Julie and Shipherd Reed, who blogs for AZNightBuzz.com, were regulars at Downtown nightclubs and concert venues for much of their adult lives.
Until a year ago — when Lincoln was born.
No more happy hours. No more late-night concerts at the Rialto. No more clubbing at Congress.
"We've been adults for 20 years doing whatever we want, whenever we want. It's hard to make that shift," Julie Reed said, summing up a thought that goes through many first-time parents' minds regardless of their age. "I couldn't go out as much. I couldn't go to the same kinds of events."
Reed said she enjoys a beer with friends now and again and tires easily of the playground scene, where mommies compare their babies' progress against others. So she determined she would maintain a modicum of her pre-baby lifestyle.
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She launched the Web site www.tucsonmama.com to reach out to similar-minded new moms — those who weren't ready to toss the towel in on their social lives — and began networking about baby-friendly adult activities.
The site went live about the time that Club Congress, one of the Reeds' favorite haunts, hosted its inaugural Baby Club Congress in October. The event is held the second Sunday of each month.
BCC, as its fans have dubbed it, turned out to be a godsend for parents like the Reeds.
"I think it's a great place for the kids to hang out," father of three Joe Lockridge said at the second BCC event in early November.
Lockridge sported a shock of wavy shoulder-length hair and fit the picture of the Club Congress hipster — casual, almost to the point of aloofness, dressed in jeans. He sipped a beer and gazed at the Club Congress dance floor, which was covered with an area rug so toddlers could scoot on their knees around a maze of tunnels and blocks loosely organized into a playground of sorts.
In the middle of the maze, small kids crawled over the feet of his wife, Marci Boozer, as she danced to 1980s-'90s pop tunes with their 2-year-old daughter, Honey.
Lockridge said he was pleased at how well the club cleaned up for the event; he never would have guessed in all his Saturday nights there that it could take on the personality of kid-friendly venue.
"I'm actually quite surprised by the conversion to kids' club," he said, tucking 3-month-old son Townes Boozer-Lockridge a little closer on his lap.
Lockridge's older son, 12-year-old Forrest, sipped a soda on the other side of him and seemed fairly unimpressed.
Baby Club Congress, as the name suggests, is geared toward babies and toddlers. In fact, kids over the age of 4 might be un-amused by it all, with the exception of the face-painting booth on the Hotel Congress back patio.
BCC is the only event of its kind in Tucson. It's modeled after similar events in bigger cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, including the phenomenal Baby Loves Disco program that attracts sold-out crowds to nightclubs in cities like New York, Boston and Portland, Ore.
"Everyone was sort of hungry for that event," said Reed, 39, who got no less than 15 e-mails from fellow moms before the October event asking her if she was going.
"It just took off. . . . All that buzz was out there," said BCC organizer Rebecca Hanley.
Hanley, mother of 13-month-old Josephine and a manager at Hotel Congress, conceived the idea for many of the reasons Reed cites.
"Once Josephine came along, there was nothing to do with the baby," said Hanley, whose father owns Hotel Congress.
So she ran the idea by her group of 10 moms who regularly walk together with their babies in strollers.
"They were like, 'Oh, that would be awesome.' They told their mom friends, and it went from there," Hanley said.
The first BCC sold out —100 adults and their children. Hanley increased the capacity to 150 adults and their children in November, and it, too, sold out. Future events will stick to that capacity, she said.
"I feel like I've taken on a village," Hanley sighed about midway through the November BCC, as the Hotel Congress lobby filled with toddlers wobbling toward the balloon maker while their parents perused vendors showing off everything from toys to clothes.
"It's a great idea, and it has never been done before in Tucson," said Tucson native Susan Luedtke, who owns the 4-year-old children's boutique Stork's Nest of the Old Pueblo.
Luedtke wishes BCC was around when she was raising her daughter, who's now a teenager. They were limited to playing in the park, strolling the malls or going to movies.
"I think people really struggle to find things to do," Luedtke said. "We went to the park a lot, but there's only so many movies you can see."
Parents can get a slew of creative ideas on Reed's Web site and on other parents' networking Web sites like Tucson Meetup Moms Group (moms.meetup.com/239/).
It's through these communities that many heard about the recent free Calexico concert in Reid Park, sponsored by Bookmans.
"That was really fun for us," said working mom Erika O'Dowd. "The Calexico concert was lousy with kids and young babies. It was this whole generation of people with their kids."
For O'Dowd, who runs the family-friendly Cinema La Placita series Downtown each spring and fall, the concert was the perfect family event for her and her hubby, Josh Pope, and their 14-month-old daughter, Tulla Pope.
Since they became parents, the couple's social life has upended. Things they took for granted are luxuries, including concerts and nights out on the town with friends.
Instead of going out late in the evening, she finds herself socializing in the homes of friends who have children. The evening gets started early and usually wraps up by 7 — in time for bed by 8. Saturday morning hikes in Sabino Canyon, walks in the park and regular trips to the Reid Park Zoo also dot her social calendar.
On Thursday nights from May to October, she brings Tulla along to the free film series Cinema La Placita, a production of the Loft Cinema. Chairs are set up in the courtyard of La Placita Downtown, and mostly classic movies are shown on a big screen. The setting is perfect for families; kids can move about without the constant ssshh-ing from adults.
Occasionally, O'Dowd and a few girlfriends get together, babies in tow, for happy hour at Elle Wine Country Restaurant. When the weather is nice, they plant themselves in the gated patio area where they can let the kids run around while mommies enjoy discounted appetizers and a glass of wine.
Reed and her friends spend their rare happy hours at the baby-friendly Barrio Brewing. "Every time we go, there are other babies there," she said.
And you will likely find Reed and O'Dowd and 148 other parents like them back at Club Congress on the second Sunday afternoon of each month.
"She gets to play, and I get to have adult conversations. It's great," Sahuarita stay-at-home-mom Christine Wesolowski said at BCC in November as her year-old daughter Caitlyn toddled around in a plastic playhouse on the Hotel Congress back patio.
"Sitting around with other moms and dads, drinking beers, eating french fries and watching our kids poke each other was great," joked Reed, who is an academic adviser at the University of Arizona. "It was safe, but enjoyable for everybody. It felt very relaxed.
"Congress has been a very important part of my Tucson experience, and I want (Lincoln) to have an experience like that."
Out and about with your babies
Baby Club Congress
• Where: Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St.
• What: Playtime for the kiddies, complete with a toddler battle of the bands, a live band, face-painting, miniature-animal petting zoo, play area and snacks. Happy hour for the adults, where they can sip a beer and have adult conversation in an environment in which some may have spent their non-parenting years.
• When: 2-5 p.m. the second Sunday (that's this Sunday) of the month.
• Cost: $10 per person, $15 for family.
• Reservations/details: www.hotelcongress.com.
Friday Night Marble Showdown
• Where: Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle's, 4811 E. Grant Road, at North Swan Road.
• What: Marble-shooting competition for kids 8-ish and older.
• When: 4 p.m. Fridays.
• Cost: Free.
• Details: 326-0188.
• More upcoming events: Holiday party Dec. 30; art and yo-yo classes, story times and monthly plays resume in January; kids' singer Dan Zanes in-store performance Feb. 9 (he's also at the Rialto Theatre that day).
38th annual Fourth Avenue Winter Street Fair
• Where: North Fourth Avenue, between East Ninth Street and East University Boulevard.
• What: A chance to hear live music with the kids in an environment that invites and encourages noise.
• When: 10 a.m. to dusk Friday-Sunday.
• Details: www.fourthavenue.org.
Tucson Symphony's Just for Kids series
• Where: Tucson Symphony Center, 2175 N. Sixth Ave.
• What: TSO Brass Quintet performs "Sailing the High C's."
• When: 10 and 11:15 a.m. Jan. 5.
• Cost: $2 donation.
• Details: www.tucsonsymphony.org.
Downtown Parade of Lights and Festival
• Where: Route wraps around Armory Park and the Main Library Plaza.
• What: Kids and adults love a good parade, and this brightly lit affair throws in Santa Claus.
• When: 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday (parade begins at 6 p.m.).
• Details: www.downtowntucson.org/.
Glassman Foundation Family Arts Festival
• Where: Throughout the Tucson Convention Center, La Placita Village and El Presidio Park.
• What: Entertainment, hands-on art activities and food.
• When: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Jan. 13.
