Playing around with the kids

CINTHIA RITCHIE

June 05, 2008 at 3:01PM AKST

You’re a parent of an energetic young toddler and you’re exhausted; you haven’t washed your hair in days. More than anything you want a few hours to yourself.

That’s all: Just a few hours.

Seward parents have found a way to give themselves that and more at the Seward Coop Toddler Playgroup.

Started by Aubrey Merritt, Lisa Williams and Brooke Scalzo, the group mixes parenting know-how, learning development and socialization skills while providing young children with a pre-preschool experience.

Best of all, it offers parents a relaxing few childfree hours. The only fee is $40 for supplies.

The idea came about last summer after Merritt moved from Juneau, where she had participated in a similar playgroup. Could the same thing work in Seward, she asked on a local online parenting chat group?

Williams and Scalzo believed that it could, and Scalzo contacted council members about the possibility of donated space at Resurrection Lutheran Church. As soon as the site was procured, they began hashing out details.

“We spent a good deal of time sorting out the existing church nursery, making sure everything was safe and age appropriate for toddlers,” Scalzo said.

The playgroup is divided into six-children sections, each which meets one morning a week for 2-1/2 hours. It’s entirely run by parents — there is no staff. Every parent volunteers five to shifts per semester, with days staggered so that two parents are always available to head each session.

The group follows the school year schedule and has disbanded for the summer. It will resume again this fall and is accepting registration for new students and parents.

Twelve children enrolled the first year, which encouraged Scalzo to apply for a Together Emphasizing Alaska’s Mission grant through the Lutheran church. The group used the $2,000 award to purchase developmentally appropriate materials, a sensory table, indoor slide, tumble mats and fine motor manipulative activities.

Not just for kids
According to Merritt, the group prepares toddlers ages 18 to 36 months for preschool, thereby easing the transition and lessening separation anxiety.

“It’s a safe place to introduce a little independent time,” she said.

Williams, mother of a 7- and 2-year-old, sees the playgroup as a place to teach such core values such as sharing, taking your turn and deciphering right from wrong. Still, she was hesitant at first. She didn’t think her son would like it.

“He really looks forward to going,” she said. “He never gets bored.”

The group also benefits parents, freeing up much-needed hours to attend to chores, run errands or read without interruption.

“It allows me to exercise or do something as simple as grocery shopping,” Merritt said.

“Those rare moments I can do things by myself is nice.”

For Williams, who has no family in the area, the group has helped stifle the isolation that comes with raising young children.

“I think that when you’re in your 30s, it’s hard to meet friends,” she said. “I’m used to 2- and 7-year-olds, I can’t just go up to someone and say, “My name is Lisa and we have kids the same age, do you want to be friends?”

It’s good, she said, to meet other women who understand some of her life and struggles. She can share childrearing stories and hand out advice.

“Some days I go when it’s not even my day and talk with other people,” she said. “It’s good to practice my adult social skills.”

She regards her one morning a week alone priceless. She sews, tackles yard work or sits around and daydreams.

“One morning I went back to bed,” she said. “And I can’t begin to tell you how nice that was.”

Cinthia Ritchie can be reached at (907) 348-2428 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 428.