Let's start with the play date since that JUST happened (baby fell asleep in car on way home so hopefully he is out for at least an hour) and if I don't write this down I won't remember it.
First, let's get this out of the way... apparently I cannot go anywhere in a parents group setting without having my baby get a bloody nose (you can refer to the end of this post for a previous bloody nose experience). This time I put Evan in a little baby pool where he was sitting and splashing all over the place. I looked away for two seconds at some antics of another child and the next thing I know Evan had tried to climb out of the pool and face planted on my foot. Bloody nose ensues. Sigh... it never feels like a good parent moment. Another mother must have felt bad for me because she said, "Oh, that's okay, Clara just got a bloody nose the other day." So, your child's random bloody nose compares to the fact that every time I'm out with other parents I'm apparently not paying attention and my son face plants? Okay... I get it. But she gets a point for being nice.
So, the overall play date... it was... okay. Nothing spectacular. Evan was the youngest one there and the least mobile. Most parents were able to put their children in a gigantic blow up pool and mingle. I pretty much had to watch and be with Evan at all times. And to top it all off, Mr. Monkey Pants had decided that today he would go back to 2 naps (there will be a whole separate sleeping post so I won't go into it) so he was tired and cranky... not usual fabulous Evan-ness.
Everyone was very nice. Some people knew each other and some didn't. There was a lot of small talk (that
I'm really not good at in situations where I don't know anyone) and of course, I can't remember anyone's name (it's a curse I have). And whether anyone believes me or not, I am actually very socially shy so this whole meeting new people is difficult for me to begin with. It was like going on a blind date and then describing the guy to your friends as "nice."
Okay, here's the thing. I've been in Atlanta now for 6 months... as a stay at home mom. In order for me to be a stay at home mom, Brian has to work. And sometimes he works late and on weekends. I live in a shoebox. My neighbors are either college students or hip urban professionals who have loud sex. I've met my realtor... and that is about it. So I believe I had unrealistic expectations for this play date. A part of me honestly thought that I would walk into this group of women and find "the one." You know, that one mom with whom I would immediately click (and this "one" is very important to me since I usually only have one close friend at a time and then random acquaintances). She would have a son about Evan's age and somehow we wouldn't have to bother with small talk. I could immediately be sarcastic and she would get my humor and even throw in a quip of her own. And we would hang out together. I would ask her and her son to come to our pool and Evan and I would go to her house. Eventually our husbands would meet, like each other, and we would be "couple friends." And I think I just became the most pathetic mom in Atlanta for describing that scenario to you (but as I said, it's all out there on this blog). And the reality was that everyone was nice.
Of course I will go to the next ones and I might even be able to convince Brian to go to one with me this Saturday (even though he probably has to work and even though it's at a park and there isn't much Evan can do there yet... remember the great swing experiment of April 2010?). And maybe 10 years from now, I'll be sitting at the kitchen counter with "the one" and we'll be talking about what we thought about each other when we first met... at a play date in East Atlanta.
Oh, and just to explain, there are no pictures on this post because people can find it creepy if you whip out a camera and start taking pictures of their kids when they hardly know you. This is one of those times when I envy food bloggers... food doesn't get creeped out when you take it's picture.
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