A and I really felt that Gatito came more alive in Germany. The experience provided him with so many new, stimulating places to crawl around and explore, whether the airport or our hotel rooms, and to see, being walked through the town at the sea and Berlin. For us, it was great because we always had someplace to go, something to do with him, which meant that we got to enjoy his company without the boredom that comes with watching him crawl around the house. This may be dramatizing a bit, but I feel we went away with a very serious, intent, watchful baby, and came back with one who smiles and laughs easily.
I’ve been really struggling with how to get Gatito out of the house more often and around other babies and toddlers. But we live in the suburbs, so a car is necessary, and I wouldn’t feel safe with him riding in the tiny beat-up car that L drives. The only place within walking distance is the library, but that branch doesn’t have story time for kids until 18 months. The only class I’ve found for his age that takes place on Fridays (my day off), is music, and while I thought that class was fine, I just don’t think it’s worth $300.
So I’ve been working on other ideas. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
- Sunday swim class, most likely with dad (for half the price of that stupid music class!)
- Friday play dates as often as I can arrange them
- Nanny play dates with an18-month-old who lives in the neighborhood. (Hopefully this won’t backfire like the last time.)
- Occasionally dropping L and Gatito off at the community center play room or story time a few minutes away. Not ideal because of interruption to my work day.
Any other ideas I’m not thinking of? Other than daycare, which is a whole ‘nother topic, and irrelevant in the short term anyway, since all the ones around here have 6-12 month waiting lists.
We LOVED our swim class! But, I am not going to sign up for another session until Scooter can STAND. The logistics of drying and dressing a baby who can squirm and crawl but can’t stand, while trying to dry and dress myself just didn’t occur to me until I actually had to do it.
We’re doing a swim class through the YMCA and they might have more programs for Gatito’s age group, if there’s one in your area…..if there are any bookstores around, I would check them out too as they often offer storytimes.
We’re doing a swim class through the YMCA and they might have more programs for Gatito’s age group, if there’s one in your area…..if there are any bookstores around, I would check them out too as they often offer storytimes.
I found a group of moms and babies on meetup.com. A lot of us work part time but there are events most days of the week so I can usually find a group to get together with when I have time.
I found a group of moms and babies on meetup.com. A lot of us work part time but there are events most days of the week so I can usually find a group to get together with when I have time.
I am in a similar dilemna – fortunately for us, the music class is only $95 at our local community center. Other than that though, the options for kids under 2 seem pretty lean. Barnes and Noble offers storytimes which, though I haven’t yet been, I hear are pretty good.
The regional family listserve I belong to keeps sending people to momsclub.org. I’ve never been there, but it comes up at least once/week.
It gets easier as they get older.
The regional family listserve I belong to keeps sending people to momsclub.org. I’ve never been there, but it comes up at least once/week.
It gets easier as they get older.
The regional family listserve I belong to keeps sending people to momsclub.org. I’ve never been there, but it comes up at least once/week.
It gets easier as they get older.
I have no help at all on this topic, but I do keep coming back to scroll down and see gatito sleep!
I was also going to suggest meetup or momsclub or the like. Try a Yahoo groups search. I get a billion e-mails a day from a local group that has playdates and outings every day. They are mostly sahms, but I’m sure there are groups for working moms with stuff on the weekends or evenings.