Where to find playgroups?

[Judegirl]

Other than meetup.com and local channels like churches, classes, Ys and the like...how do you find playgroups?

Thanks, and Happy New Year!
Jude

[ellies mom]

I found our beloved indoor playpark through our library's website. They had a section for community resources.

[julieakc]

Check out the mom's club (http://www.momsclub.com/) and see if there is a chapter in your area. Generally there is a small membership fee, but they do all kinds of things like date nights, regular play groups, etc.

Also, there's always the organized, structured classes like Gymboree, My Gym, etc. I take DS to Gymboree twice a week which is his socialization time.

[C99]

>Other than meetup.com and local channels like churches,
>classes, Ys and the like...how do you find playgroups?

That's pretty much how you find playgroups, or find people who would want to form/join a playgroup.

[MarisaSF]

Happy New Year, Jude!

In the two cities I've lived in since having a child, there have been major networks for finding a playgroup by area and by child's age. In both, I found out through friends, but also saw ads in the peds' office (and maybe the ob-gyn offices?). At least one is loosely affiliated with the local hospital system. I've liked having a playgroup consisting of people within a small geographic area and sorted by kids' age.

[Judegirl]

Thanks guys! At Julie's suggestion, I checked out MomsClub, and found two groups in my area!

Jude

[MelissaTC]

Here is another resource- www.matchingmoms.com

[holliam]

Jude, have you checked out whether there are any API groups in your area? I think you'd like them. That's how we found people initially, and then we found other people from MDC. We have local cloth diapering, babywearing, API, AP playgroups, etc. now.

http://www.attachmentparenting.org/

Liam has also found people from Yahoo groups.

Many of the "mothering" groups are quite anti-SAHD so he had little luck that route. One local group was welcoming to him, but most of the more national groups were not so he had to find alternatives! It worked out well because most of the other parents are similar in parenting style.

Holli

[JElaineB]

>Many of the "mothering" groups are quite anti-SAHD so he had
>little luck that route. One local group was welcoming to him,
>but most of the more national groups were not so he had to
>find alternatives! It worked out well because most of the
>other parents are similar in parenting style.
>
>Holli

No advice for Jude, but can I say that is just sad!!

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[holliam]

Yea, I had no idea how much trouble he'd have finding groups that would welcome SAHDs!! I guess some moms don't want a guy hanging out with them and even others feel weird about it. Makes no sense to me. Of course, the SAHD groups are incapable of organizing themselves so that's a dead-end route too!

[ellies mom]

Holli-
Too bad you don't live near us. We would love to have him at ours. :)

[squimp]

That's so weird! There are a bunch of SAHDs at our indoor playground, and they are welcome participants if not the life of the party.

[holliam]

tee hee! Mari would have great fun playing with Ellie!

He did find playgroups through the AP forums and through one local mama group so it all worked out. It was just weird how many weren't thrilled about SAHDs. Even the one local group had to vote to decide whether they wanted to allow a SAHD to join them!

Crazy!
Holli

[Sarah1]

I was fortunate to meet a few great women at the first music class I took Audrey to. I just came out and asked them if they wanted to start a playgroup.

[jhaud]

thanks for posting this. i had not heard of meetup.com before and have been trying for months to find a/some groups... well there is actually a sahm group in my town... the first i've found! (nothing through mom's club etc.)

[kimbe]

I found a place that is family-oriented through our cooperative extension!

[KrisM]

Our MOMS Club has 1 SAHD in it. We had to vote to let him in and at what level. Recently, he was asked to not participate in MOMS Night Out, as it was making some women and their husbands uncomfortable. But, he participates in playgroups, outings, couple's night out, and everything else. I'm glad he found something!

[holliam]

Yea, I won't let DH do Mom's Night Out, and I don't do them either. The moms all said they would be okay with it, but I feel weird. I told DH that no group of women out without their kids wants a guy hanging around. I don't go because even though I've met them all and do things with them too on weekends, DH is the primary care giver so I don't think I should be having the night out.

Holli

[jasabo]

That's so sad!! We had a SAHD in our play group and we LOVED it!! He and his family moved recently, and we all really miss having him around. All the kids had a blast playing with him and we moms enjoyed having a bit of testosterone in the mix....though he probably got tired of hearing us complaining about our dh's all the time ;)

Anyway, those groups don't know what they were missing. But I'm glad your dh found a good one to join.

Lisa - mom to 2 yr old twin boys

[luvbeinmama]

Just a small correction. The MOMS Club website is www.momsclub.org (not .com). :)

[HannaAddict]

Holli,
You'll have to move out West my dear! We have very involved dads, SAHD's, and WAHD's in both our co-op preschool and playgroup through mainstream momsclub. Our neighborhood seems to have a ton of dads caring for their babies/kids though, at the park, coffee shops, etc. We really started noticing it when I was pregnant.

Kimberly

[ellies mom]

Actually, until I joined our indoor play park coop, all of the babies I knew that were Ellie's age were SAHD's. We used to meet up for coffee all the time.

[holliam]

Ahhh, but then we could not afford to have a SAHD! ;) We moved to NC from CA! :)

There are some other SAHDs around here, but just not very organized ones...

Holli