A walk down memory lane, a look at where we are now, and a glimpse of the future

Happy Monday, Midlands Babywearers!

What better way to perk up your Monday than with a blog post? I hope everyone's weekend was as busy and fun-filled as ours was. We had a great meeting on Saturday, birthday party after, and then our family spent the night at the Big Mo watching How to Train Your Dragon 2. If you've not been to the Big Mo with your family, it's worth the drive. There is no more family friendly movie viewing venue than this landmark drive-in. There is playground equipment for the kids to scramble on while you wait for the movie to start, reasonably priced concessions if you don't bring your own food, and the price can't be beat ($8 per adult for a double feature, $4 for kids 4 and up, 3 and under are free). I spotted at least one other fellow babywearer out there, using a ring sling. My only caveat is that you should bring bug spray. But that's the South, right?

 

Memory Lane . . .

Chris,
at one of the earliest meetings

Back to business - you all may or may not know, but Sunday, June 15th marked our six month anniversary! On one hand, I can't believe it's been only 6 months! We've grown to well over 300 members in a very short time frame, and I think we feel so much more established than that 6 month time frame implies. It wasn't too long ago a group of us met at Saluda Shoals and began planning this group. There was a babywearing community already in existence, but it seemed stagnant at the time, and we wanted to get more involved and make it more dynamic, and grow!

So, we gathered again, and again, and through a lot of discussion, thought, and prayer, Babywearers of the Midlands was born January 15th, 2014. We couldn't be more proud of this open, welcoming, and positive group of parents that form our local babywearing community. We are awesome because YOU are awesome. The generosity and kindness we see everyday in the Facebook group astounds me. We love you guys!

This blog has been my personal pet project - In the last six months we've covered different carrier types, like Ring Slings, and SSC/Buckle Carriers. We've talked about how to wear in all types of weather (Hot and Cold), Babywearing basics, including where to buy both online and locally (and how to afford it), how to care for your carrier, why we wear (both ergonomically and emotionally.) We've covered babywearing for newborns and for toddlers, babywearing for dads and plus size moms. We've shown you front carries and back carries. And yet! this is only the tip of the iceberg! There is so much we can talk about when it comes to babywearing. We could talk about it all day long - I almost feel like I'm writing a babywearing version of Green Eggs and Ham. (I could wear him here or there, I could wear him anywhere!)

Katrina, wearing T at the Zoo

I've gotten personal and I would really love if some of you would, too. There is something so fascinating about hearing someone else's journey. If any one of you want to talk about your babywearing journey (whether you've been wearing for 6 months, 6 years, or 16 years), we would really love it if you'd want to do a guest post and share it with us.

 

Where we are now . . .

Especially for those new to the group, this is what we do. We have two Official meetings each month.  Each meeting has a specific topic which we spend about 30 minutes covering, then the meeting opens up for questions, carrier troubleshooting, and lending library rentals. Meetings generally last about 90 minutes total, but have known to both go longer and shorter than that.

Our Saturday meeting is held at the LDS Institute of Religion located at 610 Assembly St, Columbia, SC. There is ample parking, we bring toys for the toddlers to play with, and there is really no time limit on our use of the building.

Our Thursday meeting is held at the LDS Church located at 7449 Broad River Rd, Columbia, SC. We have use of the large gymnasium area, and all of the church nursery toys are available for our use, and again, we don't really have a limit on the time we use the building.

Both buildings are peanut-free facilities, so we always ask that you choose any snacks and drinks you bring with your children carefully. Both meetings start roughly at 10:00 a.m. and last as long as needed to make sure everyone is helped. It is our goal that no one walks away from a meeting with questions unanswered. That's one reason why we have as many admins/leaders as we do, and why we encourage peer-to-peer help. Don't be afraid to ask questions, and don't think that you are unqualified to answer. We are all Babywearers with experience and knowledge to share. As leaders, myself, Jackie, Chris, Emily, and Ashleigh, feel it's our responsibility to bring structure to the group, to maintain a harmonious vibe, and generally oversee things.

Melissa, Chris, and Emily at a play date

We also schedule play dates as often as we can, sometimes as much as once or twice a week. These are opportunities to socialize, get informal help, and try out carries and carriers outside of the formal meeting structure. There's usually at least one or two leaders present at play dates, and we try to vary the locations, to cover the wide area that is the midlands, including the Northeast, Irmo, and in the future we'd love to schedule some play dates further afield to meet the Babywearers who live on the outskirts of Columbia.

Every Wednesday evening, around 8:30 p.m., we have a live chat where we talk about everything going on with us, babywearing or not. It's a fun time to catch up with friends that sometimes have a hard time making it to meetings, due to work or family logistics, and or just talk with some other adults.

If you ever want to schedule a play date, post on the wall in the Facebook group, and we will work it out. This also goes for things like "Hey, I'm headed to the Zoo! anybody want to join?" type things. We love things like this - it helps us get to know each other better, builds friendships and community. All good things!

 

A Glimpse in the Future



A peek at our promotional flyer

As we grow, we are developing a more public presence. This is both exciting and terrifying for us, as we join the public stage. It's great that we are being asked to have a voice in the local community, and it's even better that we are seeing babywearing become more common in the Midlands. We love babywearing (obviously), and we love to share it, too! To this end, we've been asked to join the Midlands Baby and Kids Expo later this month (June 28th). We'll have a table and do a live demonstration on babywearing. It looks to be a huge event, with lots of vendors and attendees. We hope to see many of you there, and possibly meet some new Babywearers. We did a smaller event in April, in conjunction with the Great Cloth Diaper Change, and this looks to be at least double in size. We are very excited to participate, and looking forward to doing many more events like this in the future.

Come check us out!