Toddlers & Wobblers viewing: "I'm not in retirement mode yet"

Today was viewing day for toys and equipment at the former Toddlers & Wobblers creche, which closed during the summer on the retirement of owner Imelda Pembroke, writes Brian Byrne.

"I still haven't got into retirement mode yet," says Imelda, after a month-long holiday during which she had to spend the first week on paperwork related to the closure of the business. But she's looking forward to getting the hang of taking it easier once the school year restarts.

"That's when it will hit me, I think, knowing the schools are open and I'm here twiddling my thumbs ... but I'll be twiddling them with a smile on my face."

When she set up Toddlers & Wobblers 20 years ago with the help of a Credit Union loan — "it's the helping hands that you remember" — it was the first creche in Kilcullen apart from the Community Playgroup. The impetus was the difficulty in finding childcare for her own children. She took the plunge, left her job in Wyeth, and built Toddlers & Wobblers in her Nicholastown back garden.

She has loved the two decades of the business, 'apart from the never-ending paperwork', but now is looking forward to managing her life and well-being for herself.

When she announced her plans to close, the parents of the 46 children then availing of her service got a shock. "But I think they're all OK now," she says, noting that the other creches which weren't around at her start have benefited.

Meantime, some of the equipment, books and toys that were lined up in the yard and rooms have already been taken by other groups. There's still more. "You don't realise just how much you collect until you put it all together like this."

Yep. Like every toy-box in every family with small children ... multiplied many times.

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