A Novel Solution to the ‘Isolation’ Syndrome

Soon after Elizabeth Kaiden’s son was born five years ago, her husband returned to his job while she remained at home with the baby in their one-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens. “I tried to work during his naps, but those were unpredictable,” explained Ms. Kaiden, who was freelancing as a theater critic at the time. “I didn’t have any friends or family nearby. I was really suffering this syndrome, which is a new mom’s thing – isolation.”She and a friend, also a new mother living a world away on the Lower East Side, commiserated often, and they came up with an idea that seemed very much in the realm of fantasy: What if they could find a space for self-employed people to work that also offered childcare?Now, five years later, Ms. Kaiden, 36, has created such a place. Two Rooms, a membership organization opening its doors this week on the Upper West Side, divides its cheerful, first-floor space on Amsterdam and 94th Street between a licensed daycare center in the back and a workplace for parents in front.“The whole idea was to create a center for people at a particular stage of life,” Ms. Kaiden said, giving a tour last week of a space that was in a state of happy flux, cluttered with boxes and stuffed animals and yet-tobe assembled furniture. She pointed out the kitchen and a communal area that will soon be occupied by cafe tables, desks that will be divided by cubicles, and the spot where office necessities such as the printer, copier, and scanner will reside. When the space is finished, it will be able to accommodate up to 21 adults and 21 children at a time.Through doors that she assured will be sound-proofed (“It’s critical that no one mom can hear her kid”), Ms. Kaiden showed off the back, subdivided into an infant room with cribs and a generous toddler space appointed with colorful mats, chalkboards, and books and toys galore.“We wanted to create a place where parents can do what they need to do,” she said.And what they needed more than anything else, Ms. Kaiden decided, after many a conversation with other new mothers, was flexibility. “My friends and I would talk about the fact that if you wanted any type of childcare with the possibility of regularity, you had to commit to more than you need. The idea of flexibility was critical.”She set up Two Rooms to be open weekdays to members who pay a yearly fee of $175. Daycare sessions, available for children younger than 4 years old, are purchased in either full-day or half-day increments, and are supervised by licensed childcare staff ($500 for five full days of childcare plus a cubicle space for the parent; $275 for five half-days of childcare plus a cubicle space). Parents are encouraged to use the office space as much as possible, but they also have the option of dropping their children off and running out for appointments or to take care of errands, and of coming in without their children simply to use the workspace. And while Ms. Kaiden and Two Rooms’ childcare director, Liege Motta, initially constructed the program so that parents had to commit to a full week’s worth of childcare, they are now offering a plan where members can purchase three full days and use them on an as-needed basis. They are also considering launching a true drop-in program in the next month or so.“It’s organic,” Ms. Kaiden said. “We want to see what the response is, and we’ll shape it as people use it.”Much of this conversation was punctuated by interruptions – UPS swinging by for a pick-up, a technical consultant fiddling with the WiFi connection, the subcontractor checking last minute details. “I’m most comfortable in chaos,” Ms. Kaiden said, apologizing for the disruptions.Such intrepidness seems in keeping with Ms. Kaiden’s style. After she and her friend conceived the idea behind Two Rooms back in 2000, they applied “in a fit of excitement” for a daycare startup grant from the state. But, as Ms. Kaiden explained, “nothing happened. My friend got busy with other things. I got busy.” In December 2001, not long after the birth of her second child and the family’s move to the Upper West Side, she received a phone call. “I was blearily taking care of two kids under the age of 2, and the person said, ‘Is this Elizabeth Kaiden?’ When I said yes, I heard cheering on the other end. ‘We’ve been looking for you!’ the person said.” It was the New York State Office of Children and Family, calling to tell her that she had been awarded the grant.With $75,000 in her pocket, Ms. Kaiden set to work, familiarizing herself with the myriad complications of running a licensed daycare center, looking at spaces, forming a nonprofit, raising funds, grappling with the headaches of renovation. (The friend from the Lower East Side did not stay involved.) She has found the challenging experience the perfect foil for her interest in the politics of childcare. “I find these issues endlessly fascinating. They’re the type that would propel me into therapy – if I could afford it.”With a handful of members already signed up, Ms. Kaiden is eager to do whatever it takes to get her experiment off the ground. When asked if the receptionist will sign for package for members (surely the dream of every New Yorker who doesn’t have a doorman), Ms. Kaiden replied: “Sure, I can do that.” She gave a little smile. “That’s me; I’m the receptionist.”Two Rooms, 711 Amsterdam Ave., 212-662-0845, www.tworooms.net.

A Novel Solution to the ‘Isolation’ Syndrome

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