Play Group in the Park

Jr and I joined a play group in the park. It's organized by the same woman who offers Wee Workshops about childhood illnesses, childhood injuries, CPR, etc. Each week we'll meet in a different park located somewhere in the West Island and sing songs, read stories, have discussions and hopefully have fun!

This morning was our first outing. I forgot the directions at home but figured I wouldn't have a problem finding it because it was pretty straightforward. Of course, I missed the street I was supposed to turn on and ended up being 10 minutes late. Thankfully when I arrived a few other moms had just pulled up as well.

There were about 12 moms and 13 kids (one mom had a 2 year old and a 2 month old). They ranged in ages from 2 months to 2 years. I was hoping that Jr would get used to hanging out with a bunch of kids. Unfortunately, when anyone approached the big tub of toys in the middle of the circle, she would squawk at them and wag her finger. Then when it was story time one of the kids plopped down next to her and she had a fit. She refused to sit with the rest of the kids while the moms held a small parachute and circled around lifting the parachute up and then bringing it down. She fussed pretty much the entire time even prompting story time to stop so Stacy, the facilitator, could ask what was wrong! The one moment of reprieve was when we were singing songs. She swayed and bopped to whatever we sang and clapped her hands at the end.

I could say it's because she needed a nap (it could be true but lately when I put her down in the mornings for a nap she won't) but I'm going with the fact that she's simply a high strung, high maintenance kid. Stacy asked us at the end what we would like to do. Would we be okay with getting our kids dirty? Sand? Water? Paint? Would we be interested in having someone come to give a yoga class? Did we want more story time? Less? More songs? 

Frankly, besides having more singing, I'm not sure there's anything Jr would like. I'm fully willing to try anything and see what happens. Even if the next 8 weeks remain exactly the same, I'll still go. Because honestly, this is more for me than it is for Jr. It's nice to meet with other moms but even more so, it's nice to get out of the house for a couple of hours, enjoy the summer and not spend any money (except for the $50 to join the group, which I think is totally reasonable for 8 dates).

As an added plus, I reconnected with one of the other moms from Belles Mamans and her son. It's amazing to see how he's grown!! Jr's boyfriend, Peter Rabbit, is also a part of the group so it's great to be able to see them every week--although he was making time with another girl named Liv!