On Becoming a Parent in Phoenixville

Until I became a parent 9 weeks ago, I never took notice to things like changing tables in public restrooms, or stairs leading into a business that my stroller cannot navigate, or even places to go with a newborn that wouldn't get me dirty looks from other patrons.  I also never considered all the mega cracks in the sidewalks of Phoenixville that make me pop a wheelie on the Graco travel system, or how I may never use an escalator again.  Although some veteran parents may chuckle at my recent discoveries, it's quite unsettling to a new parent who has absolutely no clue!   Suddenly my old life has been wrapped in a diaper and tossed in the genie (diaper genie, that is).  I needed help and fast!

The problem is that Phoenixville is sorely lacking resources for the itsy bitsy sized and their parents.  It's my quest to find activities for my little one in this town (or close proximity) and share them with the rest of my local novice parents who are seeking the same.  I'll explore Moms groups, the public library, the Y, various family friendly businesses, etc. and post here about the experiences.  Perhaps my readers can even share a tip or two with me if they find something cool to do with a baby in this town.  I'm hoping this blog will both inspire new Phoenixville parents to get out of the house with their babies as well as force me to do the same!  Cheers to the grand experiment of Babies on Bridge!

Healthy Kids Day at the YMCA

The Phoenixville YMCA is hosting its Healthy Kids Day today from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Stop by for fun, games, food, and a photo opportunity with Micky and Minnie Mouse.

 The Spring Valley YMCA is also hosting a Healthy Kids Day from 12 to 2 p.m.

And, outside of the YMCAs, the Baby and Toddler Expo is underway at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center (the big place by the Regal Oaks 24).

Which Y Program is Best for Your Baby – and Why

Winter may be over, but your baby can’t tell spring fever from cabin fever if he or she can’t go outside. They’ll scream, they’ll stomp, they’ll do anything but tell you that they’re not hungry or they don’t want to see the “Dance” episode of Yo Gabba Gabba! for the hundredth time  – they’re just bored. They want slides, ball pits, moon bounces, other kids, and honestly you’d rather give them those things than worry that they’re watching too much television.

So while summer is the best time for playgrounds and parks, parents may want to check out some other options to get their tots through rainy days.  The YMCAs in Phoenixville and Spring Valley offer quite a few programs for kids too young for preschool that will let them have fun before a very long nap time.

The second spring session begins on April 28, so there isn’t much room left on the class lists. Still, if you’re interested in getting your child involved, here are a few programs you may want to watch for in the early summer:

Pee Wee Playground

Think of this as an indoor playground with a supervisor. The kids have a full array of obstacles at their disposal, including a ball pit (at Spring Valley), slides, balls, tunnels, and cushions. The only thing they don’t have is a structure – no songs or circle time. It is a free-for-all where kids (and their attention) wander freely.

Speaking of free, that’s exactly what this class is for full members of the YMCA. It also fills up incredibly fast, so if you want your child here you’ll have to get to the membership desk within minutes of the registration start time.               

Gym Tots

The best thing about this class is that, if your child sticks with gymnastics, he or she will be able to say, “I’ve been doing this since I was a toddler.”

Gym Tots has a little more structure than the Pee Wee Playground, in that each session begins and ends with songs sung in a circle. In between, it’s all free time. The toys tend to be more gymnastically oriented – in other words, more trampolines, ramps, and balance beams – but again the kids have free reign to do what they want to or don’t want to. All the parents have to do is keep up (which is a workout itself) and offer a helping hand when the child attempts the big steps or narrow rails.

My Parent and Me Gym

And now we get to the most structured of the toddler classes. After some free time, the kids start class by singing and dancing in a circle, play games with a parachute, and get a wide assortment of instruments for a musical interlude before ending with “Ring Around the Rosie.”

 Ideally this will teach the kids to follow a routine, cooperate, and even share, but how well they actually do that varies by age and crankiness level. It’s not uncommon for parents to have to sit out an activity or two to calm a crier, so don’t be embarrassed if it happens to you.

Sign Language for Infants/Toddlers

If you’ve heard the stories about how teaching a toddler sign can do anything from boost IQs to improve temper tantrums, you may want to check this class out. I learned from experience that it’s best taken with an infant or child that won’t crawl/run around so much that you’re spending more time chasing than signing.  Even though it’s helpful to learn the sign for “come here,” it doesn’t work when your child is too busy looking through another parent’s backpack to notice you.

For best results, you should get some books or DVDs on sign language to refresh what you learned in class at home. It also helps to dedicate some time when the child can’t look away – such as when he/she is in a high chair or ready for bedtime - to practice the signs. The class will teach you how to sign out such classic books as “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and “Goodnight Moon” so you can add a kinetic element to your storytelling.

Shrimp/Kipper Swim Classes

Getting your child accustomed to water early in life can keep them from being “chicken of the sea” as adults. This very friendly class has parents help their children through the fundamentals of kicking, grabbing water, lying on their backs, and playing with toys. They won’t be Michael Phelps at the end of the session, but even he had to start somewhere.

Parents who are a little hydrophobic can rest assured that their children don’t need to be submerged any more than necessary to blow bubbles – and they don’t even have to do that. Since your little ones will always be in your arms, waterwings or other floatation devices aren’t necessary, but swim diapers definitely are.

Phoenixville Library to Stop First Steps to Reading Program Indefinitely

     
Bad news for parents with children who look forward to fun books, bubbles, and parachute time: The Phoenixville Library will hold its last First Steps to Reading event on Monday, April 30.  And before anyone grumbles about funding or priorities, this is all related to the renovation project for the facility. It’s possible that everything will be back on track soon and our little crawlers will be snapping scarves at iridescent bubbles within a few months, but at this point it’s too soon to be anything but hopeful.

After the playtime following storytime (which is actually a lot of fun for the 15-months-and-up crowd), there won’t be many things for toddlers and babies at the library. Of course, the library won’t be offering much during the month of May at all, because it will be closed from May 7 to 22 for construction. For more information, click here, or go to the meeting on Monday, April 30, at 7 p.m. in the Carnegie Room with your list of questions. Otherwise, just remember that you can borrow books for a little longer while the construction is underway, so you may want to check out any books your little readers may want from the children’s section soon.

Rebecca Krause, Director of Children’s & Young Adult Services says at this point there is no set location to host the First Steps to Reading series, mainly because the room it’s currently in is scheduled to be heavily remodeled (specifically: they’re going to knock down a wall). She says the program could resume in the coming months if they find an appropriate site, but so far nothing’s been promised.

Since we’re on the e-mail list, we’ll keep you posted and let you know when something becomes known. Until then, Monday and Wednesday mornings will be a little less fun for our little listeners.

Top Five Kid Friendly Activities in the Area

First, let me sincerely apologize for letting my readers down in the updating department.  Working full-time and baby creates very little free time to blog about all the fun things we only get to do on the weekends.  My husband, who is my daddy around town during the day, keeps me updated on all the cool stuff for kids that I'm missing out on.

Here's the TOP FIVE KID FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES we have given the "thumbs up" to in kid friendly events:

1. PHX Library's "First Steps to Reading" (formerly "Baby Story Time") program.  (I've included a link to the PHX Library Kid's Calendar to the right and posted some, but not all, of the events they have going on right now).  It's the same fun with books, music, and parachutes that I reported on before.

2.  The Freedom Valley YMCAs Currently he's taking the baby to free "Peewee Playground" on Tuesday afternoons and "Parent and Me Gym" at on Thursdays at the Spring Valley Y.  He takes her to "Baby Sign Language" on Wednesdays and Swim Classes on Saturday at the PHX Y.  (Yes, our baby is very active).  Click here to find a YMCA kids' program you like.  On a side note the Spring Valley Y has a SHALLOW INDOOR POOL for kids.

3. Elmwood Park Zoo- Who knew that Norristown had a zoo???  Not me, until a Groupon showed me fun practically in my backyard.  While this place certainly deserves it's own blog post...who knows when I'll get to that.  They have a variety of cool animals, educational programs for all ages, have an extensive playground, host birthday parties, and you can even camp out there if you are brave!

4. Franklin Commons  - It's rainy, you're hungry, and you need an indoor place to set your child loose to alleviate boredom.  Franklin Commons is your sanctuary.  For those who haven't been there, it's a "mixed-use educational, corporate and recreational facility" located on the north-side of PHX and houses two daycares, Renaissance Academy, a very nice bistro with a very nice indoor play yard (complete with toys) for your little one to explore.  This is the place to meet for a playdate when no one wants to host at their own house.

5. Please Touch Museum- I know it's in Philly, but it's seriously close enough and cool enough to risk 76 traffic and have some fun. Plus, I guarantee your kid will sleep like a rock afterwards.  See all about it in my previous post!

So, now that I've updated the blog, I can put my guilt to rest.  As always, please leave comments of fun places we can review for future blog posts!

Picture People, not quite picture perfect!

It could have been the Xmas season that made Picture People in Exton Mall so ridiculously crowded at 3:50pm on a Friday, but I didn't plan on spending an hour waiting to get our photo taken. A crowded wait area, tons of kids, and my own kid sick, did not bode well with me.

Once we got in the photo shoot, out photographer was so nice, she still had a genuine smile on her face despite the fact that she must have been dealing with cranky people all day. It was a bit rushed though. No more than 15 minutes, and we didn't get even close to the number of poses we had at JCPenney.

The quality of the pics were good though. With a groupon, I managed to get a honey of a deal for a single pose, but then ended up paying a small fortune ($80) on a "duet" portrait. I didn't know how much it cost until I was at the register. Of course they always sell you stuff when your child is in the throws of a post-photo shoot meltdown, which is inevitable.

One bonus is you get your pics immediately. No waiting a week! The down side is you only have the pics on file 2 days before they delete them from the database. You get a miserly week if you buy their membership. What a rip!

Overall, I think I'd go back to JCPenny where I got more for my money despite the wait for the pictures!

Garden Party! Our Trip to Longwood Gardens!

We've had tickets taped to the fridge since July and a million excuses why we couldn't take a trip to Kennett Square this weekend. Finally, the 24 hour Christmas music station got me in the mood to see some amazingly decked out trees. It was time to journey to Longwood.

I was worried about the trip for several reasons:

1. The lengthy car ride and a cranky baby (luckily slept both to and from Longwood!)

2. A lot of walking with a stroller resistant baby (all that walking gave us the blessed and rare 2nd afternoon nap)

3. Potential boredom (Do babies really care that much about flowers? Yes, they do!)

As you can see my fears were laid to rest as we set my child loose in the Children's Garden in the conservatory. This little garden comes complete with dozens of water fountains, cool statues, a discovery station, musical instruments, and a woman with a puppet dog, Woody, to entertain! I didn't realize that it was so kid friendly! Be warned though that your child WILL get soaked in the water fountains, so bring a change of clothes! Longwood will lend you a towel to dry your munchkin up. Now that's thinking ahead!

We did manage to set our 1 year old loose with minimal destruction to the indoor gardens. We took pit stops along the way for snacks, and she was happy as a little girl could be!

We didn't go in the evening to see the lighted trees, but the Christmas route in the conservatory was stunning and worth the journey. Many families were having their Christmas card photos taken in front of the many trees of splendor! If I had thought of it, we, too, would have been wearing our Sunday best! Next year I'll be ready!

Overall, I strongly suggest a visit. But be warned, it is A LOT of walking! Happy gardening!