I probably heard one hundred times before moving to Auckland that I needed to put the boys in Kindy. I think Kindy's, preschools, day care centers and the like are wonderful for some families but JJ and I made a series of choices for our family designed for me to stay at home with the children as much as possible for the intense years before school starts.
We waited for children. We had our boys close together. I work from home.
My HSN mammas and my "Friday Morning Mammas" are dear, dear friends who I miss and still run to for support and advice. The bestie and I are in it together even if we're all the way around the world from one another buuuuut being so far away also leaves a void that the boys and I missed here! A kiwi friend introduced us to her PlayCentre and we have been filling our void little by little.
PlayCentre is a New Zealand institution with almost 500 centres on the north and south islands. The way that I understand is that they are government funded cooperatives for early childhood development (birth to age six). This means that the boys and I attend together with other parents and children who then all work together to educate our littles.
PlayCentre has a really cool history dating back to the Second World War and you can read all about it here. It can be intense, it is very involved (this ain't no mimosa play group) and its always messy! We have lots of education, lots of purpose and total commitment to family!
It's been amazing for us as a family. We attend twice a week and are usually there for about four hours each time. We meet, set up for session, hold session, the adults take a few minutes to reflect on what they saw the children doing/learning, then clean up and put things back before leaving.
We've made some friends. We've learned heaps about ourselves, about others, about New Zealand and JJ and I are (hopefully) been learning to be better parents (something I hope we are never done learning)! Most of all, the AJs seem to be happy!
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