Mom & Tot's Drop Out

Yep. That's me. The Mom & Tot's Drop Out.

Let me explain.

There is a church in my neighborhood and when we drove by on the week end, I noticed that the sign said, "Mom & Tot's - Starts Wed Sept 17 - 10:30-11:30am". I thought it'd be great to go. I figured since its in the neighborhood it would be a great way to meet more mom's in my community.

So Stinx and I went shopping this morning and then headed to the church for 10:30am. The moment we walked into the church I saw a couple of toddlers. One was crying, "I can't find my mommy!'. Hmmm.. I thought, that's no good. There were kids playing in a room very close to the front doors. I thought it was weird that there were no adults around (that I could see). I kept walking down the foyer and found a room with Moms and some babies. A woman approached me and invited me in. She explained that this is where the Mom's would be - doing "Mom Stuff". There was a table on the right with some papers on it. There was a nursery form, a Fall time table, some stuff on PPD etc. The lady introduced me to one of the mom's who was running the group. I sat down in the circle of chairs and waited for this shin dig to start. Finally a bit later 4 woman came in and introduced themselves. They were the child care volunteers. They'd be taking the 18 months + kids to the room I had seen by the front door, and the other 2 were taking newborn -18 months kids to the nursery room. They then asked to take the kids or bring them to the location. I was really not 100% comfortable with this.

I, thought, that this was going to be one of those Mom's Groups where you can play and hang out with your kids whilst talking to other Mom's. I didn't realize it was a "ditch your baby" party. I hesitated a bit but thought I should give it a go. I brought Stinx into the nursery and he immediately saw all the lovely toys. I made it clear to the volunteers that if he was crying to come get me. They said no problem and explained they would bring him to me because they don't let the babies get worked up. I thought that was good.

I went back to the "Mom" room. I sat at a table and filled out the nursery form. Hmmm. I was not sure I really wanted to give them any information. Secondly, I didn't want to sign anything because I didn't know these people from a whole in the wall. Especially since I don't know their requirements for volunteers. How am I supposed to know if they've had criminal record checks? This is standard stuff! Also, I didn't really want to fill this all out if I wasn't going to be coming regularly. I read the fall schedule and realized that they had specific topics the Moms were to talk about. Apparently next week's topic was "How to organize your kitchen". Maybe that's when I realized that this wasn't going to work. I sat at the table and listened to all the mom's chatting away (in the circle of chairs). Everyone seemed to know each other from the church. I started debating...

Do I stay? Or do I go?

Over and over... Hmm. I couldn't decide... Should I stick it out for the first meeting? Maybe I could make some new friends that live nearby. Hmmm.. Pondering.. Pondering.

"Ah, screw it. This isn't for me."

I folded the papers and put them in my diaper bag. I stood up, left the room, and went straight to the nursery. No one said anything, heck, maybe they didn't notice. I opened the door to the nursery and found Stinx playing very well with the other kids. I almost felt bad taking him out of there. I didn't say anything except "OK buddy, lets go". As I was walking down the hall I saw a Mom in the "Moms room" staring at me. I think she was thinking, "Why is she leaving? What the heck, weirdo". I just flippantly waved her good bye. And off we went.

I guess I am weird. But something just didn't seem right to me. Not that there was anything wrong with them - it just wasn't what I was hoping and expecting it to be. I was hoping to find a room full of Mom's and kids playing and chatting, all together. I really don't have an interest in sitting around talking about how to organize my kitchen and budgeting with complete strangers while my child is off in a nursery. No Thanks.

I have to mention that I am in a great Mom's Group at my own church. It meets every 2ND Wednesday. That's partly why I didn't want to sign any forms because I wasn't planning to do every week, which I think they would have preferred. Anyways... The Mom's Group I am in, is awesome and I really like it, but it's only bi-weekly. I know that with winter coming I will want to get out more often, so I am looking for a couple other groups to join. I was apart of 2 last year but they have dwindled away. Perhaps I should start my own?