Results tagged “playdates” from Momtourage: Blogger Knows Best

Not to sound like Kate Gosselin with all her self-interviewing last week, "Could I have been nicer to John...yes."  ("Am I annoying....yes.")  But yes, honestly, my daughter's after-school schedule is jam packed with activities.  However, if you read my blog last Friday, you can understand why....there's no one to bloody play with out here!!  Like I said last week, once the kids in this neighborhood get off that bus you never see a living soul again (and play dates seem also to be an impossibility).  I call them the phantom children.  Therefore, we need activities every day to keep Lily occupied.  Luckily, she doesn't come home until 3:35 so there's not too much time to fill before dinner.  One of my neighbors with college aged kids read last week's post and was surprised at how many activities Lily participates in: horse riding; girl scouts; soccer; gymnastics; lacrosse; twirling; etc....and I signed us up for a time management class as well but we ran out of time.

  Playdates these days seem harder and harder to come by.....specifically in the suburbs.  You know, when we lived in Brooklyn, getting together with other children was much easier.  We just used to meet in the playground after school.  Easy enough.  You got to meet the other kids and their parents (good or bad) in a matter of minutes and from there it was on to the greener pastures of individual play dates....or you could just put them on your personal 'do not call list' or click your imaginary 'ignore' button on your face-to-face book.  I really miss that ease of socialization that one gets in an urban environment....it's one of the few things I do miss....the noise, the crowds, the perpetual freak show aspect of New York City, being hit on by the homeless and the constant dog poop under my shoes I do not.  

Lily and her friend Courtney are so excited about Halloween this Saturday (please don't rain) that they donned Lily's old costumes today.  You should have seen them on the trampoline....a mouse and a dragon bouncing about.  Too funny.  It was like Halloween minus the candy...a total sugar high. 

Here's a picture of Lily playing with her cousin Patrick.  Lily enjoys spending time with her cousin but she definitely has a healthy fear of him and it's well earned.  As one can tell from this photo, he likes to play rough.  So does she but boys, even at the age of 7 I find, are already exponentially stronger than girls.  No wonder why girls take Karate!  He likes to give her bear hugs and squeeze her neck (see Exhibit A).  His, is a love that kills.  However, she is about 2 inches taller than him already so he better watch out.  Pay back can be a beyotch my dear nephew.....as we found last weekend.....

Earthquakes, tsunamis, rising unemployment, (my husband is still unemployed 7 months later - so sexy) the economy, failing industries, the health care crisis, global warming, Detroit.  Have you heard enough?  Are you ready to just drive your hybrid car into a tree already?...wait a minute.  We need that tree.  Try driving into a Walmart...that would make us all feel a bit better...just avoid the greeter.  She's probably somebody's grandma and most likely the primary child care provider in her household.  As if all this isn't bad enough, we received some more troubling news yesterday:  Lily is receiving extra help in Math and Reading during school.  What?!  I thought she was doing so well in her new school? 

As if it's not hard enough being a new mom as it is, now there's the added pressure of stimulating your new baby intellectually as well.  That hypnotic black and white mobile over their crib just won't do it anymore....now it's videos like Your Baby Can Read (which my best friend purchased) and infant playdates.  I saw that commercial again the other day, the one with the baby boy in the high chair giving stock market feedback and I actually thought it was real....a new enrichment program like Your Baby Can Trade.  It's not far off people, "...when baby picks a winning stock we reward him or her with a quiet time or a wheat-free, gluten free, carob cookie."  The New Wining - Teaching Your Baby All About Pinot - I'm telling you it's not that unrealistic.  

Our friend Hunter has sticky fingers and I don't mean from his juice box.  After our play date yesterday, he helped himself to a gratis Snickers bar from the deli.  You see, he wanted Reeses Pieces and a Snickers but was faced with an awful choice when told by his mum that he could only have one.  We didn't realize he had taken the Snickers until we were down the street and he had finished his Reeses only to begin working on the Snickers!  His mother was furious!!  She told him off, gave him a time out, made him go back and apologize and pay for it and it did not end there.  There was an embarrassing conversation over dinner with his father about his crime which resulted in him losing all Wii privelages this weekend.

We're on our fifth straight day of rain here in the northeast so that means another indoor play date.  Today, one of the other mothers offered to have all the kids over to her house!  Yeah!!! Finally, someone else has stepped up to the plate.  I don't mind having the kids over but between the noise and the constant rain, I'm done.  I'm tired of playing hide and seek and decorating cupcakes already.  They really need to run around outside too but it's just too darn wet and chilly for that.  What are you doing to keep your kids amused during this latest weather set back???

Lily had two girlfriends over today for a play date as it's still too bloody cold here in the northeast to play outside for longer than one hour.  That trip to Florida last week ruined me for the rest of winter...I'll be complaining and shivering long into June.  Any hoo, the girls had a great time except for the tears, bickering, whining, door slamming, foot stomping drama....and that was just me.....no, just kidding.  That was all the domain of the other ladies in the house.....

Now that the cold weather is upon us we're having fewer and fewer play dates in the park.  In fact, all the children are coming over here....or we just have no play dates at all.  I don't mind the all kids coming here but shouldn't some of the other moms be reciprocating with play dates at their house by now?  What's up with that?  Have they forgotten?  Are they suffering from momnesia?  Should I send them a leading group email with the re: Playdate At Your House This Thursday? 

Now that I have one of my own, it's no wonder A.A. Milne wrote a book of poetry for six year olds.  Something magical happened when Lily turned six on 12/22/08: she blossomed socially.  It was like she awoke from baby slumber into a true, young girl: she's chatting like mad; very confident; sassy; cracking jokes; telling her friends to copy her; had her first sleep over; and is suddenly full of 'poo poo and pee pee' songs.  It's a lot of fun....but it also makes me melancholy for my baby.  Now that we're in this stage of life the curtain has officially closed on 'totland'.  She had her friend Eleanor sleep over last night.  I was so relieved when Lily came into my room for a cuddle after her friend fell asleep.  I was actually heartened to hear her say, "I miss you mama."  I miss you too my darling....but I'm still here for you.  I always will be.

We had four kids over this afternoon for an after-school playdate as it was waaaaay too cold to meet at the park.  We actually did meet on the playground but after only 25 minutes of that bone chilling, blustery north east wind, we were all headed for the comfort of the indoors....our indoors and I found myself scrounging for snacks for five hungry kids. 

We had a neighbor's kid over today for a play date.  He was unusually well behaved and was really happy to be over playing with Lily inside while it poured outside.  She was also thrilled to have him over.  The play date was a success!...until...(dramatic theme music)....duh duh dummm.....his parents picked him up 90 minutes late and didn't answer their cell or my texts.  What to do?....

Our 5-year-old daughter Lily is our only child.  It wasn't our plan to have only one child...but so far, that's just how it worked out.  If it was though, that would be fine too.  We're working on changing her status but in the meantime, we've still got the brand.  I feel like every day, in one way or another, I'm reminded that we only have one child.....not from good friends of course but the public at large.  I just love it when people meet us for the first time and say things like, "Is she your only one?"  Emphasis on only.  "You really should have another...just in case."  Thanks.  Thanks for that reminder...what did you say your name was?....the grim reaper??  Oh sorry, I forgot. 

Celebrate Mother's Day Weekend with MAMA'S NIGHT OUT. 

Just wanted to let you know that the hilarious comedy show (if I do say so myself) MAMA'S NIGHT OUT is coming to the Avalon Theatre, Easton, MD this Friday for a special Mother's Day weekend show.  See here for more details. 

MAMA'S NIGHT OUT is comedy by mothers for everyone.

My husband and I are friends with another married couple who also have a 5 year old - Samuel. They're really good friends and we always look forward to get togethers. Our husbands get along, our kids do, we do too. We take holidays together on the Cape every summer. Sounds perfect right? It was.....(dramatic music - dum, dum, dum)....till their son started hitting our daughter.

This started about 6 months ago. Admittedly, boys play very differently than girls. From what I've observed in the playground and from my own nephew experiences: boys think nothing of hitting; they actually seem to enjoy it; nor do they appear to hold grudges when they've been hit; they're just a different species. Girls are a very different matter altogether. They rarely hit and god forbid they do get hit they will remind you of the 'incident' for years to come: the time it happened; the day; what they were wearing; what they were feeling at the moment, etc....you get the picture.

  When the temperature outside drops and the weather turns nasty, we head for indoor play spaces.  Thankfully, we have many in Brooklyn that we frequent, it's the one saving grace to being an urban parent.  My friend and fellow comedian Karen Morgan lives in Maine.  The closest thing they have to an indoor play space is her local PetSmart store.  She tells her kids it's an indoor zoo. 

When I was growing up indoor play spaces were called something else:  other people's houses.  Today, between most moms working and daycare, Lily and I have made many lasting friendships at play spaces that graduated into play dates.  An Indoor play space is like a mom's MySpace:  you can network with other lonely, desperate women who are dying to speak with someone over 3 years old.  And if you're new to the indoor play space or party gym experience, it won't take you long to get over the whole ball pit phobia thing.  I think all the germs they pick up in the ball pit only make them stronger in the long run.  In fact, when Lily dives into a ball pit now I literally hear that song Stronger by Kanye West in my head. 

How do you do it all? That is the number one question presented to us every day from other aspiring mompreneurs. I'm certain it's a rhetorical question. There is no way anyone can do it all. I try but when you are running your own business and managing children, a husband and a household -- something has to give. Sacrifices need to be made.

Yesterday's sacrifice was a typical one... dinner.

Upon waking up I realize that it's been a week since my last trip to the supermarket. Don't forget to defrost the chicken, I tell myself.

Get out of bed and ready for the day -- this means brushing my teeth, putting on clothes and throwing the hair up in a clip. Again, it's all about sacrifice.

Moving on...get the 1½ year old out of her crib while the 4½ year old prepares himself for his day. The outfit is a green shirt with maroon sweatpants. Have to pick your battles, right?  Have to get moving for the drive to preschool followed by the 9:30 kickboxing class then back to the home office for a few hours of productive 'work' while the little one naps. It's too late to make breakfast so it’s the drive thru of Dunkin Donuts - again. There's nothing wrong with throwing 2 egg and cheese croissants back into the 2nd row of a minivan, right? What's a few more crumbs?

Kiss goodbye at preschool. Get to the gym and luckily the little one is happy today in the babysitting service -- sorry - her playdate (shhh it makes me feel better)! 

Parents need discipline to say no to their children.

An irritated father complained to his golf buddy. "When I was a kid, my parents sent me to my room without supper if I misbehaved. But my son has his own color TV, telephone, computer, and CD player in his room!"

"So how do you handle it?" his friend asked.

"I send him to MY room!"

I spent a very frustrating afternoon with Lily and her playdate yesterday it was definitely a double-shot-of-vodka-day. The playmate, Andrew, was a right little so and so who terrorized my child, my last nerve and my living room. Listen, I'm a parent too, I'm not sancti-mommy, Lily tests me as well - they all do - and I know some things are easier said than done. But most importantly, I know and common sense tells me that giving in to a child all the time and not setting limits is setting us all up for disaster.

Andrew, bless his heart, did things like: from the top of the stairs throw down a clump of blocks which flew in every direction possible; when told to clean up the mess he screamed "NO!" at the top of his lungs (funnily enough he doesn't have a problem using the word); he didn't interact with Lily he merely teased her; he screamed in her face the phrase, "You don't have to tell me that twice!" so many times that he proved that he didn't know what he was saying; he was rude; he was crude - he peed all over my toilet (I hate men more every day); and he screamed in his mother's face "You be quiet now!" I know, kill me already.