If You Give a Mom a Moment's Rest...

If you stay up too late one night relaxing and catching up on all your recorded shows, then your toddler will wake up at 4am and not go back to sleep.

If your toddler wakes up at 4am and won't go back to sleep, she'll need to have a nap at 9am.

If she goes down for a nap at 9am, then you'll be late for your 10am playdate.

If you call your friend to say you'll be late for the 10am playdate, your friend will calmly tell you it's no big deal and to take your time.

If your friend tells you it's no big deal and to take your time, you'll breathe a sigh of relief.

If you breathe a sigh of relief, you'll be letting your guard down.

If you let your guard down, you'll suddenly hear a hacking and gagging noise, and you'll look up just in time to see your cat throwing up in your cute new flat.

If you see your cat throwing up in your cute new flat, you'll begin to shoo her away, not stopping even once to think about the consequences, then you'll chase her around the room while she pukes on everything from your carpet, to your throw pillow, to your pile of freshly washed and folded clothes, which includes every single pair of decent, wearable pants.

If you stupidly shoo your cat away from your flat, which in retrospect only cost you $12 for the pair at Fashion Bug, and she throws up on every decent, wearable, clean pair of pants, which you left on the floor next to your bed instead of putting away in your drawers for lord only knows what reason you lazy bum, then you'll need to wear your ratty sweatpants to your playdate.

That is, whenever your toddler wakes up from her nap.

Oh, and you'll need to clean up all that cat puke.

And you're going to want a cookie. Or a pancake. Or a muffin.

Disco Ball + Bubbles = What's NOT to love?

Earlier this week, Anna and I attended a Mom Blogger event at Romp n' Roll of Willow Grove. Dr. Kelly Fisher from Temple University's Infant Laboratory was the guest speaker, and she gave a great talk called "The Importance of Playful Learning in the 21st Century". Dr. Fisher explained that there is now a shift in public schools to move from play-based learning to lectured learning in as early as Kindergarten and even Pre-K. Studies have shown that small children understand concepts better if they have the opportunity to explore the lesson physically through play. For example, when trying to teach a child about triangles, we might show them a picture of a triangle, and they can learn from that image that a triangle is a flat-bottomed object with a point at the top. However, if you show them a picture of the same triangle turned upside-down, many children cannot comprehend that this image is also a triangle.

Now, if you hand a child an actual triangle, an object they can manipulate, play with, turn around, flip upside-down, lay on it's side, etc, that child will have a better understanding of a triangle. Teachers these days are so pressured by state mandated testing that they are spending more time lecturing and giving less time for the children to explore through play.

It's a scary thought and, for me, a bit of a hot-button issue, especially in regard to monetary funding based on test scores and "No Child Left Behind", (The Arts! Oh, the Arts!) but I won't get political here (or at least I'll try not to...). Unless we are fortunate enough to afford private school for Anna, we're faced with the public school option. Thankfully, we live in an award-winning school district, but even these kids are tested heavily... I mean, let's face it, they didn't get awards without those standardized tests, so in a way, I deal with a weird sort of reverse deprivation issue here in the suburbs. A blue ribbon school district has to do what it can to stay up there, and that will affect how my child is taught in the classroom. But I can't just sit back and wait for my taxes to pay for her education alone- as a parent, it's my responsibility to supplement Anna's learning experiences.

But---- I don't always know how to do that. Sure, I play with Anna- we read lots of books, I build plastic cup towers that she can knock down, we bang away on her brightly colored tiny Fisher Price piano- but sometimes I'm honestly at a loss for how to play with my 15 month old. Dr. Fisher explained that it's perfectly normal for many parents to feel this way- after all, we adults are all out of practice in the art of playing. That's where places like Romp n' Roll help out in a big way.

Romp n' Roll is a fun facility for small children that offers classes in gym, art, music, and even classes that combine all three of these elements. I started taking Anna a few months ago for their open gym playtime- which is AWESOME. It's like a big padded room with soft jungle gym equipment. She really tears it up in there and she sleeps like a rock when she naps afterward- Bonus! We took advantage of their free trial class a few weeks ago, and then again on Monday. While I don't think Anna is interested in a class right now (she's more interested in running around free), she will be very soon, and this place offers so many classes that I'm sure we'll have no trouble finding the right fit for her. Also, since this was a Mom Blogger event, the class we attended was mixed ages- 3 months to 5 years. They do regularly offer these mixed ages classes, which I do not recommend because big kids knock into little kids and little kids crawl into big kids, but I think their other classes are great! I'm excited for Anna to try an art class as well- better for her to get paint on their floors and not mine!

Let me apologize in advance for these horrible pictures- I forgot my camera and had to use my camera phone, and Anna is a fast runner, so everything is pretty blurry, but these should give a small taste of what goes on in the gym classes.

One of Anna's favorite activities is the parachute:
WHO doesn't love the parachute!? When I was in elementary school, I remember praying every week that our gym teacher, Mrs. Santarelli would bust out the parachute. We only got to play with it like once a year, and it was definitely way better than dodge ball and rope climbing (ugh). And it was a nice surprise to see Anna fall in love with this blast from my past. All the kids really enjoyed shaking the parachute, bouncing balls together on it, and running underneath while the teachers and moms sang songs and raised it over their heads like a big tent. Then, they were allowed to sit on top in the middle while the moms and teachers all gave them a little ride by pulling the chute around in a circle.

Every week that I bring Anna to open gym, she makes more and more progress. The first time we went, she just ran around in circles screaming in delight at all the bright colors. The next time we went, she started climbing on some of the smaller equipment. Now, she crawls up almost all the ramps and can even climb to the top of their slide, get her feet over the top step, and sit on her hiney waiting for me to give her a push- progress I say!


I love that I feel free to let my daughter climb all over pretty much anything in that place- it's way safer than a playground (plus, it's indoors, so I know this place is going to get me through the rough cold winter months coming up!).

The teaching staff is really attentive. This woman here with the blond hair was so helpful for me--- Anna boycotted her nap that morning (of course!), and she was a bit of an emotional basket case during the entire event. But this woman (whose name I didn't catch!! I'm awful!), she kept interacting with Anna and she was so sweet!


And now for my daughter's favorite part of the class- The Disco Bubble Dance Party! O.M.G.- The teacher turns down the lights, turns up the music, and lowers a disco ball from the ceiling. Hundreds of shimmering white lights are reflected all around the room, and every child in the gym stops dead in their tracks and grins from ear to ear. And THEN they bust out the BUBBLE MACHINE!


Let me tell you, Baby Girl loves her some Disco Bubble Dance Party!

Overall, my experiences at Romp n' Roll have been very positive. This place offers just the kind of play-based learning Dr. Fisher was talking about, and I'm happy Anna has a place to run wild and have some fun, even if it's just during their open gym hours. When she's ready, we'll sign up for one of their great classes, too. And now we have a place to escape to during the long winter months ahead!


Disclosure: Anna and I received lunch and a free class in exchange for this blog post as part of a mom blogger event. My opinions expressed here are authentic and my own!