A Comfortable Place for Parents
This aspect of our community cafe is very near and dear to me, as a mother of young children myself. It is so very difficult to find places where you can feel as comfortable and welcome as one might feel in their own home, especially while the kiddos are very young. Stay at home/work from home parents need more support & a place to get out, as it can be an incredibly isolating affair raising kids full time. Working parents juggling their workload AND raising children could use a place to get out of the house where their kiddo can have fun and they can get some work done without junior climbing on them the entire time, or maybe even get a little break!
There will be an especially strong emphasis on postpartum support for new moms, & moms of young children. We will rally around each other & offer a comfortable place to get out of the house, & get the support these mamas need & deserve. There will be opportunities to meet up with other moms & just to get involved in community offerings to maintain their sense of self while navigating this long and arduous journey that is parenthood.
On an every day basis, there will be a well thought out, engaging children's play area. We will make sure to rotate out the toy selection so that the children will be engaged and having fun during each visit to our café, while mom finally finishes that email she's been working on for three days.
In addition to open play, we plan to offer many regularly scheduled kid and family friendly events in the community rooms and main café area, like arts and crafts, Junior Engineers, play doh playdates, story time, and other weekly enrichment activities (check out our "Calendar of Events" for some more examples!). We will also offer regular weekly "Me Time" sessions, where the children can participate in supervised play in our community room, and the parent or caregiver can take a break in our café area to enjoy their coffee in peace and quiet, chat with a friend, get a little work done, or hey- even go to the bathroom all by themselves! There will also be scheduled (and impromptu) opportunities for parents and their littles to socialize during Mom to Mom Meetings, parent groups, and other events to swap stories, share advice and encourage each other during these busy & trying parenting years. Because- after all, it really does take a village, and we want this to be a safe place to bring that village together!
Here is an overview of some parent-friendly events we will host at Common Ground:
-"Me Time" drop in childcare to get some work done or take a little break in our café
-Weekday Circle time and Playgroup (split into two groups- Birth to 3, and 3+)
-Junior Engineers- a club to support our little builders with legos, blocks, tracks, tinker toys and a rotation of building fun!
-Mom to Mom meetups for conversation and support
-Guest speakers on parenting topics
-Kids art and music events
-Parent and child Yoga
-Café play areas thoughtfully planned out and changed up for optimal kid engagement
-Postpartum support groups
-Parenting resources and activities
-Date nights with coordinated childcare so you can have a special dinner while your little one enjoys kid friendly food & activities with other kiddos in our community room!