Community Programs

I am very thankful that our community has a few free programs for little children. I believe these are good for a couple reasons. First, it helps get you, the mom (or parent), out of the house and around other parents. Second, it gives the child time around other children. Third, it gives the child stimulation and helps them learn and grow. And lastly, it is a great bonding time with your child.

In our community the first program I took my daughter to was Story Time at the local library. Now, I believe she was only about 3 months old at the time I took her, so the lady sort of looked at me weirdly like ‘why is she here?’. It also didn’t help that I was the only parent there at first … but one more did show up a little late (thankfully). While of course my daughter won’t remember the story, I wanted to go because of all the reasons listed above. I would (hopefully) be around other parents, my child would be around other children, and she would learn. And, I find that when I am out and about with her I am more attentive and focused on her rather than at home when I’m sometimes trying to do 30 other things. We have now gone a few times and the looks changed from “why is she here” to being happy that she is there. They also do a craft after the story and even though my daughter can’t really craft yet, she did get a marker and colored a little bit. We have gone a few times with a friend of ours, so like I said, it’s also a great time to bond with other moms.

Waiting for our FIRST story time at the local library to start!

Another program we have in our community is called Musical Munchkins. When I went to this the first time…the room was PACKED, and I was late…So I felt really awkward going in, but I knew I wanted to check it out, and I know that music can be really helpful for children’s development. It just got even more awkward from there for me because they were singing nursery rhymes, of which I knew almost none, and unfortunately neither did my 3 month old 😂. After singing (pretending to sing) nursery rhymes, out came the instruments. So I grabbed a maraca for my girl and we held it and shook it a bit. I haven’t gone back to Musical Munchkins as much as I have gone to story time, but it is still a program that I am thankful our community has for young children. As I’m writing this, I am reminded that sometimes I need to step out of my comfort zone and go to something that is a bit awkward for me. So, I plan on going back to this one soon…

Do you have some free programs in your community to take your child(ren) to?

Remember, mama, you are doing an amazing job whether you take your little one(s) to all the community programs, some, or none.