Monday, October 30, 2006
The Ongoing Quest for Momfriends
Oh, I am so brave. Brave, like a lion. Fierce, like a warrior. Assertive, like a person who sends it back when she orders a sandwhich on whole wheat and the waiter brings it on white.
It's a gorgeous day, so after having brunch with Mae's aunty and grandma this morning, we meandered along the street with the stroller, looking for something else to do. We ended up at the coffee shop, which is often where we end up. But, this time, the place was full of moms. Ten of them, at least, taking up the entire middle section with their strollers, carriers and diaper bags. Some even had babies not much older than Mae.
So, I walked right up to them and asked if I could join them.
Okay. Untrue. What I actually did was get a coffee and then sit at a table very nearby, pretending to read a magazine while I felt sorry for myself because nobody seemed to want to be my momfriend, desperately hoping one of them would come over to talk to me.
But then I decided that was dumb so, eventually, I approached hesitantly, said "Excuse me?" in my little mouse voice, and asked if they were members of a mom's group and, if so, how they'd found each other. Turns out they all take a post-natal excercise class held in a nearby church basement and go out for coffee afterwards. I asked for the web address for the excercise programe, and they gave it to me AND invited Mae and I to sit with them. We accepted and tried our hardest to make witty conversation. (Well, I did. Mae mostly slept and showed off her pumpkin hat.)
They seemed very nice. Definitely very cool, accomplished and interesting. Probably mostly a little bit older than me. (Two of them mentioned being close to 40, and I'm 27 and still get carded at the liquor store. I self-consciously kept my wedding ring in plain view, hoping they wouldn't assume I was 12).
One of them was telling me about how hardcore the class is. You do the whole thing with your baby in a carrier, and it involves lots of squats and the use of free weights. My initial reaction is: "Bleck. Sign me up!"
The problem is, it turns out the class is full. The instructor tried to talk me in to joining a group on the other side of the city, but that just won't do. The whole point would be to make momfriends in our area, and the class itself would just be a torturous means to that end. Sigh. Anyway. Mae and I are on a waitlist, so we'll see.
Still, I can't help feeling very proud of the most un-me-like move I made today. I mean, really, today we're talking to strangers in coffee shops. Who knows what daring things Mae and I will be up to tomorrow... Mommy-and-Me Bungee Jumping, perhaps?
It's a gorgeous day, so after having brunch with Mae's aunty and grandma this morning, we meandered along the street with the stroller, looking for something else to do. We ended up at the coffee shop, which is often where we end up. But, this time, the place was full of moms. Ten of them, at least, taking up the entire middle section with their strollers, carriers and diaper bags. Some even had babies not much older than Mae.
So, I walked right up to them and asked if I could join them.
Okay. Untrue. What I actually did was get a coffee and then sit at a table very nearby, pretending to read a magazine while I felt sorry for myself because nobody seemed to want to be my momfriend, desperately hoping one of them would come over to talk to me.
But then I decided that was dumb so, eventually, I approached hesitantly, said "Excuse me?" in my little mouse voice, and asked if they were members of a mom's group and, if so, how they'd found each other. Turns out they all take a post-natal excercise class held in a nearby church basement and go out for coffee afterwards. I asked for the web address for the excercise programe, and they gave it to me AND invited Mae and I to sit with them. We accepted and tried our hardest to make witty conversation. (Well, I did. Mae mostly slept and showed off her pumpkin hat.)
They seemed very nice. Definitely very cool, accomplished and interesting. Probably mostly a little bit older than me. (Two of them mentioned being close to 40, and I'm 27 and still get carded at the liquor store. I self-consciously kept my wedding ring in plain view, hoping they wouldn't assume I was 12).
One of them was telling me about how hardcore the class is. You do the whole thing with your baby in a carrier, and it involves lots of squats and the use of free weights. My initial reaction is: "Bleck. Sign me up!"
The problem is, it turns out the class is full. The instructor tried to talk me in to joining a group on the other side of the city, but that just won't do. The whole point would be to make momfriends in our area, and the class itself would just be a torturous means to that end. Sigh. Anyway. Mae and I are on a waitlist, so we'll see.
Still, I can't help feeling very proud of the most un-me-like move I made today. I mean, really, today we're talking to strangers in coffee shops. Who knows what daring things Mae and I will be up to tomorrow... Mommy-and-Me Bungee Jumping, perhaps?
