Photo: Jon Tyson | Unsplash
In Chinese cities, most families shoulder the work of raising a child on their own. One Shanghai mom group, however, is offering an alternative model. It began with an online reading group for kids and evolved into offline meetups. Core members pool their skills to provide classes in painting, baking, and storytelling, and hold evening and summer after-school classes. In 2020, the group held a community worker appreciation event. Kids bought mung beans at the supermarket and harvested mint leaves in a community garden. The moms taught them how to make mung bean soup and mint tea for local security guards, cleaners, and neighborhood committee members. The group also identified child-friendly spaces and worked to make them more welcoming to local kids. The group awakened moms to the possibilities for childcare outside the family, alleviated child-rearing pressures, and expanded the range of resources available to them.
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