Wives of sailors in city bond over children

NAVI MUMBAI: A group of sailors' wives in Navi Mumbai has given the lie to the assumption that if you do not visit malls, there is very little you can do in the city in terms of entertainment.
Tired of hopping from one mall to another, these women have formed a group called PlayDate, which meets regularly to explore avenues for education and entertainment for the children as well as the young mothers.
The group, which first met on Facebook and has more than 10 members already, has till date organised meetings at Central Park and Wonders Park and is looking forward to finding more places where it can organise interesting events.
The fact that their children are all of more or less the same age - that is, less than three years old - helps the young mothers to arrange activities that all the kids will enjoy.
Among the events they have held so far have been Daddy's Connect, in which children are encouraged to talk about their dads (and if dads are in town, they are allowed to join the kids), Mommy Times, where the mothers sing, dance, recite poems and play games,Musical Bonding sessions, where children are introduced to instruments and sounds, and drawing and painting sessions.
The events also help the parents share parenting tips.
"Our families live in different nodes of the city. We first met 14 months ago at Central Park in Kharghar, when our babies were around eight months old. Since then, there has been no looking back. We make the best of the green spaces available in the city and have succeeded in forming a second, extended family," said Roma Sanadhya, one of the group's members.
Another member, Minakshi Tiwari, said, "Events like Musical Bonding, where children are taught about sounds and instruments, help them learn out of the box."
Members say most activities are planned well in advance with a view to providing good exposure to toddlers and stimulating their brains.
"Children tend to imitate one another and thus learn from other kids. If one of them does not eat at home, he/she learns to eat while watching others. We wish to tap this tendency so that they learn, bond and form relationships," said Richa Joshi.
The members acknowledge the city's mall culture but want to go beyond that. "All that people here seem to do is visit malls. We don't want our children to miss their fathers when they are on duty or to miss out on all the joys of living in an extended family," said Sukeshi Singh.
According to sources, there are about 50 families of sailors in the city, and a few thousand families of people in the defence forces.
Seawoods resident and counsellor Gayatri Nathani Patil said, "The meetings the women have keep them occupied, enable the children to learn and improve their communication and social skills."