# Where do you volunteer with your toddler?



## jennifercp8 (Nov 10, 2005)

I have some time on my hands, and I would really like to do some volunteering - but I have a 3 year old and 3 month old. Any suggestions of some "kid friendly" places to volunteer? I am not concerned about the 3 month old - I can strap her onto my back easily in a carrier. It's my older one I am concerned about. Or am I crazy?


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## Ruthie's momma (May 2, 2008)

Awesome question!







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## creekprincess (Jan 11, 2008)

Your local food bank. It is a great learning experience for children


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## hrsmom (Jul 4, 2008)

I also think this is an awesome question and look forward to hearing some ideas!


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## Fay (Sep 21, 2005)

I volunteered at a nursing home to help with worship services when my DS1 was 3 years old. We pushed residents in wheelchairs down to the chapel before worship and back to their rooms after worship. It was awesome! My DS1 is hyperactive and autistic, and this was a peaceful activity for him. He still talks about it & fondly remembers it at age 8.

I also volunteered to teach adult ed classes at church, and was able to wear my baby for some classes. My dream was to teach a Mommy & Me type class with my baby for parents and infants/toddlers, but I was unable to do that because of his special needs. One mother at my church volunteered to teach a preschool art class one weekday morning per week, and that was her dream volunteer job.

With my DS2, I have been volunteering at DS1's school for library storytime for 2 years. DS2 & I reshelve books and help children check out new books. At the end of the school year, we reorganize and tidy up the bookshelves. This volunteer job has been a dream come true for me, and DS2 absolutely loves it!

I suggest that you think about your special interests and talents, consider your child's temperament, and start making some phone calls to places that always need a helping hand.


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## Greenmama2 (Jul 24, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *creekprincess* 
Your local food bank. It is a great learning experience for children

I would like to do this and like the OP have a 3 year old and a two month old. Has anyone actually done it with two littlies? Any tips on how to make it work?


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## averlee (Apr 10, 2009)

any place with elderly people- senior centers, etc. and obviously, any place with kids- schools, libraries, etc


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## Code Name Mama (Oct 5, 2007)

I have called SO many places with this same question. I've volunteered my whole life, and it's been so frustrating that no one in my area wants my toddler there.














:
I think I've finally found someplace - it's a home for teenage (up to 20 yrs old I think) girls who have nowhere else to go. They can stay there a certain amount of time after they have the babies too. They are required to take classes (nutrition, parenting, etc.), and so I'm applying to volunteer in the nursery while the mamas are in class. ds LOVES babies, so I think it will be a perfect fit for us.


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## jennifercp8 (Nov 10, 2005)

Thanks for the encouragement!

I tried looking for a Wheels on Meals program around here - my 102 year old Great Grandmother received meals and company this way when she was living by herself. I thought I could pay it forward, but there is nothing in my area.

There are a couple of senior centers around here, the orchestra I play with once a week rehearses in one of their community rooms. I may call and ask them if they have any need for a extremely social 3 year old and smiley 3 month old.







I would love to get him around some more older people. He was an absolute gentleman not too long ago, helping my 80 year old grandmother gently down the stairs and hanging on to her cane when they got to the bottom. It makes me think he is ready for some more interaction.


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## butterfly_mommy (Oct 22, 2007)

I'm just amazed that you have time on your hands with a 3 year old and a 3 month old


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## jennifercp8 (Nov 10, 2005)

Well.... I don't have *that* much time. But I would rather do something like volunteer once a week instead of filling with other activities.







Especially once fall and winter roll around.


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## SparklingGemini (Jan 3, 2008)

How about your local LLL group? Volunteering to become a leader is a great way to continually expose your children to the normalcy of breastfeeding. And if you don't have the time or inclination to be a leader, you can steal take on jobs to help the leaders out.

Also, community gardens need volunteers to help maintain plots, find members, get donations and so on.

Lots of parks and beaches have clean up days. That would be an AWESOME thing to teach to your little ones!

Church and spiritual groups usually need volunteers to run child care and/or children's programs.


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## kcparker (Apr 6, 2008)

I have been taking my son to neighborhood planning meetings for the last year and a half without incident, and we have been working on a comprehensive plan for improving our neighborhood. It's volunteer, but basically boring meetings with a bunch of adults writing things on flip charts and discussing plantings, traffic calming measures, and other such topics. DS can go for 90-120 minutes at these (I do bring snack food and drawing implements and hold him or wear him) before we have to leave, but I think my son (just turned two) has a very high tolerance for adult meetings and grown-up blah blah blah, so probably not everyone could do committee work with a toddler in tow.

He also LOVES picking up trash and putting it in trash cans or bags, he can do gardening work with supervision...

Other ideas: you could do something like Meals on Wheels deliveries with a toddler, make care packages and write letters to Iraq War soldiers who are still in the field, do some kind of one-on-one Big Brother/Big Sister/Best Buddies type activities where you are the Big Sister/Best Buddy but he comes along on outings...

There was a piece in Slate about this awhile ago.


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

I volunteer once a week stuffing envelopes for the childrens museum. I wouldn't recommend going to a fun place like that with a 3 year old, but the work itself is really good. Much much much easier when she was 3 months, vs. 11months, but I just keep an eye out and pause my work periodically to redirect her.

Any group where most of the other volunteers are grandparents and the pace is fairly slow should be good.

When I was growing up, my parents would volunteer pruning the roses in the public garden at our local park. It was set up so my little brother and I could run about wherever we wanted while my parents worked.


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## jennifercp8 (Nov 10, 2005)

I just wanted to report that I called a couple of our local senior centers, and they really want nothing to do with us.







One woman told me that they have all the volunteers they need, the other director told me that she can't think of a single place she could use me. If I didn't have the kids, she would use me in the kitchen.

So - off for round 2. I am not giving up! LOL Where I grew up there was a nursing home that _loved_ having volunteers. My youth group went a couple times a year to visit, we would go caroling in the halls, my dance teacher used to do recitals, and I even remember going with my HS choir. I just can't seem to find something like that around me. I was even thinking of trying to find a few people who just might want some company - some young company, even. Maybe their families aren't around, etc.

I don't belong to a church around here - I haven't found one I like, but maybe I could restart my search again and then visit a couple of shut-ins?


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## camahdavi (Nov 3, 2007)

I second the LLL suggestion. They are always looking for meet-and-greeters, help with the portable libraries ect. I volunteer with a postpartum depression group (we welcome all mothers to bring their kids) and one of my initial demands was that I wasn't going to put my DD in creche to help - she had to be able to stay with me.

When I looked into volunteering with LLL they were supportive of that stipulation too. Try giving your local group a call or check out their website!

Good luck!


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## Code Name Mama (Oct 5, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jennifercp8* 
I just wanted to report that I called a couple of our local senior centers, and they really want nothing to do with us.







One woman told me that they have all the volunteers they need, the other director told me that she can't think of a single place she could use me. If I didn't have the kids, she would use me in the kitchen.

So - off for round 2. I am not giving up! LOL Where I grew up there was a nursing home that _loved_ having volunteers. My youth group went a couple times a year to visit, we would go caroling in the halls, my dance teacher used to do recitals, and I even remember going with my HS choir. I just can't seem to find something like that around me. I was even thinking of trying to find a few people who just might want some company - some young company, even. Maybe their families aren't around, etc.

I don't belong to a church around here - I haven't found one I like, but maybe I could restart my search again and then visit a couple of shut-ins?


Is it a senior center or a full fledged nursing home? If you could do a nursing home, how about asking to wheel residents to meal times? That was one of the things I did with a youth group when we volunteered regularly there. Or you could just go visit/hang out. Have your LO color pictures to hand out to participate in the volunteer experience if you want.

And just so you know, nursing homes can't tell you "no, you are not welcome here." You can go in and visit with residents anytime they have visiting hours. I'm all for more transparency in nursing homes, and it irks me when they discourage people from volunteering.







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## HappyFox05 (Apr 11, 2007)

I can volunteer with a toddler? I spend all day chasing her around - I can't do anything (pee, check email, clean up, converse with another adult) that doesn't involver her. How would we handle my volunteering?

Not trying to thread steal, but this is also a way of fishing for an answer to "how the heck do I fit into society when my whole day is spent chasing a little girl around?"


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