The PAL Family Resource Center in Binghamton, New York

As a stay-at-home mom, I was looking for something to do with my toddler that would also allow some grown-up conversation. While visiting a local library, I happened upon a calendar of events for a free center in Binghamton called the PAL Family Resource Center. A division of the Mothers and Babies Network, the PAL Center is a free center where you can go and play with your child. Basically it is set up like a large studio apartment with couches, child-size tables and chairs, a full kitchen and more toys than you can shake a stick at. The center is run by two very nice ladies, Miss Cheryl and Miss Mary, who treated me like a family member the moment I first walked through the doors.

The PAL Center is open Monday-Friday (9am-2pm Mon, Tue, Wed and Fri and 2pm-7:30pm on Thurs) and you do not have to set up an appointment to go, you just show up. Since the PAL Center is run on donations and grants, each visitor much fill out some paperwork for the sole purpose of documenting who is visiting, and sign in each time. The center wants to show that people are actually coming in so that they can continue to get funding from the local and state governments.

The Binghamton PAL Center offers a variety of activities aside from the toys. At least once a week there is a "Talk Time" where the staff discusses some aspect of parenting with those in attendance. These topics range from breastfeeding to child abuse protection to parenting with dignity. Also at least once a week there are activities for the little ones like musical chairs, limbo, or like last week, a hoe-down! During the week of a holiday, there are holiday-specific activities like coloring eggs and doing the bunny hop for Easter, coloring pictures of shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day or making Valentines. There are always crayons and paper and other crafts available if your child isn't interested in the toys on that particular day.

A unique attribute of the PAL Center is that you can help yourself to snacks and a beverage while you are there, everything is community property. This is another reason that it is vital to the center that donations are made. They do not ask for much, just a roll of paper towels here, a box of Goldfish Crackers there. There is also a Children's Clothes Closet where anyone can go and find clothes for their child free of charge. Every Thursday, when the center is open later, the ladies have the Dinner Bell, which is a free meal for anyone that shows up. Anyone. Children, of course are served first, but I have never heard of there not being enough. Cheryl and Mary do this dinner on $20/week. They serve things like sloppy Joes, or macaroni and cheese, anything that can be made in large quantities on the cheap.

The best part of the PAL Center for me is that I meet other parents. People from all walks of life visit the center, and each has an interesting story to tell. Cheryl and Mary also have family members that are there almost every time that I have gone in and it feels like being at home even though home is so far away for me. It is good for my daughter as well because she gets to interact with children of all ages and temperaments. She gets to see that she cannot always have the toy that she wants, and she gets to be around children with more language skills than she has right now so hopefully that will help her speak sooner, and become more social. It's a win-win situation.

The PAL Center is located in the Old Lackawanna Train Station at 45 Lewis Street in Binghamton, New York. There are also several other centers in the Mothers and Babies Network in neighboring towns and counties that could be closer to your home. Visit www.mothersandbabies.org to find the closest one to you. If you are looking for somewhere to take your child to play and find a little adult conversation for yourself, I highly recommend checking out the PAL Center.