In what is Playgroup Victoria’s 50th year, the organisation put out a call to local playgroups: Who in your community is a Playgroup Champion?
Stories and sentiments were written in. Memories and meaningful acknowledgements came to the fore. This led to a broader conversation about what it is that playgroup means to families now in the modern world, fifty years on.
Then the bigger question followed, how can we shine a light on how important playgroup truly is in the current climate.
We now find ourselves more digitally connected than ever before, yet with that comes a degree of disconnection from the real happenings of day-to-day life.
As the peak body, we are welcomed into the lives of local families. What we gain is a privileged insight into the worlds of Australians caring for young children. We observe fun and play. We also witness the juggling act of parents and carers, the demands on time, the isolation and pressures that they can feel while caring for little ones at times. We are fortunate enough to have some honest conversations and appreciate this connection. It is a good litmus test for how families are faring.
The main thing we are always reminded of- we need each other.
Families need to have regular conversations and contact. Children need to have time for play. We need the support of others outside of our core family unit. We need intergenerational relationships that help to pass on wisdom and encouragement. This is the sun, the rain, the nourishment that families need to grow and thrive.
That is why we decided to highlight Tess Galea as a Playgroup Champion as we reach our 50-year milestone.
Tess is a young, vibrant grandmother who put up her hand to run her local grandparents playgroup.
In a quiet suburban corner of Melton, it is an ordinary Friday morning. What makes this playgroup extra-ordinary is how it brings purpose and enjoyment to the lives of those who attend. It represents what the Victorian Playgroup Association set out to do in 1974- that was to provide support and stimulation for families, in a safe space where their growing babies and toddlers can be nurtured.
This grandparent’s playgroup winds through generations. It exemplifies the playgroup philosophy: It takes a village to raise a child.
Sometimes, four generations of families come together. Several members of the group used to go to playgroup together when their own children were little. They have ducked and weaved through one another’s lives. Now all these years later they reunite at playgroup with their grandchildren and new families, traversing the seasons of time.
“I just love being with my granddaughter and I’ve seen my friends that I haven’t seen for a long time here,” said Sharon.
Sharon shares that Tess is always organising activities for the group. The week prior members of Bunnings came along and supplied garden pots for the children to decorate before adding soil and a flower for their grandmothers. For Mother’s Day Tess made everyone beaded bracelets with ‘grandmother’ and ‘grandfather’ carefully strung in the middle. Thoughtful things such as that make the group appreciate all that Tess does.
“She is really kind and gentle and she does things with all the children, not just one child,” said Sharon. “Her grandchild comes too but she manages to play with all the children and acknowledge all the children.”
The children share a real bond with their grandparents and a quiet contentment runs through the room as some sit and make crafts while others catch up while their toddlers whiz around on the equipment. There were no tears all morning.
During playgroup time, the children enjoy quality time with their grandparents, while getting to know the other families. The group is in the present moment. They are there for each other.
Charmaine Ranasinghe’s son attends with her mother and she said that they love it, remarking how caring and thoughtful Tess is, organising the playgroup.
“She always thinks of everyone.”
“It is so great for my mother to get out and chat to other grandparents and for my son to interact with other children. She is just brilliant! Always organising something for them to do.”
Tess jokes that it can be a bit like therapy, group therapy, in that all the grandparents can come together and have a chat about whatever it is that is going on in their lives. Sometimes they don’t have a listening ear or someone who understands, but here they have lots in common, most of all the great love for the little people beside them.
The benefit extends beyond one thing and reaches out to link up with another:
“I think, it is feeling like you belong in a community and for some people, this is their outlet as well,” observes Tess.
It is great for everyone’s health- and mental health.
“If anyone is feeling sad, we like to turn that around,” said Sharon. “Everyone has bad days you know and we are here for each other. Just coming here makes these bad days better. You forget for a little bit.”
That is the crucial part about keeping playgroup sessions regular as Tess has done here. The group has some awareness of life’s greater goings on.
Playgroup CEO Danny Schwarz sees the benefit for multiple facets of the community at playgroup and said it should be celebrated.
“The social and emotional benefits that happen naturally when we are absorbed by tangible feelings of belonging are at the core of the playgroup experience. Tess embodies this in all that she does both in and out of her playgroup which benefits the whole community.”
Tess is a local champion for her dedication, her time and her effort in bringing everyone together. For without, groups such as this would not exist and all the many grandparents who attend each week would miss out. Their grandchildren, too.
Society has changed and the reality is, many parents have returned to work to support their family unit and these grandparents here have stepped up to support their family village.
One grandfather said that if he doesn’t see his grandchildren for two weeks, things change, so rapidly. With little children, the development is so fast and the grandparents enjoy keeping up the continuity and being close.
“I’ve just found that we all get along well here,” said Tess. “It’s great that we have some grandads here as well, I just think that’s awesome.”
In the years to come, as the children here spread their wings, they will have something special carried with them, that will be all that they have shared with their grandparents and all that they have passed on. Looking around, what that looks like is love. That will hold both young and older alike in good stead.
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together,” said artist Van Gogh and in life, and in childhood most profoundly, the small things mean the most. Playgroup days among them.
Over the coming months we will share more local Playgroup Champion stories as we celebrate how they bring us together with support, kindness and care.
Article by Sinead Halliday