Baby and Toddler Groups

As a stay at home mother I am so lucky to have so much time to spend with my baby girl. I love to read to her, play games that help her learn, sing nursery rhymes and explore new places with her. I enjoy every second but it often occurs to me that she needs time to be social with other children around her age. Obviously she has her best pal Dylan to play with often but it is great for her to interact with other children too.

Most weeks we toddle off to two different baby and toddler mornings and tomorrow we are going to try a new one. I am looking forward to meeting up with a few mothers that I already know, meeting some new people and most of all giving Amelie a new experience with some babies her age.

I would love to hear from mothers what they are looking for in a baby and toddler groups as I have heard many different things chatting with Mums over coffee or the swings and have read so many blogs all saying they like different things each group has to offer. Comments I've heard., "too many nannies and not enough mothers", "some have too many older children that bowl the little ones over," "too many toy" or "not enough toys" and "some are over crowded"... what makes your baby and toddler group great?



When I was checking out google for the address of the group I am going to tomorrow I realised just how many different baby and toddler groups there are around the place, and of course I wanted to share these with you. Hope to see you around the place,

NAME	ADDRESS	PHONE	MEETING TIMES
Marley Toddler Group	Dublin 16	01 4945008	Thursdays 10.45am - 12pm
The Annunciation Parish Centre Parent and Toddler Group	Dublin 14	086 6050223	Monday's 10.30am - 12.30pm
Rhyme Time	Stepaside	086 3324091	Monday's 10am- 11.30am St. Thomas Mount Merrion
St Laurence's Adult & Toddler Group, Parish Centre, Stillorgan.	Dublin 14	01 2962675	Friday's at 10.30am
Parent and Toddler Group, Dundrum Library	Dundrum	01 2985000	Fridays 10.30-12.00
Parent and Toddler Group, Glencullen Library	Dublin 18	01 295 5572	Wednesdays 10.30-12.00
Parent and Toddler Group, Methodist Church, Wesley	Ballinteer	01 2956490	Tuesday 10am- 12pm
Parent and Toddler Group, Mount Merrion Community Centre	Mount Merrion	01 2836403	Tuesdays 10.30-12.00 and Wednesdays 10.30 -12pm
Parent and Toddler Group, Taney Parish Centre	Dundrum	01 298 5491	Monday and Thursday from 10am -12pm
Cuidiú ICT - Dublin South West Parent and Toddler Group, Dundrum, Methodist Church	Dublin 14	085 2773191	10am-12pm Thursday Morning
Parent and Toddler Group, Barnardos, Tivoli Tce	Dun Laoghaire	01 2842323	Fridays 10.00-12.00. Toy Library
Parent and Toddler Group, Barnardos, Loughlinstown Drive	Ballybrack	01 2820328	Thursdays 10.00-12.00
Our Lady of Good Counsel Parent and Toddler Group, Johnstown Pastoral Ctr	Killiney	01 2849455	Tuesdays 10.30-12.00
Parent and Toddler Group-Family Life Centre, St. Brighids Parish Ctr, Cabinteely	Dublin 18	01 2858835	Tuesdays 10.30-12.30
Parent and Toddler Group, St. Paul's Church Hall	Glenageary	01 2024715	Wednesdays 10.00-12.00
Dalkey Library Parent and Toddler Group	Dalkey	01 2855277	Friday's at 10.30am - 12.00pm
Squeals on Wheels Parent & Toddler Group, Dun Laoghaire Evangelical Church	Dun Laoghaire	01 284 1016	Tuesday's 10.30am
Fun Fitness Parent & Toddler Group, Total Fitness Complex	Sandyford	01 2998080	Mondays and Thursdays 10.30am - 12pm
St. Patrick's Parent and Toddler Group, Church of Ireland Hall	Dalkey	01 2300844	Tuesday's 10.30am - 12pm
Rathmicheal Parish Mother and Toddler Group, Erck Hall	Rathmichael	01 2824202	Wednesdays 10.30am -12pm
Holy Trinity Parent and Toddler Group, Holy Trinty National School	Sandyford		Wednesdays 10am - 12pm
Booterstown Parish Centre Parent and Toddler Group	Bootersown Avenue, Blackrock	01 2831593	Tuesdays
Shankill Parent and Toddler Group, St.Anne's Parish Ctr	Shankill	0872856944	Wednesdays 10.15am -11.45am
Young Mums Group	C/o Nutgrove Youth Centre, Meadow ParkAvenue, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16	2963810 or 0851196164	Thursdays 5pm - 7pm

New Look Reviews - The Sunshine Cafe

Hi, here is a review for the Sunshine Cafe, Dun Laoghiare. As we have now opened the review section of our blog up to contributers I filled out a contibuters form so you could see an example of the New Look Reviews. If you would like to contribute, copy the form from our blog or email us at jetsettingbabies.blogspot.com (That is why this review is written in the third person.)



The Sunshine Cafe


A: 107, Lower Georges Street, Dun Laoghaire,
P: 01 230 1828

Thankyou to our Yummy Mummy Angi and her Jetsetting Baby Amelie(13months). They contributed the information for this weeks review. Angi has a blog check it out: http://jetsettingbabies.blogspot.com/

(This photo could be of you and your little ones!)




The Sunshine Cafe is a genuinely good cafe on the main street of Dun Laoghaire with a nice vibe . Angi rates the service a 9 out of 10 and says "The staff always hold the awkward double doors so I can get the buggy in, I have even seen them stop in the middle of taking an order to help me."

The food gets a 8 out of 10 and Angi says "it is wholesome and flavourful, there is always a lot of desserts to chose from I really enjoy their soups." The Sunshine Cafe serves breakfast daily as well as a really good lunch menu. The freshest ingredients are used in their food with their open sandwich's seeming very popular.

Unfortunately much of their seating us upstairs and while the tables downstairs are nicely spaced the room could not accommodate more than a few at a time. There are also no changing facilities at all again this can pose a problem for families. On the up side there is a cute sandwich and juice deal for children and there are two highchairs available for use.

Angi mentioned that there was always some gret music playing, "I love the French Jazz that was on last time I was there" she commented. Thanks again Angi for sharing your expereinces.

 

Baby Changing - N

Highchairs - Y

Kids Menu - Y

Children's Activities - N

Review # 8 - Gallery.net Cafe - Dundrum

Hello all, here we are again with another cafe review for you. Hope you have all been enjoying special times with your familes, we would love to hear about your favourite family friendly venues and events in your area, where ever you may be, drop us an email at jetsettingbabies@gmail.com

Gallery.net Cafe

Dundrum Shopping Centre

A: Sandyford Rd, Dundrum, D16

T: 01 299 1700

E: n/a

W: www.dundrum.ie

After a busy day shopping in Dundrum there endless places to choose from when the time comes for lunch. We hope to review them all in time and let you know which we find the best if you have your babies and toddlers with you. We will begin with Gallery.net Café, it is a small little bagel bar located on the Gallery Floor. The free wifi access is obviously appealing to students and business people so we were not sure how this place would fare on baby friendliness if it was not really the clientele they were aiming at. I can hardly imagine Amelie being patient enough for me to update the blog over lunch.

Let begin by saying the staff at this café were very attentive, friendly and able to stay on top of the busy lunch time rush. We ordered sandwiches, drinks and some fruit for Amelie. I was excited that they sold one of my favourite drinks… Feel Good orange and cranberry water, it is delicious and packed full of vitamins and minerals that give you a real energy boost. The sandwiches were fine at best, my husband leaving half of his as he just lost interest and thought the bread was slightly stale, we probably should have gone for bagels instead. The fillings in my sandwich seemed fresh and the salad crisp, again the bread was slightly stale so I would try a bagel the next time.

As we were not quite full from our less than amazing sandwiches we decided to have something sweet to cheer us up. The coffee and cake deal for €3.95 was too good to pass up and certainly made up for the sandwiches. The coffee was good and the cakes were nice, run of the mill nothing too special but nice. By this stage Amelie had made a huge mess with her fruit and was now getting fidgety, we paid the bill which was very modest and left feeling satisfied from the desserts. We look forward to visiting some of Dundrum's other cafes soon, and of course sharing our experiences with you.

Baby Changing - Y

Highchairs - Y

Kids Menu - N

Children's Activities - N

The Gallery.net Cafe did not have any chidlrens activities however Dundrum Shopping Cetre is packed to the brim with things for baies, toddlers, children of all ages and of course their parents. More info to come soon.

Love The Yummy Mummies and The Jetsetting Babies

xxx

Crafted Creatures Family Weekends

Spring is here and summer is on it’s way! There are so many events on that are family friendly we don’t want to miss a thing. We have put together an events listing for the coming months and as each event approaches you will be kept up to date of the details. We are going to  make the most of this year with our little ones, share special moments with them and enjoy every moment of being a mother and a family, we really are so lucky!

Amelie enjoying the first flowers beginning to appear this Spring

Yesterday I mentioned the Peas and Pods market that is happening this Sunday in the Dublin Food Co-op. If you are looking for something to do with your children over the next few weekends get inspired by 2011 being the Year of Craft and check out the '
Crafted Creatures Family Weekends' running until the 27th March 2011. The exhibition runs on weekends from 12-5pm. I think Amelie will be a little small for this one but I can not wait till she is old enough, we might go anyway to get some inspiration for craft projects, yay!. Check out the website for more information and let us know what you think.

‘Children and families can explore a captivating world of crafted soft toys, pets, insects, underwater creatures and mythical beasts, while activity sheets help reveal the secrets used to bring materials like clay, wool and willow to life as wonderful pieces of art. The Crafted Creatures exhibition is curated by Brian Kennedy and features work by 28 contemporary craftspeople.’ – www.ark.ie

The Ark Cultural Center

11a Eustace St., Temple Bar, Dublin 2.
Tel: +353 (0)1 6707788

Babies and Books

It is never too early to get your children interested in books. Amelie has loved to play with, read and learn from books from a very young age. She loves stories, brightly coloured picture books and is amused for hours pointing out the things she sees on the pages of her favourite books.

Children develop so quickly and they absorb so much I always want to have new and exciting books for Amelie to read that suits each stage of her development. I found that a weekly trip to the library was a great way to keep her and me amused with and interested in books without having so spend a fortune on books that Amelie might only be interested in for a few months.

Amelie with one of her first books, sent as a gift from her Uncle David in Australia

I discovered that both Dundrum and Dalkey Libraries' hold Parent and Toddler Group sessions that are free and take place on Fridays from 10.30 - 12.00. Tallaght Library has a Wednesday morning Toddler Group at 10:30.

For slightly older children a lot of libraries off storytelling time that is generally suitable for cildren around the 3-6 age group. There is even an Irish Twist on storty time in Lucan Libray.

STORY TELLING FOR CHILDREN

TUESDAYS

T: 2:30-3:00pm

L: Dundrum Library

T: 3:30-4:00pm

L: Tallaght Library

WEDNESDAYS

T: 3:30-4:00pm

L: Dun Laoghaire Library

T: 3:30-4:00pm

L: Lucan Library

*Storytelling with an Irish twist

T: 3:30-4:00pm

L: Ballyroan Library

THURSDAYS

T: 3:30-4:00pm

L: Dalkey Library

FRIDAYS

T: 3:30-4:00pm

L: Cabinteely Library

T: 3:30-4:00pm

L: Stillorgan Library

For more information check out http://www.dlrcoco.ie/library or http://www.southdublinlibraries.ie/