checklist

I've always been a person to keep lists and I LOVE the feeling of crossing something off that list. Lately I've had a few things written down that I wanted to accomplish and this week it feels good to cross two things off my list.

1. Finding a playgroup for Nora.

My daughter is eleven mths old and has never been to a playgroup. (gasp!)

Mainly because they don't DO that here...Americans are just weird sometimes. It seems like everyone has a playgroup at home. Will my daughter not know how to play if she doesn't have one? Will she be a crazy lady? Will she stop growing? Will the world around her crumble and vanish? What will happen?! Oh no! No playgroup!!

I am part of the American Women's Club and they do indeed have a playgroup once a week...the only problem is it's FAR away from my house. Nevertheless, I convinced A to take us this morning and I thought Nora would really enjoy it because it's a "music" playgroup.

Nora did love it. She loves other kids and she loves music so of course it was a total success. For her at least. I'm really just not that convinced.

First of all it just seems like playgroups are for moms to compare their kids to other kids. "Oh, she's walking already? When did she start? How many teeth does she have? How many naps does she take? How much poop is in each diaper? (enter sarcasm here)" Each baby is a different world so to compare is stupid. But of course each mom wants to think their kid is Einstein so the comparing starts...

I'm really not a germaphobe but wowzers...at playgroups I am. It seemed like every kid there had snot running out of their noses and they were coughing all over Nora. I kind of wanted to whip out a spacesuit or something and just put that on her. Why don't you just wipe your snot in her mouth? And of course Nora puts everything in her mouth. AH! Don't get my perfectly snot free baby sick please!

I'm also not sure if you are aware of this but I don't really like kids. I'm Miranda on SATC all the way. I like MY kid but other kids...eh, I could do without them. They are loud and annoying and snotty nosed but not MY kid.

Since I'm not around other kids and moms all that much I just don't know what the "rules" are. I feel like I'm constantly apologizing for everyhing. "Sorry she's using your legs to stand up, sorry your toys are in her mouth, sorry she got slobber on your floor, sorry she bit your daughters nose off" You know,things of that nature. What are the rules? Stress!

All of the other kids were quite a bit older so they were much more apt to "sit still " on their moms knee and play along with the songs etc. Ya, not Nora. She was NOT HAVING IT! Again, "sorry my daughter doesn't want to participate?" She's eleven months old and I have to apologize for her? Plus, the other moms just weren't that friendly. So you see, these are the reasons why I, the mom, am not as convinced that playgroups are all that. But, to take one for the team I will probably go more often than not for the enjoyment of my child. (See, I'm not a bad mom I promise).

To top it all off there was a mom with a kid hanging off her tit pretty much the whole time and the girl was like four. And yes, I said tit. This is a tit situation here. "Boob" or "breast" just doesn't cut it.
This has reminded me that I need to stop breastfeeding soon because to be honest I don't want Nora being all like, " ta tas" and SQUEEZE in public...or in private for that matter.

Ok. on to number 2. Church!
We are not Catholic so it's really hard to find a church when 99 percent of the country that you live in is. This has been SO hard for me because church has always been a huge part of my life and I dream of Nora growing up in Sunday school etc. Anyways, there is a church close by our house and it is indeed Catholic but we went anyways. It will have to do for now. Again, it's not my ideal church but God doesn't care where we go. So there you have it. Check and Check. Now if I could just buy a bigger house and get a better job?!