Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
By Tonya Strickland<br />
Is it just me, or does anyone else have<br />
this weird obsession with researching<br />
kids’ recreation classes? Mine aren’t in<br />
school yet, so you’ll often find me scrolling<br />
through the Paso Robles Activity Guide to<br />
see what cool family-friendly thing we<br />
want to try next. Not that I have tons of patience<br />
for kids’ classes. They’re fine when<br />
you have one child. But when you have<br />
two, there’s not much you can register<br />
them for together.<br />
Instructor Nancy Knox leads circle time songs for children and<br />
their adults at the Kindermusik Wiggle & Grow class in October.<br />
In fact, let’s take this moment to reflect<br />
on the experience of bringing a younger<br />
sibling to the older sibling’s class. Child<br />
distraction attempts include, but are not<br />
limited to:<br />
• Watching that weird guy play with toy<br />
dinosaurs on YouTube and hoping your<br />
kid doesn’t break your phone.<br />
• Giving your kid your car keys, only to<br />
hear your car beeping lock/unlock from<br />
the parking lot outside for the next 10<br />
minutes.<br />
• Scooping them up and walking<br />
around as they desperately try to wiggle<br />
out of your grasp.<br />
So much fun, right? But the age range<br />
for Kindermusik’s “Wiggle and Grow”<br />
series is newborn to four. Boom. Disaster<br />
averted.<br />
Kindermusik pairs musical instruments,<br />
movement and singing with the<br />
interesting little life lessons of listening,<br />
turn-taking and cause and effect.<br />
Mom has to participate, though, which<br />
is kind of a bummer if you wanted to, say,<br />
get in any amount of glorious peace to<br />
zone out on your phone. #sorrynotsorry.<br />
But we genuinely enjoyed this class. The<br />
morning opens with a cute little circle<br />
time song where all the kids get to hear<br />
their name in the lyrics.<br />
Then we practiced with different instru-<br />
Photo by Heather Stephenson, City of Paso Robles.<br />
ments - definitely a highlight. Because,<br />
other than our piano and maybe one<br />
rogue Fisher Price toy, we don’t have any<br />
kid musical instruments in our house. I<br />
just can’t even with the banging and ringing<br />
sounds. The kids got a kazoo recently<br />
(thanks, grandparents) and that thing was<br />
retired within a day. Because, no.<br />
So when we got to use rhythm sticks<br />
and egg shakers to make music, and<br />
asked our children to try to copy our (simple)<br />
sequences, it was really fun and different.<br />
Then we all did a line dancing number<br />
with a partner. It was really sweet and cute<br />
and it got the kids up and moving around,<br />
which was awesome pre-naptime. All in<br />
all, we highly recommend this class.<br />
Tonya Strickland lives in Paso Robles<br />
with her husband, their two small children<br />
and one crazy but lovable dog. A<br />
longtime journalist and government reporter,<br />
Tonya stepped back from her writing<br />
career in 2016 to stay at home with<br />
the little ones. In February, she launched<br />
the family adventure blog Two in Tow<br />
& On the Go. It features pictures, tips<br />
and stories about things to do with kids<br />
on the Central Coast, all with a hearty<br />
(but hopefully humorous) dose of real<br />
life. You can share in the adventure at @<br />
two.n.tow on Instagram + Facebook or<br />
visit the blog at twontow.com.<br />
The winter session of Kindermusik<br />
Wiggle & Grow is scheduled for<br />
Tuesdays from 10 to 10:45 a.m.,<br />
Jan. 23 to Feb. 13 at the<br />
Centennial Park White Oak Room<br />
in Paso Robles. Registration costs<br />
include sibling discounts. For more<br />
information, visit the city’s recreation<br />
page at www.prcity.com/recreation.<br />
December <strong>2017</strong>, <strong>PASO</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> 33
Change language