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MARCH 2 0 1 7 I BOROMAG.COM 33 City Owlets 10-42 JACKSON AVE., LIC CITYOWLETS.COM After moving to Long Island City from Dallas, Texas, with her husband and 2-month-old in 2014, Linda Nguyen was faced with a major adjustment and lifestyle shift. After experiencing prenatal and postpartum depression, she came to the realization that she might be able to do something about it. During that initial period of adjustment, there were few options. “There wasn’t anywhere I could go to ‘learn’ how to be a parent or really socialize myself and my child,” Nguyen said. “It became increasingly difficult with harsh winters and excruciatingly hot summers, because we would stay home and go stir-crazy. I realized with the influx of young families to LIC, there was a need for a safe and clean indoor play space where parents could come to play with their child. On the same note, I knew I wanted to provide the support services that were lacking in this upand coming neighborhood.” To develop a sense of what she wanted, Nguyen did “field research” by going to more than 100 different play spaces and enrichment classes around New York City, all while continuing to battle postpartum depression. Two and half years later, City Owlets was born. “The whole playcafe business, from conception to grand opening, was executed while I battled postpartum depression for two years,” Nguyen said. Her extensive research helped lay the foundation for City Owlets and the sense of community she wanted to create. “I think a lot of our customers feel like this is their ‘nest’ as well, because City Owlets was built from a parent’s perspective. We’ve experienced such a warm welcome from the LIC community and surrounding areas since even before we’ve opened, because I have updated our build-out progress on Facebook from day one.” City Owlets offers something for both parents and babies, including enrichment classes for children, workshops for parents and birthday party rentals. Children can choose from music, arts and crafts, foreign language, baby sign language, sensory and active engagement classes. For mommy, there are prenatal yoga and babywearing classes, as well as support for pumping and breastfeeding, sleep issues and postpartum depression. “We would like ‘preggers,’ first-time mommies, seasoned mommies to meet up to celebrate motherhood, share their trials and tribulations and learn from each other,” Nguyen said. Nguyen wants to “help build and unify the community, because through providing a platform to share experiences, we become each other’s shoulder to lean on and assist each other in navigating our parenting journeys.” Photo courtesy of Anne K. Vu Photography


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