Doing the mommy thing...

I can't say that I am the most social of creatures, especially over the past year. Between baby, school & my winter hibernation period, I usually consider myself lucky just to make it outside most days. This can, however, get pretty boring - so I decided this week to make an effort to socialize.

My first discovery in the world of socialization is that the playground swings are the ultimate 'mom hook up point' (or so to speak). It is here, when babies and toddlers are happily confined, that moms have the best chance to meet and chit-chat. I've met many moms, nannies, grandmothers and yes, even the occasional dad, while pushing Caroline back and forth and back again. It's hard not to liken it to a singles bar. The conversation is pretty predictable -'Oh! He/she is so cute. When did he/she learn to walk/talk/drool so well?' This can continue for up to 5 minutes before one party decides there's not much of a connection and moves on.

It's pretty random to find someone with similar 'mommy interests' as yours. (Already note above, that you often don't even find a mommy pushing the swing.) However, if it is a mommy, someone with similar 'mommy interests' can be defined as: having a passable personality and a child of the same relative age / development stage as your own. This is when it's ok to move the informal connection to the playground or make a big leap to 'ask them out' for a play date.

Well, last Thursday, Caroline and I finally made a connection at the swings. Next to us was a mommy and daughter - I'll call them S & N. S & I started the usual chat... 'blah...blah...blah...' when we soon realized we had a lot in common. Not only were Caroline & N the same age, they were born just a day apart. Neither had any words yet and neither mother was going to worry regardless of what the books said. Suddenly, the conversation moved past the normal 5 minutes and we discovered we were both in school - and we both had a black lab. This was surely kismet. There was only one problem: S & N moved on to the playground without asking for a play date. I'm not one to rush into things either, so Caroline and I continued about our day. It was only later on that I started second-guessing my moves. Did I make too many jokes? Should I have offered out our number?

It was then on Monday that we bumped into S & N again. Coming out of the library, Baby Einstein 'Baby Da Vinci' in tow, we ran into S & N and two other mommies/babies going the other way. Obviously, S & N were social creatures. But never fear - they soon invited us for our first mommy outing - Yes!