We like to present articles from our members, with a focus on personal and global parenting and community issues. Please contact our Executive Director at the PRC office with your ideas.
Why move to Port Washington? Why, the excellent commute of course. Oh, and the schools. Yes, well, the view is nice. And then there are the shops and the restaurants. One more thing: the PRC. The PRC?
When my husband and I decided to move from Brooklyn to the suburbs with our first child, it was to be closer to family. In choosing Port Washington, we knew what we were gaining — a good commute and a great school district. But I also feared that we were losing something as we left behind the other moms I had met in that thriving outdoor community that is Brooklyn. I wondered if we would meet other new parents and establish a sense of connection to our new community. I didn't know then about the PRC and the bridge the center would give me.
I needed things to do with my then one year-old son. I needed to meet other moms, and he needed to meet other children. A friend of mine who lived in Manhasset told me about the PRC, and I decided to look into it. Since it was a cooperative, I knew I would have to volunteer to do some things — which I really didn't feel like doing — but the membership and class fees were more affordable than many other places. Plus, the center offered a wide range of classes, like music, art and gym. I could join one organization and get many benefits. At that point, I hadn't even considered the adult classes, workshops and events or other fun things like the monthly book club, which I eventually joined. Especially after I wasn't really a new mom, I was eager to discuss things other than mothering — even if that is still part of most conversations!
As for the volunteering — well, I did it. And you know what? I met moms! And my son, and later my daughter, met other children. When I think about all the families I have met, so many have come from my network at the PRC. And the funny thing is, often I meet a mom somewhere else, say at the nail salon or my son's school, and like six degrees of separation, it will turn out that the mom is somehow connected to the PRC. So it is true, the people you meet at the PRC are the people you see in town, at the supermarkets, the parks and library — and the PRC is the bridge that connects you to them.
And now it seems that when we chose Port Washington, we moved closer to family than we had even realized. Ω