Community is…

This is going to be an ongoing list.

When we hear families comment in the space, “that’s community,” we’re going to jot it down here.

A growing list that will show what community means to the families who visit LYKKE Kids:

• when I see the drawings left behind on the art table [from the week] it feels like community. To know others have been in enjoying the space before us.

• when someone needed a diaper last weekend for their kiddo and when we asked the group, multiple hands shot up into the air… “I have a size 5!” “I have one if you need!”

• the time when a friend offered to be at LYKKE Kids with a friend’s baby, so she and her partner could go out for a coffee alone - for the first time since their baby was born. The baby cried and cried, despite everything the friend tried. When suddenly it was quiet. In the hallway we could see another woman who was visiting the space with her kiddo, holding the little one bopping back and forth with her. She had offered to try. We called her the baby whisperer. Community.

• a group of families in the back area, surrounding 4 cakes glowing with candles, singing “Happy Birthday to Us, Happy Birthday to Us, Happy Birthday Dear LYKKE, Happy Birthday to Us!” Families celebrating LYKKE Kids being open for one year with cake and being together.

• running into friends, neighbours and people you know when you visit the space

• kids saying hi to Lainie on the street because they recognize her from LYKKE Kids

• families looking into the space and waving as they pass by

• people stopping by just to say hi

Welcome to The LYKKE Kids Journal

Being at LYKKE Kids each day is fascinating. It really is.

You get to meet people from all around the world and hear about their experiences and perspectives. You also get to meet people with different jobs (from puppet designers, opera singers, nurses, interior designers, writers and musicians to scientists, professional dancers, doctors, video game designers, teachers, chemists, lawyers, researchers, and more…) All coming together in the same space - for their kids.

And as the creator of LYKKE Kids and the one who’s currently there each day, I get to observe so many interesting things. The teacher in me observes. I get to see what kids are doing and connect it to what I know about child development and learning. I hear a story shared and it immediately makes me think of a recent article, book, or documentary. At the end of the day, I have this neat collection of stories and things to think about. Interesting pieces. I like to collect and connect - it describes my creative process.

And it feels like there’s something bigger and important in sharing these pieces (stories and observations) more broadly. I don’t know the exact goal or purpose; it’s more of a curiosity, a pull, so I’m going with it. It’s what led me to creating a space like LYKKE Kids.

So The LYKKE Journal will be a way to share my observations, thoughts, good stories, and interesting ideas - all related to kids, family life, and being human.

And privacy is really important to me. I care a lot about it. It’s why I don’t post pictures of kids in the space, and I ask for kids’ permission (and grown-ups) to take photos of their creations or hands. So if I share a story or experience that I’ve observed or information that’s been shared with me, I will change details slightly or stay general to keep stories sacred and anonymous.

So why share them then? Because it’s interesting and it helps us to think differently.