Remember playgroups?

I moved on to a brand new estate when I had my second child, we set up a babysitting circle and it really worked well. Like others said the children were always tucked up in bed and I never had to anything other than be there. Even my own GC can't be persuaded to be in their beds at a decent time these days.

When I had twins, (they were nos 4 &5), I was horrified to discover that not all twin mums were as delighted as I had been. Indeed, one such person told me that she had hoped the second baby would be born dead!!!
Using my experience of Playgroups, Parent &Toddler groups, I started one covering a fairly large local area just for Mums (it as always Mums in those days) with multiples.
My first two had been born eleven months apart, so I was always able to fend off those who told me that their two (14 or 15 months apart were 'the same as having twins).
So, with two other twin Mums we started a local Twins Club, just meeting up once a month for the children to play and Mums to exchange clothes, idea etc.
Within a short time we reached 80 sets of twins for a Christmas party - this attracted attention from the national press, and the subsequent story was what led on to many other other people contacting me. Some to say they had something similar running in their areas and other to say how much they would like something similar.
Amongst those contacting me were Doctors, Health Visitors and the like.
At the time I was a breast feeding Counsellor with NCT and they very kindly let us use their HQ in London for that first Conference of the different Twins Clubs around the country. Looking back I suppose I had a cheek, just arranging that Conference, but it worked out well, and formed the Twins Club Association, which eventually became Twins & Multiple Birth Association - which today is a very firmly established and very wonderful charity.

witzend I loved the music to Listen with Mother - Berceuse from the Dolly Suite by Faure. It still makes me think of my mum & Grandma & the sense of security I had in my childhood.

I remember attending a training course with the Pre School Playgroups Association. There was nowhere for mums to get together in our area. My health visitor encouraged a group of us to start a mother and toddler group. We had over 40 members at one point and arranged fundraisers and days / nights out. Our children reach age 40 this year and we are still close friends.

HildaW other people's 'little darlings' were not always slumbering sweetly here, I can remember one in particular who would not go to sleep even though he was dropping with fatigue and the instructions were to sit with him until he slept (not just the once either!).
As soon as I thought he had gone off I would try to crawl on hands and knees to the bedroom door only for him to jerk himself awake again and start wailing, which risked him waking up his sibling.
He has grown up into a delightful young man with his own baby now, who is apparently perfect in every way .

My daughter in law was approached by a local ‘ circle’ when she moved into an area around Brighton, and was gifted 10 kidney beans! Extra beans could be earned by babysitting, or ‘ hosting’ coffee mornings or play afternoons for children.

Yes indeed, HildaW. As had a largish family and always extra foster children, there would be seven or eight children for someone to babysit. Nobody ever refused on account of the numbers, and a couple even said they loved babysitting at our house as when they arrived all the children were safely in their beds and never woke. Loved my children and daytimes were devoted to them, but later evenings, etc (for me) was adult time and I always resented arriving at someones house at 7.30/8 pm to find very young children still around downstairs.

Babysitting circles were fascinating. The different approaches were eye opening. One person might leave you a beautifully laid tea tray complete with cloth, cup and saucer and an array of tempting goodies. Another person might just wave you in the direction of the kitchen and say...'help yourself to anything'. There was however, one thing that they all had in common - back then the little darlings were tucked up in bed and behaved beautifully no matter whose house it was. It was a matter of pride to us all for our children not the be a 'bother'. I would get my job training homework done and have a lovely peaceful few hours.

Babysitting circles were wonderful. Like others our one worked entirely on a points system (one up to midnight, 2 after that). When I was studying for an evening class exam I found it easier doing that whilst babysitting at someone else's house than at home, where there so many other things needed to be done. One of the houses I babysat at gave me very first experience of remote control for their television (mind you it was attached by a wire to the tv), still seemed marvellous to me!!!
This circle also formed a Food Co-operative. We would purchase in bulk lots of food items once a month (people with the largest estate cars would go to collect), and then one Sunday would go the person who had the largest house to share it out. Fortunately, the house we used had a good sized playroom inside and a lovely play area in the garden for good weather collection Sundays. We purchased such things as porridge oats, rice, dried fruits, even toilet rolls. Our one big failure was honey - large 10 lb tin and those of us who wanted some took with us an empty 1 lb honey jar. Trouble was that every wasp in a fifty mile radius turned up.
These were great days for us and for our children. However, babysitting circles do depend on two parent families, (one to babysit and one to stay at home). These are much rarer now and even when they do exist it is www.gransnet.com/info/netiquetteusually most parents having to out to paid employment (I really resented then being told I did not work as I was a stay-at-home Mum), and they are just too tired and busy in their homes in the evenings to have these circles.

witzend. Are you sitting comfortably?

Ha, Janeainsworth, I thought there were people in our big old 'wireless', too! I once managed to get behind it to see the little people who were talking, and was so disappointed to see only wires and little light bulbs!
Listen With Mother - I remember it well!

We still have playgroups/toddlers' groups up here in the north of Scotland. I had DGS daily until he started school nursery at three and a half years old and used to go twice a week to a local playgroup run by mums in a local community centre and also once a week to a "Tumbletots" group run in a church hall. I made good friends with some of the other grans and got to know all the mums. There was a small charge which covered snacks and there were also Christmas parties. My favourite was Tumbletots as there were healthly snacks for the children and some fantastic baking provided for the mums and grans. Happy days! These groups are still being run in the same format. The one in the community hall had a Health Visitor/Nurse who was available for chat and also weighed babies although I never used that service.

Aw this is lovely glad I'm not the only one that remembers playgroups! I worked in one and received about five pounds a week ( mornings) doing the job. I'm now a qualified nursery practioner filling in endless forms but remember those wonderful days! My son used to come with me and walking home one day he said" so are you my mam again now?"?

Forty five years ago I took my first child to playgroup because she was very shy and fearful.
I wasn’t allowed to stay beyond the first time and she hated it but I persevered because I was assured that her tears stopped as soon as I left.
One day I peeped through the window and saw her standing alone, sobbing and crying. I took her away and she never went back. Her younger sister enjoyed it later but I hope this would never happen nowadays.

We had a small playgroup in the village run by an older lady and her helpers. Lots of the mums I met waiting for her to release our children are still my friends, the children are now all over the world, happy days. We also had the babysitting tokens but with the husbands getting back home so late the system didn't always work very well.

I was on the committee of our local playgroup so I not only helped in the fundraising, but when any parent did not take their turn on the parent rota or one of the playgroup leaders was off sick , I was usually drafted in to help - and usually got paid about £4.50 per session.
There seemed to be several parents that seemed to think that if they paid for their children to be somewhere they didn't need to take their turn on the parent rota - but one our local (male) GPs took his turn on his one day off a week!
Really enjoyed my sons time at Playgroup ( apart from the day that I went to collect him, to be taken on one side by the Playgroup leader, to be told that one of the other children seemed to have thought it was ok to tip most of the sand pit over him - it got in his eyes, hair, ears and when the other parent was told, she just laughed!!)

HildaW - no training, health and safety, DBS checks etc. in those days either! I remember trying to get them to sit and draw. Some were too hyperactive to sit still for long enough, but still wanted to proudly give their 'picture' to mum at the end of the session. So I would have to give mum a blank sheet with the childs name on and tell them it was entitled 'White cat in the snow' - or a 'Black cat in the dark' if it was black paper!

most of the children (and methinks a few of the Mums) also thought we lived in the various village halls
Hilda I used to think the people who did Listen with Mother , Daphne Oxenford et al, actually lived in the big wireless in our living room

Yes the Mums support networks. They were a life saver, weren’t they?

Willow10....I worked in several and most of the children (and methinks a few of the Mums) also thought we lived in the various village halls. There was also the perception with some Mums that we were permanently on duty....more than once I would be out and about shopping or similar and some random Mum would expect me to keep an eye on their child....or even worse, tell them off for something they had done.

I used to work in a playgroup in the early seventies - £4.50 for four mornings. We wore nylon tabards and one of my jobs was to put everything away in a cupboard at the end of the morning. I was out shopping one day when I came across one of the children with her mum. When I said hello the child just stared open mouthed at me. Then she piped up "Are you a real lady?" I'm sure she thought I was left in the cupboard with the toys after each session!

bohemian

Yes goodness me takes me back. Remember my older 2 side my side both not wanting to get back into the pushchair and waiting until the tantrum was at the point where I could bend them in that middle to get the restraints on them!

Sounds awful but they pretty normal 30 and 28 year old dads now!

Ah! playgroup, baby sitting circles and mycatsahacker - the wonderful MacClaren buggy! I had an adaptor thing put on mine when I had two toddlers to get around, and quite often just pushing up and down kerbs would lead to the two parting company. Carrying bags of shopping on the handles would result in the things tipping backwards...Oh those were the days! And don't even get me started on the metal bike seat - 'The Wheels On the Bike Go Round and Round'.....

Yes, we had tokens too and it worked very well. Occasionally someone would accumulate too many and it would be suggested we didn't use them for a while. It worked really well for us.

Yes, we got points, which worked in a similar way.

DH was away a lot on the summer months so I needed babysitters for about three hours between about 7.00-10.00pm several times a week to cover the further education evening classes I was doing. I would build a huge 'debt' over the summer and repay it and earn a 'credit' balance in a few 7.00pm - 2.00am sits as Christmas approached. All those post-midnight double points.

Our babysitting group worked with 'tokens' - if you sat for anyone you got a token per hour, double after midnight.