I love my play group. We have met almost every Tuesday for the past 15 months.   A few of the moms have become my closest friends.  And Peanut has started to learn to play nicely with the other kids and not take their toys.  That last statement was a lie.  Any day now…

Besides just making our weeks more fun, apparently, play groups have given Peanut another benefit.  This article from MSNBC explains a recent study showing that day-care or playgroups may help protect children against leukemia.  Kids who attended playgroups or day-care before age 2 had the highest rates of protection against the disease.  The article states that children who attended day-care or playgroups had as much as a 30% decreased risk of contracting leukemia.

Check out our section on local Mom’s groups and get out and have fun. 

Peanut made his first friend over the weekend.  A friendship he started all on his own.

We were at open play at JW Tumbles. On his 50th trip into the tree-house, Peanut approached a little girl playing with the steering wheel.  He smiled and said “Hi”.  The little girl allowed Peanut to turn the wheel with her.  He was happy and tried to talk to her, but, with his limited vocabulary, he only managed to say, “Hi, Dadda”. The little girls’ parents, noticing Peanut, said to their daughter, “let him have a turn.”  The little girl put a protective hand on Peanut’s shoulder and replied, “I am. This is my friend.”

I felt a surge of pride.  I was so happy.  Another child called my son her friend.  We have done well, my husband and I.  At 14 months old, our son can successfully navigate the playground and make friends.Peanut was happy too. He beamed as he replied, “Hi Dadda”.

I went out last night with my girlfriends. Well, my mommy friends. We all left our screaming babies with their dads and went to dinner. Peanut was a bad boy for his Daddy. He seems to know when I am going out even before I leave. Maybe it is the earrings. Or, maybe he doesn’t recognize me with make-up and straight hair. Whatever it is, he knows. And, he acts very needy. Apparently, in the bath tub he insisted on crawling on all fours and trying to drink the bath water. He would not be stopped. Bath time ended early.

We had fun, though. I have noticed that we are no longer talking exclusively about our babies. In fact, we rarely talk about our babies when we get together. We talk about ourselves; who we used to be; where we used to travel; what we used to do. 

I am not sure when the change happened.  When we went from talking only about our babies to talking about ourselves. Maybe it was gradual, maybe not.  Maybe we are just getting more comfortable with each other and are looking for connections outside of our babies.  It is nice to feel like a whole person again.  A person with interests besides babies. I remember telling my mom just a few months ago not to bother talking to me about anything but Peanut.  I simply could not focus on anything besides my baby.  All of the amazing things he was learning. All of the cute things he was doing.  I could still talk about Peanut for days on end.  But, it was fun to escape for a few hours and talk about college and husbands and life.

If you don’t belong to one already, I highly recommend looking into a local mommies group. My experience with my group has been invaluable throughout my first year as a Mommy. We meet every week and I know it is the highlight of all of our weeks. We have shared stories, supported one another after sleepless nights, given advice and most of all enjoyed each other’s company. It is so rewarding to share the first year of so many babies lives. Even if you only have the time to meet with a group once a month, think about joining a mommies group. If the first one is not a good fit, keep looking until you find your group.  

Local groups: Mamistad: www.mamistad.com: Mamistad is a group of over 300 woman in the Northern VA area.  The larger group is broken up into smaller groups of mommies with babies about the same age or in the same stage of pregnancy.  My small group of twelve mommies meets every week at a member’s home, but each group can decide when, where and how often they meet.  I have been a member of Mamistad since Peanut was 4 months old.  Mamistad is a great resource, a spectacular group of woman and babies and a tremendous support system. One of the reasons I am such a fan of Mamistad is that it is run by one woman, Cynthia Brothers-Tinajera. She is available by phone or email with questions or concerns about your group. I like knowing that there is a head Mami looking out for all of us.  Mothers of Northern Arlington: www.monamoms.org. MONA is a large local mommies group with a detailed website and newsletter. The group is geared towards stay-at-home moms. You can join a smaller babies group depending on your babies age or a group dedicated to scrapbooking or cooking for example. There are monthly socials as well as organized outings with baby. There are many other local mommy groups listed on www.meetup.com. Or, you can start your own!