Communities of moms and kids build at library storytimes
Fifteen minutes after Baby and Me ends, five moms are lingering in the Yellow Room downtown. They’re sharing plans for lunch, kids’ nap schedules, and laughs. The kids, each no older than 2, share snacks and play together nearby.
The moms have found friendship at the library.
Each came to Baby and Me looking to get out of the house – for themselves and for their kids to meet others. Over time, they bonded at the weekly program over the triumphs and trials of raising young children.
“I didn’t have any other mom friends, so it was nice to come and have something to do here,” says Amanda Anderson.
Now the five of them do “everything” together. From grocery shopping to playdates to checking out new parks with the kids.
Early literacy programs at the library like Baby and Me and Storytime focus on little ones to build their reading abilities and motor skills. Their parents are finding support and camaraderie through the shared experiences of raising children.
Elkhart Public Library creates a unique place for learning and community building. And as these programs grow, more families discover their value.
Finding friends
The stay-at-home moms came to the library looking for entertainment and learning opportunities. Plus, their kids get a chance to socialize themselves.
Without a place to go, the home routine can become a boring – even lonely – experience.
“Staying at home with Malcolm can be really, really hard. There are only so many things that you can do at home every day before they’re tired of it and you’re tired of it,” says Callie Allen. “Not only is this entertainment for a good half hour, but then he gets to communicate with other kids and I get to communicate with other moms.”
Amanda and her 2-year-old daughter, Magnolia, look forward to coming and seeing their friends each week.
Where Magnolia was once the youngest participant, she is now the oldest.
“She started to make friends and now she has all of her best friends here and she knows we’re going to the library every week,” Amanda says.
“Our group talks about how we can’t imagine not having found the baby group. We wouldn’t have any mom friends yet and it would be so lonely,” she says.
Rachel Large says finding the friend group makes being a stay-at-home mom easier and more fun. She and her 1-year-old daughter, Charlie, enjoy the playtime and music at Baby and Me. She sought out the program after getting bored of staying at home.
“These are some of my closest friends now and we met here” Rachel says. “When we first started, it wasn’t too many people and now every week there are so many.”
Baby and Me, the early literacy program for the littlest learners from ages 0 to 2, added a second session last fall because of its popularity.
Casey Denaway and her 1-year-old daughter, Kingley, found Baby and Me after moving to the area and it helped them put down roots.
“This gets me out of the house and doing something,” she says. “I moved up here from Missouri and I didn’t have any friends at all until I met these ladies. It’s been nice to just hang out with them and spend some time with them.”
Supporting other moms
The friends say they can lean on each other and are able to help out with the various stages their babies go through.
And as stay-at-home moms they are able to match each other’s schedules.
“Our husbands work very different shifts,” says Callie. “We all just meet up when we’re available and our husbands are not home. We do a lot of walking, we do a lot of playdates at each other’s houses. We see each other pretty much every day.”
The group gives them all a chance to take off some of the mental load that comes with parenting.
“We talk about all of our problems with our kids, sometimes even our husbands,” Casey says, laughing. “But especially things with the kids. Like my daughter was waking up at 4:30 and 5 a.m. and I had no idea why. Just to talk to them about it and get their take on it is important.”
Amanda says with the kids being close in age, one of the others is bound to have experience or advice.
“You can say ‘oh you hit this before I did,’ or ‘I’m going through this’ and someone else says ‘well we did that two months ago, it’s going to be fine,’” she says. “One of us was taking away their son’s pacifier and asked us ‘what do I do?’”
Callie adds frequent topics are about sleep schedules, nap transitions, and eating habits for the kids.
Michelle Hilliker, another mom in the group, says that it’s important for adults, as much as the kids, to socialize in new environments. Before she started coming, she says she felt lonely.
“(I like) the social aspect for them and for us. All of us here are stay-at-moms, so you don’t get out of the house that much unless you make an effort to,” she says.
And having a group of friends has made a big difference for her.
“I would’ve gone back to work by now if I hadn’t met them,” Michelle says. She worked as a school counselor before becoming a stay-at-home mom to 1-year-old Aaron.
Mom friends ‘get it’
At Osolo Branch’s Storytime with Miss Janell, Julia Grant and her three kids – 6-year-old Everly, 5-year-old Layton, and 2-year-old Lily – connected with their neighbor. Peyton Blodgett brings Sawyer, age 5, Kruz, 2 and Tatem, 1.
“We met briefly in the neighborhood and then we connected here,” Julia says. “I feel like that kicked off our friendship because we were able to connect through our kids.”
They now coordinate to meet up at Tuesday morning Storytimes.
“Not only are her kids my kids’ age, but she homeschools and I homeschool so our schedules line up,” says Peyton. “We can hangout with each other and we’re neighbors. In the morning, we text each other and are like, ‘Are you going to make it to library Storytime?’ It’s just like an extra playdate.”
Peyton says outside of the library, their kids often play outside, ride bikes, or do homeschool field trips together.
Julia says the shared experiences of parenting kids in the same age group helps break the ice.
“If you’re here and you have kids that are the same age, you can kind of assume you’re in the same stage of life. It’s really great to be able to talk,” she says. “Even though this program is for kids, it’s nice to be able to do that together and establish that friendship.”
And while the kids play together, the moms can talk about whatever is on their minds.
“It’s just nice to talk to someone who isn’t a kid,” Peyton says. “There’s nothing like having mom friends because they get it.”
‘Personal feel’
Julia brought her kids to Miss Janell’s very first Storytime inside the renovated Osolo Branch the week it re-opened in October 2022.
“When we first came it was just us and another family,” Julia says, adding they keep returning because of how welcoming it is. “It’s the family friendliness of it. Miss Janell does such a great job. She always remembers the kids’ names, which gives it such a personal feel I’ve always appreciated.”
With the program growing to 30 or more people attending, Miss Janell split Storytime into two sessions last summer for families to have more room to move around and interact with her stories and puppets.
“I just felt like gradually more and more and more people came and more and more people stayed and I think it is because of that personal feel,” says Julia.
Peyton says the attendance growth reflects how good it is for families.
“It started to get really busy in the summer. It didn’t surprise me at all because everything is so kid-friendly,” she says.
Opportunities for learning
Storytimes and Baby and Me are for early learning, with an emphasis on motor and literacy skills.
Amanda and Magnolia started attending Baby and Me when Magnolia was just months old. Now she has nearly aged out of it.
“There’s nowhere to take a baby around town,” she says. “There are not many places where you can put your baby down in public and let them crawl around.”
Over the years she’s watched Magnolia grow and develop at the weekly sessions.
“It’s fun to sing and as she gets older, see her catch on to the songs,” Amanda says. “It’s helped her learn different words and songs, be social. I have nannied a lot of kids and you see kids who don’t have any friends until they go to preschool. She has so many friends already, she’s so social already.”
Rachel says Charlie enjoys how interactive the program is.
“She really likes the music and the playtime is really nice with all the toys,” Rachel says.
Michelle Huff and her daughter Julia, age 2, are regulars at Miss Janell’s Storytime and Michelle says it’s important for the toddler’s development, especially since Julia is an only child.
“It really exposes her to different people and other kids,” she says. “She doesn’t have any siblings at home. I think it’s really enriching to be able to have someone else read her stories and someone else do crafts with her.”
Even when not coming to programs, families find a fun and relaxing setting to be together in at the neighborhood branches.
“It’s nice to have an extra space,” Peyton says. “To come here and there are LEGOs and games and it’s just an extra place to go that I know is kid friendly and I can feel relaxed and not be so uptight.”
Julia says having a place like Elkhart Public Library is an asset for families in the community.
“I love the library, and I am thankful for the work they put into the kids’ programs and families. It’s really great and we appreciate it in our community,” she says.
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