Nursery Rhymes - October 12, 2025
C and I went to a playgroup earlier this week with a friend and her twins. It was honestly the first time I have ventured more than a block or two by myself with her since moving. In the States, when the boys were little we had a rhythm of library storytimes during the week, hitting up this library on Tuesdays and that library on Fridays. After chatting with some friends here, it seems that many churches have a small gymnasium attached or some other gathering space and will hold playgroups during the week.
The one we went to was in a small, old gymnasium with a stage attached to the church. And it was a child's dream. A room full of toys of all different categories - dolls, trucks, play-doh, tricycles, Little Tikes Cozy Coupes, Duplos, and coloring. Plus, they did 30 minutes of songs at the end.
Not to mention, they had coffee for the parents and snacks for the kids.
At £4 for entry, it was well worth it to have a safe place for C to play with her friends, completely occupied for 2 hours with a snack. And I got to sittervise while chatting with a friend.
Coming back to the song session at the end. It was one of those moments that reminded me that we are experiencing a new culture. Not in a bad way at all, but in a way that left me with mixed emotions.
Let me try to explain. The songs and rhymes were different than the ones I know. Different than what I sang to my kids when they were really little. Different than the ones we were used to at storytimes in the US. And while it was fun to hear the tunes English kids grow up with, I had a small pang of sadness. I don't really know why. Maybe because I heard C say multiple times, "I learned this one in school," and it made me realize that her childhood is going to look a lot different than mine. And while I now have this beautiful opportunity to keep our American culture alive in them while also experiencing the beauty of a new culture, it comes with mixed emotions.
But, honestly at the end of the day, if we are together and sharing smiles and experiences then we are doing great. Plus, they had bubbles at the end. Who doesn't love bubbles?
