Peterborough’s Play Cafe is a place where parents can bring their babies and young children for family activities, crafts and events in a welcoming, child-friendly atmosphere.
For local parents, meanwhile, it’s also something of an oasis.
“It’s hard to get out and go places where your baby can be a baby,” said Play Cafe patron Beth Pink. “Sometimes they cry, sometimes they spit up. They’re not always the most polite, so this is the kind of place where that kind of thing is accepted and is OK.”
Three years ago, owner Sarah Susnar decided to have a child-friendly New Year’s celebration, but knew holding it at midnight would not be reasonable.
Then, she thought, if kids couldn’t stay up until 12 a.m., about celebrating it 12 hours earlier at noon?
“There’s not a lot to do for young kids on New Year’s and I wanted them to participate in a countdown, so I thought a countdown to noon would be the perfect way to do it,” Susnar said.
Susnar says this year’s event sold out quickly and she intends to continue with other child-oriented activities.
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