Going Out and About with Benjamin

One thing I love about Ely is how unbelievably kid-friendly it is. As a stay-at-home mom, I must get out of the house on a frequent basis, and Ely has so many activities for the “under-5s.” There is Baby Sign classes, Baby Yoga (which is literally adjacent to my house), Nursery Play Dance, etc. It is a great place for young mums…and the kids too I suppose.

This morning, we made our first appearance at the Edward Bear Club. The class is held at the Cathedral Centre, which is a stone’s throw away from our house. (It is also free!) The EBC is a Christian based playgroup where children 0-5 can sing songs and hear Bible stories from the four lovely old ladies who run the group. Today was the first time Benjamin heard the story of Christmas and I thought that was quite special. (The story was told from the view of the donkey that carried Mary. Too cute!)

Afterwards, the mums and children had refreshments and socialized. The lovely ladies made sure that all of the mums had coffee and mums made sure that all of the children had biscuits. (Biscuits are cookies. I ate Ben’s for him.) The mums were pretty friendly and I had a great time. I even met a fellow American. No, she’s not connected with the base. She simply came over here to go to school, met a nice Englishman and never left. She told me that there are a ton of Americans who live near the hospital so if you need a fix of home, you just go to the “American Playground.”

Benjamin and I have also become regulars at Baby Rhymetime, which is held at the public library. The class is ran by a very dedicated librarian who always reminds the mums to take the baby board books on our way out. It is a very large class of about 30 mums and babies. We sing songs and nursery rhymes to the children for about half an hour. This group is not as friendly as the Edward Bear Club, but I attribute that to the size of the group. I think in smaller groups you are forced to acknowledge someone else’s existence, but with a large group, it seems perfectly acceptable to ignore people. (Sorry for the analysis, but I suppose I have to do something with that Sociology degree I worked so hard to get.)

Anyway, I must say that Baby Rhymetime has been educational for me as well as Ben. Now, I am well versed in English nursery rhymes, such as “The Grand Old Duke of York.” I was also quite interested to learn that “The Wheels on the Bus” has different words here. The wheels on the bus go round and round “all day long” instead of “all through the town” as they do in America. (There goes that brilliant mind again!)