What do you do when your sweet, sleeping, take-anywhere baby grows into a crawling, exploring, put-everything-in-his-mouth almost toddler?  Add coffee shops full of smoke and snow on the ground and a mom can start feeling cabin fever pretty quickly.

Mirka began to feel more and more isolated when her first son began crawling.  She could no longer meet friends for a leisurely cup of coffee in an outdoor café.  She envisioned a place where moms could meet, chat and connect while the babies ran free and played - a place for all seasons. 

She paired up with her best buddy Jana and the organization Project Antioch to open the Palacek Family Center in Prague in 2006.   The name of the center is significant because Palacek was an advisor to the king and an enlightened Czech reformer.  He would move among the poor and report back to the king the state of the land so the king could rule the country justly. 

The demand for the Palacek Family Center was great almost from the beginning.  Moms can come and hang out any time and there’s an open playroom for the kids.  The Center began to offer a few classes for mothers and children together and then added more and more until it was completely full.  The center is specifically designed so mothers can stay and talk after class.  Because the demand was so great, Mirka and Jana opened a second center in Andel called Andilek in 2008. 

Mirka and Jana have a long-term vision for the family centers.  They have begun to work with different cultures to allow them to offer classes in their native languages.  Often the first thing to go when assimilating into a new culture are childhood songs, rhymes and fairy tales.  Mirka has also been perfecting the art of grant writing and has been amazingly successful with the City Councils of Prague and Ministry of Social Affairs and Work.

As Palacek, the first center, expanded, Mirka transitioned from running the centers as a volunteer to running them as a professional.  How does she do all this with 2 boys ages 4 & 1?  She has wonderful, helpful Grandmas.  Also, she’s very structured in the work hours she keeps.  She fiercely protects her family time to the point of turning off her phone and computer (that’s a bit of a struggle).  Also, when Mirka and Jana are together they are very careful not to talk about work.  They set specific time for work and are careful to keep time for friendship.

When I asked Mirka for advice for moms, she responded, “know what’s right for you and listen to it.”  Go with your intuition, calling and what God’s telling you to do.  Don’t let society, friends or peer pressure keep you from your appointed task.

Well, it’s working.  While I was visiting with Mirka, an author dropped off a copy of a fresh-off-the press magazine, Mama a Ja (Mommy and I) in which the Andilek Montessori program is featured.  The vision is alive and crawling in the playroom next door.