We’ve been doing swim class with Ingrid on Saturdays. Sometimes we both get in, sometimes it’s just Dave, and once, it was just me, but it’s a fun little gig and gets our asses in gear on Saturday morning. Basically, when I was a kid, growing up near water just evolved into knowing how to swim and liking lakes and whatever. Ingrid isn’t growing up like that, but I want her to be able to get her ass back on the dock should she happen to fall in. And, at least enjoy water some. Thus: baby swim class.
Today I sat on the bench while Dave did the pool part, and sat next to a mom, and we started talking, and OMG, it was so nice to Talk to a Mom. I mean, I work with mothers, but their kids are older than mine by a few years, and/or they are just different about stuff. This mom, we started talking about stupid things people say that come true (like, "it goes so fast!") and that led into her admitting that her kid still ends up in bed with them and how people giver her flak about it, which led ME into "Oh man, Ingrid wakes up with us every morning, and the way I see it, that’s the stuff I’m going to miss, so I might as well enjoy it while it lasts." I think this woman was actually relieved to talk about it, and we did, and then that led to discussing childcare, and how she is looking at centers because her mom isn’t really able to continue caring for her, and lo and behold, her first choice is our childcare, so I gave her the scoop on that. She’s a middle school guidance counselor, so we talked middle school for a bit, and honestly, I think both our husbands were annoyed that we weren’t clapping for every splash our daughters were making, but OMG SO WHAT. She was also preparing for her first night away, and I shared my story of my own conference and how it was actually pretty refreshing, etc, and meanwhile our kids were being dunked by their dads, and it was great. Just to talk to a mom, IRL, was so nice. THAT’s the stuff I miss when it comes to being a working parent, and why I’ve set up an entire category at my Local Parents’ Site just for "working parents." So much of what happens that’s fun for kids, happens during business hours, to give the SAHMs something to do, and dammit, working parents need those connections too! AT LEAST as much as the SAHMs; too often the WOHMs are cloistered away in their office and when they do run into these group activities, the SAHMs don’t really get the challenge of the WOHM life, and the WOHMs don’t get the camaraderie of the SAHM life.
Anyway. It was good. Now I’m finally going to get off my ass and order some MOO cards so that in the future, I can hand one to a mom like that.