By Laura Lane
She considered staying home, but was worried that if she did, she might disappoint one of the mothers who attend her Babies and Bagels group, held at Temple Israel of South Merrick. So she went and bought the bagels.
³I thought, this will be a real washout, but I have to go and see if anyone shows up,² said Kanner. ³Three mothers came anyway.²
Kanner has run the free program, which is offered every other Friday in the morning, for the past nine years. She stays with it, even though her own children are too old to attend, because she enjoys helping the community. ³When I moved here, I didn¹t know anyone, and I went to the one-time-a-month meeting of Babies and Bagels,² recalled Kanner. ³I started running the program myself to try to bring young people into the temple and give back. And I¹ve been able to meet a lot of people in the community by doing this, which is so nice.²
The program is open to everyone and doesn¹t require Temple Israel membership. In fact, Kanner said that most mothers who come are not from the temple. The temple doesn¹t advertise the program either. It grows by word of mouth among mothers who tell other mothers how much fun it is.
³I¹m really surprised that more people don¹t take advantage of this; it¹s great and it¹s free,² said Lauren Dunkel, the mother of 9-month-old Ryan. Dunkel grew up in Merrick but moved to Manhattan. Now she lives in Bellmore.
³I¹ve been going since September and have made some friends that I¹ve gotten together with outside the class,² said Dunkel. ³I think it¹s a great community resource and a way to meet mothers who are going through the same thing.²
The format for Babies and Bagels is simple. When mothers arrive with their babies, they find a colorful sheet on the floor of the ballroom on the temple¹s main level and three large buckets of toys. Babies can enjoy themselves playing for the hour-long program as their mothers exchange ideas over coffee and bagels.
³I like it that my baby can play with other babies,² said Merokean Marcy Megaro, the mother of 6-month-old Michael. ³He really likes playing with the toys. And at Babies and Bagels, you are more on your own than at a mommy-and-me class. Since there isn¹t a teacher, you can talk to the other mothers.²
The moms share their experiences and benefit from Kanner, who tries to help. ³Because of my own experience as a mother, I know places to go, and I try to help my mothers by letting them know where the resources are,² said Kanner. ³I also give out a list of phone numbers and addresses so if they want to contact each other outside the group they can.²
Babies and Bagels is important to Jennifer Kleiner. Her husband died last June, and she¹s raising her three children alone now. ³I went to Babies and Bagels when my two older children were babies for around three years,² said Kleiner, who lives in East Meadow. ³This gets me out of the house and the socialization is nice. Ilyana is a month old and crawls around and plays with the toys. We go when it rains or snows too.²
Comments about this story? Llane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
