Brian and I were the first among our friends to have a baby. Becoming a parent really puts you in a different place, mentally. So I felt like I really wanted to make some new friends who have children around Mira's age. Not that I don't still love all my kid-less friends, it's just that I want someone who I can talk to about kid stuff without worrying that I'm boring them to death.
Last Wednesday, Mira and I went to a playgroup with some other kids and their mommies. It was the first playgroup we'd ever been to. It was so nice to meet some other moms and just talk baby for a whole hour. The playgroup was probably more for me than for her, but Mira actually seemed interested in what the other kids were doing at one point. The two other kids that were there were a 15 month old boy and a 12 month old boy. The 12 month old was crawling around alot, and Mira thought that was quite interesting. And she watched and smiled as the 15 month old modeled a straw hat for us.
The playgroup took place at another mommie's house. I couldn't help but admire how kid-proofed her house was. And there were bins of toys all about where kids could easily access them. She had a great variety of toys, too, with different textures and colors and development levels. When I asked her about some of the cooler toys, she said that they were rented from a local family store. How cool is that? Everyone knows that kids get tired of the same old toys. Renting them seems like the perfect solution. Right now the only interest Mira shows in toys is just to look at them, but maybe once she starts actively playing I'll go and rent some toys from there myself. (The store is Family Connections here in Austin, in case anyone reading this is interested.)
3 comments:
Playgroups are definitely more for mom's benefit than baby's at first, but it's also still so cool to watch them interact with other kids. They may not officially "play" together till a few years later (according to experts anyway) but I love seeing how fascinated kids are by each other--babies LOVE older kids, and older kids so often are really into babies, too.
BTW how did you find that playgroup? My friend Jessica (www.insearchofdessert.com)moved to Austin recently and is due with her first kid in August. She was trying to find some mom groups to join ahead of time but seemed to only be finding groups that were really exclusive, limited to certain age ranges, etc.
And that's really cool about renting toys! Toys become much more fun at about 3-4months when they can reach out and grab them. We're now at an age where I'm so tempted to buy EVERYTHING for D b/c the toys are so cool... then remind myself that he doesn't need most of that stuff, and does just as well playing with measuring cups and empty cereal boxes. ; )
I'm new to this group, but so far it seems really good. They break up the playgroups by the year that the child was born. So far, they don't have enough 2009 babies to form a 2009 group, so they put me with the 2008 moms. Anyway, it's called Austin Preschool Mom's Club. Here's a link: http://www.austinmothers.org/ There is a minimal fee to join, but it's only $30 per year.
I'm also in a La Leche League group. Not sure if your friend is planning to breastfeed or not...
If you want to send Jessica my email address feel free. If she's interested, I could let her in on all my Austin mom's group info and such. lmdrake@gmail.com
Renting toys is a great idea. Leave it to Austin to come up with it!
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