Baby & Me & YOU

Janene Malamud shares her journey how being a participant in Baby & Me classes led to her current career path as a certified JCC instructor.

When my baby, who is now a senior in high school, was two years old, we came to the JCC for a Mommy and Me class.  That Mommy and Me class was my introduction to the JCC, and 16 years later, I haven’t left.  My JCC roles have changed over the years:  I’ve been a volunteer, a Healthy Choices Teacher in the Early Learning Center, an enthusiastic fitness class participant… and then, “Do you want to facilitate Hello Baby?”   

Facilitating Hello Baby has been a full circle experience.  As a new mom, I remember how much I enjoyed meeting other new parents and sharing the joys and challenges of having a baby.  In Hello Baby, I’ve loved meeting these moms and dads and being with them at the start or continuation of their family journey.  I have also recently become certified to teach Baby and Toddler Yoga.  Three of the happiest things I can think of are: yoga, babies, and toddlers.  Baby and Toddler yoga supports little yogis developmentallyexactly where they are- through songs, play, and movement.  In a world that moves so fast, it is a gift to be with babies and toddlers who only know how to be in the moment.  

I’m realizing now that I am exactly where I started when I walked into the JCC 16 years ago.  My “baby” is about to graduate from high school, but happily, I don’t have to graduate from the JCC.