We bought our home in the New Hampshire suburbs in 2004, when Adam and I weren’t married yet and were both employed full-time. It became rapidly apparent that we weren’t going to make any real friends in the area until after we had children – every social outlet that we saw advertised or recommended revolved around children and family. Our neighbors were kind and pleasant enough, but when they heard that 1.) we weren’t married yet and 2.) we had no children, their interest waned quickly and we just settled in a routine that involved going to see movies, going out to dinner and other things that a young couple without children do.
Fast forward to 2006, when Adam and I got married and on the day we got back from our honeymoon we learned that we were going to have a baby. We made the decision that I would stay home and raise our child and I made arrangements to leave my full time job. Once I started to show, people started to ask questions about the pregnancy and the baby and I was happy to see that some of our neighbors were a bit more friendly now that we were joining the parental ranks. Anna was born in early 2007 and when she was about 4-5 months old I saw an ad in the local newspaper about a local mother’s group. Let’s make a really long story short and just say that I was a member of that group for a few months and things didn’t really work out. Yes, of course, some juicy and scandalous stuff happened – but that’s a story for another post.
The one thing that I did manage to take out of that experience was how much I enjoyed being in a playgroup with Anna. She had been in one for so long and since she was one of the younger kids, she really looked up to and emulated the older kids. It was great for her development and, since she was so used to that environment, she was never intimidated by a group of people (or kids), never clingy and learned to be independent and confident. So when we made the choice to leave that group, my only concern was being able to find another playgroup so that she could continue having such a wonderful experience.
Enter meetup.com. Super easy to use, you just plug in some search terms (kids, playgroups, etc) and your zip code and you’re off and running. Each group is different and you can check out their purpose, where they are in relation to you, how many members, etc. Some groups have yearly dues, but most are reasonable – mine is $10 annually. You can often even check out what their calendar looks like and what kind of events they have so that you can find a group that works great for you. For me, the group that we joined is small enough (about 40-50 moms with kids of varying ages) that we know most people but they have lots of different activities and events so that you don’t get bored. I host at least one playgroup at my home every week and over the course of the past year, I’ve met some really amazing moms and their kids. My daughter wakes up on playgroup days so excited to see her friends and I’m excited to have some time to chat with the moms, too! The kids are in the same age range, so they are all developmentally at similar stages which makes it great if you’re having trouble potty training or losing the binky or bottle – it’s easy to get some sympathetic help.
And, hey, if you don’t like the groups that they have then start your own! It’s easy to do and you can meet other like-minded parents. Give your child the gift of socialization so that they build confidence and independence! You’ll be happy you did.
