really felt like I had no idea what I was doing and no one to ask! It was organised through the health visitor. It was for up to one year olds, so when they all hit one, we would take it in turns to host at our houses. We never organised any activities, it was just really to have a good old 'is this normal?' natter!! My oldest son is 5 now and at school. I am still in touch with some of the other Mums but our children have all gone to different schools so it's difficult to get together. My youngest son is 2 and it has been totally different. I haven't gone to any baby groups as I just haven't had the time. I do feel this is a shame as he doesn't have as many friends as his big brother had at his age. He tends to just fit in with whatever big brother is doing! I haven't needed as much support this time as I was more confident in what I was doing, so it just hasn't really been a priority. I do miss those chats though!! Enjoy!! x
ReplyDeleteI did the NCT and it has been great for us! I did not know anyone where we lived - and commuting into London means no talking on the train! I love the idea of a babysitting time bank! Sometimes you just need a couple of hours to yourself!
ReplyDeleteIt's so good that you have formed this group. It's essentail, I think to have people around you at the same stage you are at with children. It's great for the kids and it's support for you! Your activities all look so fun.
ReplyDeleteWhen they are a wee bit bigger, they might enjoy sensory balloons. You take photos of things - rice, water, jelly, flour etc and fill the balloons with them, and the kids squish them and match the texture to the photo.
One of my friends said that her mum had a deal with two other mums so they could do the shopping without the kids when she was growing up which sounds just perfect - making it easier for mums and kids! This sounds like such a good idea and the baby sensory thing is amazing - and makes you remember that so much is new to them when they are new themselves!
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