Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Mommy Morning.



Today I woke up tired. I tried not to think of playgroup until I had my first cup of tea, but I couldn't help it and it didn't help me get out of bed.

Finally I got around to standing up and headed for the shower. Two cups of tea later, Andrew and I were dressed, Dave was on his way to work, I was listening to "Walk Like an Egyptian" (I made this rockin' mix of tunes that I call "cleaning mix", but maybe I should just call it "The Get Up and Go" mix), and I was putting the final touches on Stylish Mommy. We were ready.

The first thing that struck me was merely walking out the door in the morning. Mornings are so beautiful! Especially this Spring-Like morning. Our normally busy street was quiet. It had rained the night before and you could smell fresh on the pavement. Maybe this would not be so bad.

First I went to the wrong building. Oops. Then I went to the right building and found out I went the wrong day. There are playgroups in the basement of this church three mornings a week and I thought Wednesday was our morning, but Wednesday was full, so she asked if we could come on Tuesdays from now on. OK. I can swing that.

The room was huge. The toys were abundant. Andrew was in total fascination. He went from one toy to another and barely noticed that other kids were even there. He played and played and played for over an hour. Then we cleaned up for snack time and story time and music time, which I think he interpreted as inhibitions to his incredible desire to play.

It was really good. It was good to watch him play. It was good to see other kids and hear their noise. It was adorable to see them all sitting at little tables for snack. Toddlers in a cluster like that look like little aliens to me. I'm not really sure why, but it is a strange and funny sight. I didn't talk to other moms much (just one that warned me that most of the preschools in our neighborhood already had waiting lists and I'd better get a move on...so New York) but that didn't feel weird at all. I never worried: I'm not talking to the other moms!

When I left I felt good. Andrew and I were good. He will be okay once preschool rolls around. I will be okay once preschool rolls around.

And really, which is more important?

7 comments:

Marti said...

Now, that's good news! I'm so happy to hear it went so well!

And glad to hear that one of the moms reached out with some warm, fuzzy NYC mommy talk! Competitive pre-school admissions advice is sooo heartwarming...

Melissa Belmonte said...

I'm glad it went well, too! It's great that you didn't feel pressured or awkward not to talk to other moms. Soon enough you'll strike up a conversation. But when I was pregnant like that, it was great to just go to different places and let Atticus be happy playing while I sat and watched. Sometimes I even HOPED that no other moms would talk to me so I could tune out a bit.

Kirsten said...

Yeah! So glad to hear this went well. I had the same thought when I walked out the door this morning. It was such an amazing day, that I was overjoyed to be outside.

Must be fun to see Andrew completely enraptured in new play. You'll have to fill me in on story time. :) Any storytellers at the place?;)

Dave said...

No! Loba, they totally need your help. Story time was a story above their heads while they were eating snack. It seemed like they were trying to just get it in to say they got it in. Man, that would be perfect for you. Have you thought any more about working with mom's groups?

Kirsten said...

I keep thinking about it, though I feel seriously lacking in the repertoire department. I am getting a lot more focused though on preparing things, and I keep setting an unspoken goal of putting myself out there in the next month.

Kirsten said...

And now it's been spoken! :)

Dave said...

What kind of resources do you use for storytelling? Websites? or books? is there is a magic story archive somewhere?