My kid needs friends. Yes, I know he’s only 1 ½ years old and if he were actually around another tiny human he’d probably end up either ignoring them or catching some kind of cold/flu/plague. However, we need to work past this and actually have him within a 10 foot radius of other toddlers a bit more.
Why?
Well, after visiting the park this weekend I realized that Jack is the weird dude that just stares at other kids. Yup, I’ve got the GIANT child (he really is, my 18 month old son is larger than most 2 year olds) who is silently watching kids half his size run/jump/cartwheel/breakdance around him.
He’s pretty darn cute though.
And gives awesome hugs.
And kisses… which only sometimes include tongue.
I’d love to be able to take advantage of the free kiddie events held at my local library, but apparently those are for parents who don’t work full-time. Really, there are like 10 events on weekday mornings and only ONE on the weekend right in the middle of Jack’s normal nap. I might have to do it anyways though, since my options are quite limited.
I’ve looked for toddler activities through our community college and came up empty. The nearest Gymboree is about 45 minutes away from our house. I’ve googled playgroups in my area and haven’t come up with much.
My pediatrician suggested we try out the toddler music classes at a local place… but $200 for 10 weeks of music class for an 18 month old seems a little bit extreme. Right? That’s $2.25 per MINUTE of activity. I don’t even pay that when I splurge for a full body massage!
So help me please and give me some advice! Where do I find friends for my son?
Do YOU have friends with children? My boys had each other but my youngest was kind of lost when they went to school. A bunch of us moms got together and had a “girls group” Our kids, who were within a year or two of each other, played while we chatted, played Pokeno and other games (silly stuff but so much fun!!). Here we are 15 years later and we still get together but now without the kids (obviously as most of them are grown up themselves) and we have grown up drinks! We even have a girls weekend down the shore every October. This year will be our 5th year of our girls weekend. It’s so much fun, then and now!!
I NEED some friends with children. My bestie has a daughter who is a little older, but they live about an hour away. I would love some toddler child friends that live near our new place. Bonus points if they like wine. =)
Have you looked at your towns park district community center? Ours has a ton of toddler classes you can do like tumbling, sports, or arts and crafts. Or your library? Maybe Like a reading group or story time? Its tough that none of your friends have kids!
I looked at the community college, but I don’t know if we have a community center. I’ll have to check into that! Unfortunately our local library has very limited class options on the weekends, but tons during weekdays (which we can’t do because I work). I do have friends with kids, but they either live far away or their children are much older than Jack. =)
Our library is the same way. I feel like it is very clear that working moms aren’t really welcome. We go sometimes in the summer (I’m a teacher) but everyone knows each other and we’re kinda odd man out. And ours doesn’t offer any in his age group at all nights or weekends. I will admit, we do the pricey music classes. Ours are called Kindermusik. It is a splurge but he loves them and I do think he gets a lot out of it as far as taking turns, being around other kiddos, etc.
I did go to one weekday class with Jack a few months ago (for some reason I had the day off) and I did feel a bit out-of-place because everyone else was a regular attender. I may splurge on the music class though… I think they give you one trial session, so maybe we’ll have to try it out and see how it goes.
There is a my gym in owings mills right near our old office 🙂 I found a really good living social deal a while back – I will keep an eye out for you! We took Parker once on a Saturday and he loved it! They will let you try your first class for free. Also, Parker could always use a play date! He just started walking at 15 months. Someone once told me the smart babies take longer to walk because they make sure they have all their balance 🙂
Thanks Stacey – I’ll definitely look into the My Gym. And I’d love to do a play date with Parker. Jack is 18 months and STILL not fully walking yet… 🙂