HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — We know so many of you are working from home and are looking for ways to save money on childcare. How about a relatively new concept, where you work in the same building while your kids play?
You can keep an eye on them, but also take that Zoom call without getting interrupted.
“One, two! Yay! You did it!" said Lindsay Yeager as she watched her son Ashton play with shapes.
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Those little accomplishments, as a parent, really make you feel proud.
“Oh, they’re having so much fun on the train!” Lindsay said as they moved over to a train set.
It’s so much more than just play. For young children, it’s learning fine motor skills or tuning into their imagination. Yeager loves bringing her son to K Peas Place in Tampa.
“As soon as we got out of the car, he's like, 'Oh I want to go down the green slide,'" she said. "He loves going down the slide, he loves the car toy and there's certain things we don't have at home, which is huge, you know. We don't really have the space for, like a play kitchen. He loves the play kitchen and pretending to cut the fruits is his thing now.”
Yeager didn’t get home from her job until 1:30 in the morning, yet she turned right around and got Ashton here by 8:30 a.m.! And while her husband does work from his laptop a lot, fitting in these moments can be a challenge.
“Just to have the opportunity that if my husband has Ashton, he can come here and still get some work done, and Ashton [can] still get some quality play time out of the house, and it's really nice," she said.
He’s one of several parents that started logging into the Wifi at K Peas place over the summer so they could get work done while also being around their kids!
“So when they're working, they’re on their phones, they can still see," said Karen Gliddon, the owner of K Peas Place.
Gliddon has been a co-working mom for two decades! Her son Andrew has fond memories.
“I definitely grew up ahead of the game, because I was with her the entire time," said Andrew.
“I think a lot of parents are doing that — they're staying at home saving money and they get into a mobile situation where the kid starts to move and it becomes a little bit more challenging so they do seek indoor venues such as KP's Place to enrich them along the side of working and maintaining those logged in hours," Gliddon said.
Gliddon would love to expand on this after she's seen how well it’s worked so far. She’s hoping a small business would want to partner.
“I hope that families reach out to me and say you are exactly what we've been looking for," she said. "I have a group of 5 on my team, we need to sit at the table. We need to co-work. We need to do some brainstorming, and we would love to have your supervision and enrichment for our children.”
To Learn more about K Peas Place or contact Karen, click here!
Share Your Story with Heather
Heather Leigh was born and raised in Tampa Bay. She’s invested in telling stories from Seminole Heights and Ybor City, helping you find affordable childcare, and improving our roads. Send Heather a message with any ideas you’d like to share.
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“It's been a little stressful. I don't know when I'll be able to do it.”
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