Author Archives: admin

New Mom’s Group Oakland

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Mom2Mom Group invites you to join them in their next group:

“Our next Mom2Mom group begins August 27th, and we have a few openings left.
This group is for 6 weeks from 10-12 on Tuesday mornings at Musically
Minded in Rockridge.

The group is for moms & babies and focuses on the joys, challenges & many
humorous moments of this major life transition. The group offers
community, support & lots of tips about navigating the transition into
motherhood.

Details can be found at www.oaklandmom2mom.com

or contact Cathy Carr at 510-496-2725 or cathycarr.lmft@gmail.com

Happy 25th Music Together!

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Our family went to Music Together classes for years. You can still hear all of us breaking out in a tune from the curriculum and years later the songs still surprise us on the iTunes library.

Music Together is a sweet program with a genuine focus on music appreciation. As my daughter has gone on to playing the fiddle, guitar and piano, singing at open mic nights and busking at farmers markets, I think back to the classes and remember her little voice singing out, experimenting with instruments and her ‘I’m trying not to fall over’ first dance moves.

Happy Anniversary Music Together! Here is an article about the program and founders.

New Moms Group Berkeley

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This is from BirthWays in Berkeley:

“Did you know? BirthWays is offering a facilitated support group for new moms and their babies -(usually babies rage in age from 2 weeks to 4 months). *Thursdays August 29-September 26th from 1:30-3:00* we will gather at the BirthWays space to take some time to give back to yourself and share the intensity and joys of new motherhood with other moms.

This 6 week series will cover such topics as: sharing birth stories,
finding time to heal your body and mind, feeding your baby, adjusting to your new identity as a parent, trusting yourself enough to know when not to listen to another piece of “good” advice, navigating changing relationships with partners and friends, going out with your baby, preparing to go back to work or stay home with baby, sleep… what sleep? And most importantly, realizing that you are not alone in this journey.

Facilitated by Stacia Biltekoff, BirthWays president, Postpartum Doula and most importantly…a mom!

For a lot of moms this is an opportunity to practice getting out of the
house and feeding and caring for your babies in public in a safe space.

Moms from previous groups are still getting together and finding community with each other to enjoy their toddlers and preschoolers.

For more information and to sign up go to
http://birthways.org/classes#new%20moms%20group

“

Can toys inspire future career choices?

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You never know what your child will grow up to do. What research has shown is that when children play with open ended toys, meaning they can be whatever a child wants them to be, children are more creative.

When a toy has a sole purpose, like pushing a button to play a song or make the lights flash, it isn’t as fun as having a beanbag that can be something a child throws, balances on his head, a doll bed, a boat to transport animals, a pancake to flip in the pan, etc. Think about the items that surround your baby, do they offer them a one way ticket or options they haven’t even dreamed of yet? As your child grows, open ended toys grow with her. Blocks, dolls, balls, arts and craft and dramatic play props like kitchen sets all are examples of open ended toys.

I will tell you that I played with a lot of dolls growing up. My favorite was when my father brought home the CPR baby he used to teach with. Talk about a real looking baby! She also came with all the accoutrements of a real baby…hours of possibilities.

Here is an article about 5 scientists and the toys that inspired them.