Interview | “Always someone you know who welcomes you with a smile on their face”

When Carolina Schindler was on a maternity  leave, she and her son, Jakob Magni, who turned two years old recently, often came to Memmm Play, an open pre-school at the Reykjavík City Library Gerðuberg. Memmm is a non-profit organization that works towards a more family-friendly society. Individuals working there are motivated to create opportunities for families to enjoy togetherness and quality time in a variety of ways.

Carolina says it was very important during the time she stayed at home, to ATH! have a fixed point in her life??? (hafa haft fastan punkt í tilverunni) , where she left the house to meet other adults with young children.

“It is important to meet people and be able to talk about everything that is going on, chat and share experiences on parenting. It's a great mental relief to know that you can come when it suits you and there is always someone you know who welcomes you with a smile on their face”.

Good to get tips about children friendly places

At Family mornings guests sing together, the children play and adults have a cup on the house while they chat about everything and nothing, but perhaps mostly about the children.

“It's nice to meet new people in the same situation, share with each other about your own well-being and the children's development, hear about different parenting methods in different countries and discuss how the system works in Iceland. It is also very good to get tips on where to take the children, for example which coffee shops and swimming pools are suitable”.

The visitors of Memmm Play come from far and wide and you can hear various languages spoken during the Family mornings, as up to 25% have a mother tongue other than Icelandic

Various courses, books and magazines on parenting

The open pre-school regularly offers courses related to children and parenting, which Carolina says is very much apreciated and specifically mentions courses on infant language development and first aid. Among other educational talks that have been held there is to mention the motion development??? (hreyfiþroski barna) of infants, total communication, parenting without diapers and how chiropractors work with infants.

Carolina says Gerðuberg is well suited for events like family mornings

“Very well, absolutely great location, plenty of parking - I also often go to the café upstairs and to the library”.

In addition to attending Family mornings, Carolina and Jakob Magni have used the library's children's area, attended storytimes and borrowed books. The library has plenty of interesting and informative books and magazines on parenting and of course a lot of children's books.

Memmm Play welcomes parents/guardians and their children to a beautiful and meaningful play area, in a room called Fell, on the lower floor of the City Library in Gerðuberg, every Wednesday morning between 10 am and 12 pm.

All in all, there are family mornings three times a week at the Reykjavík City Library, in addition to the open preschool with Memmm Play, there are family mornings at the City Library Úlfarsárdalur on Tuesday mornings and in Grófinn, down town, on Thursday mornings. The events are open to everyone and no registration.

Here you can read all about the City Library's family mornings.