Friday, May 11, 2012

Meeting Mommies

In my life before motherhood, I think I was just plain blind to moms and babies. Maybe it's because babies scared me, but I think my brain just skipped over processing visual baby data. Now, the first thing I notice about a place is how many moms or babies there are. And there is a general sense of camaraderie between moms that I just find hilarious but awesome. Moms will chit chat other moms in the store, asking about their babies' age and what they're up to, while either silently (or not-so silently) comparing them to their similarly aged baby. The short conversation usually ends with, "Such a fun age, isn't it?" I just get a kick out of this mommy banter!!! Is this a small town thing?! I'm curious.

When I see a mom and baby at the park, I usually consider it a given that we will chat. These convos are slightly more "personal," sometimes including things like, "What do you do?" "Do you live around here?" "What's your name?" etc, etc.

Today I met three moms at the park in about an hour. One mom told me her life story. Another mom started talking up her 2 year old after noticing how many words Lyla could say (this would be a not-so-silent comparer that I mentioned earlier). And another commented on how our daughters were instant friends and mentioned that maybe Lyla could come over for a ride in her toy car thing sometime. But at the end of the day no information was exchanged. This has happened to me frequently, I guess I find it kind of awkward... Does she want me to offer my info or is she going to offer hers' to me? Making mom friends is often compared to dating, and I find the comparisons to be spot on...

Anyway though, I honestly love the social aspect of being a mom.  The reason why I'm thinking about this is because I was telling Erik about the moms I met today, and he said that no moms ever talk to him at the park. This makes me sad! In a time where dads are considered more and more 'active' in their childrens' upbringing, you'd think dads would be welcomed into the Parenting Park Club with open arms. Erik thinks it's because he is a young looking daddy and has an Asian baby, and no one knows what to make of it.  Hm...

Alright enough, useless banter!!!!!!!!!!!!! A lot of stir and fuss over attachment parenting and extended breast feeding recently in Mom Land. Eeek! Time could have used a more tactful cover picture.... but they wanted responses, and they got 'em! 

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