Playgroups?

[RV Mom]

Is anybody out there in a playgroup with other moms/dads and babies?

I don't know many people in my area with children/young children and am interested in getting to know other parents with other babies/toddlers possibly. Has anyone created a playgroup? Suggestions about how to go about doing this? Is it a good idea? My baby is still young however I think she and I would both benefit with having the opportunity to occasionally be around other parents and young children.

I have thought about signing up for a music class or swim class which would help me meet other parents and kids. Thoughts?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i've been in one for a year, and it's awesome. huge sanity saver for me!!! i joined more for me rather for my kids...right now my dcs are still at the age where they don't really play with other kids. anyway i found mine through meetup.com. i can't recommend that site enough! great for finding a group that suits your needs..there are different playgroups for different areas...the one i found was specific to my town, and was for SAHMs with kids under 4 (so most playdates were in town, during the week). i know there are others for working moms, or for parents of school-age kids.., or for attachment-parenting focused ones...there is everything out there!

for me, joinging a meetup group worked waay better than putting my kid in a class. before i had DD, i did have DS in a Gymboree gym class for like 4 mos or so, and i never made any mom friends through that. the moms who attended seemed kind of cliquey already. just my experience!

[AnnieW625]

I am part of a mom's group that was started in 2005 and I joined when DD1 was 2 mos. old in 2006. It is based on yahoo groups. We don't do much now because most of the kids are in elementary school now, but from the age of 2 mos. (so the original kids were a year old) till around the time those kids turned 4 we'd meet at the park. The dads now get together every so often, often more than the moms do. I did join one meetup.com when DD1 was about 18 months old and I later got kicked out if it because I never attended any events, and all of the events were during prime toddler nap time of 1 to 4pm. :shake: (I just love telling people I got kicked out of a mommy group:hysterical:).

With DD2 I tried to find a mommy group with kids her age on meetup.com, but I had no luck because they were all for SAHMs, and I work full time. I did go to Stroller Strides for the first 18 months of her life, but again the playgroup faction was all SAHMs. Nothing against SAHMs, but in my high COL area I am always amazed at how many SAHMs there are.

DD2 has gone to Gymboree since she was 6 months old, and we have not made any mom/kid friends there. People just don't seem to use Gymboree for that in my area.

[belovedgandp]

Getting out with some routine is essential to everyone's sanity. I've been through several different phases over 8+ years and three kids. The groups change and morph regularly so work on finding one that feels good to you.

With my oldest I had success with meeting moms/kids at Gymboree classes and the school district PAT (Parents as Teachers) sponsored playgroups.

MOMS Club (Mothers Offering Mothers Support) has been my one constant throughout the years for activities to get us out of the house. Check momsclub.org to see if you have a local chapter.

My church also had a mothers group that didn't do a whole lot during the day but gave me social outings without the kids.

Keep your eyes opened for the places moms/kids will hang out, go regularly and strike up conversations - library, music classes, swim lessons.

[MamaMolly]

We are still friends with our baby group from meetup. If you don't find one you want to join you can start one.

[mackmama]

I joined a mother's group when DC was 6 weeks old, and it didn't work out. The women weren't friendly or inclusive (most of them knew each other prior to the group), and it ended up causing me more stress than enjoyment. I decided to leave the group and wait a few months before trying again.

DC is now 19mo, and I've been part of a fantastic mother's group for the past 6mo. I've met a great group of moms, and the kids have fun playing (even though they are still parallel playing). I found the latter group through a local mother's club. The club has many different playgroups based on the birth month of the kids. Maybe you could look for an existing group at http://www.meetup.com/?

We've also gone to a local gymboree class (enjoyed but didn't meet any friends there), swim class (enjoyed but didn't meet any friends there), and a small waldorf parent/toddler class (really like and have made some friends there). Both DC and I have enjoyed all of them, and they helped me to meet other parents with young toddlers and also to have some structure to our days. I've now scaled down our activities to just the mom's playgroup and the waldorf class, as those are our favorites and feel like enough right now. Personally, I've found that I like the classes where there is structured time but also some free time so the moms can socialize a bit.

[kristac]

Check out
http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/
my local group has been a life saver

[fivi2]

I was when my girls were little. I went on a lot of playgroup "dates" before I found a good fit. Don't take it personally if you don't mesh with the first group - keep trying. It was a sanity saver for me and my girls.

We did not have luck with the meet-up groups or my local twin club. (I did make one friend through the twin club, but that was it.)

I ended up meeting a mom at the neighborhood park who was quite social and forming a playgroup. Several of us were also in Gymboree, so I can't really remember who was originally from the park and who was from Gymboree, but that group was my main playgroup. We are still close 5 years later!

I had a separate Gymboree play group that didn't work out. Everyone at my Gymboree was super friendly, but I have heard mileage varies.

I also joined a stroller walking group through seemommyrun.com (I think). Again, it went through some less successful variations, but I ended up with two good friends that I walked with for about 3 years. We still talk, but not walk since I went back to work

eta: we were also regulars at our library story time. I chatted with a lot of the other regulars, and probably could have found a play group there, but we were already pretty busy by then!

[SnuggleBuggles]

My play group started with people from baby gymnastics. 10 years later, 3 of us are still close. Age 0-4yo, there were more of us and it was great.

[bigsis]

Definitely joins a MOMS Club. I was in it when I was a SAHM and my kids were little. It's nice to get out of the house sometimes and have something on the calendar. I really looked forward to it and so did my kids.

Look for your local group, here's a link:

http://www.momsclub.org/

HTH!

[sunshine873]

I can't recommend it enough. You're not going to click with every person or even every group, but chances are you'll find at least one person that you can bond with or maybe even more. There are lots of places to find them - my first was a neighborhood playgroup, I know lots of churches have them & when I moved last year, I looked on meetup.com and was blown away by the amount of playgroups in my area. Try one out, give it a little time & see what develops. If you don't mesh with them, move on and try another one. Good luck! It is so helpful to have some friends in the same stage of life as you.

[RV Mom]

Thanks for all the input!

I am going to definitely check out the suggestions mentioned here. I think I might have to start one because I have tried using meet up.com which is a great site however all the mom groups on there seem to be in the boroughs of NYC that I don't live in. I also work full-time in one borough and live in another so I am thinking I would create a group for some time on a Sat/Sun. Again, thanks for all the tips.

[acmom]

We moved last year and I met most of my mom friends in our new area at the library. I went to storytimes every week and started to see the same moms/kids there every week. People often were there just getting books or playing before or after so there was a lot of time to chat. I now have an informal playgroup based on friends I met there.

In our old area, I did a lot of playing outside and taking walks in the neighborhood and to the local park/playground. Again, started to see the same people and eventually started chatting and we started getting together as a neighborhood playgroup.

My DD also did a Mother's Day Out program at a local church one morning a week when she was 2 and we met several other moms/kids through that.

HTH! Good luck! It takes a little time, but there are definitely people/groups out there!

[ang79]

I agree w/ other posters, being part of a playgroup is good for your kids (social interactions, community outtings, etc.), but its also important for mom's sanity! I'd go crazy being at home every day with the kids. We do fun things at home, and have a local park that is within walking distance, but its nice to get out and see other kids and moms a few times a week.

When DD1 was a few months old, I joined a group that was organized on Yahoo Groups (I think I found it advertised on Craigslist). The ladies were nice, but I didn't go to many activities because I was also a nanny for another family at the time and only had 1 day off during the week. Also, I soon found out that I didn't have much in common (other than a baby) with the other moms, so I didn't stay a part of that group.

After my nanny job ended and DD1 was a little over 1 year, I saw an ad for an open house for MOMS Club listed in the paper and joined that group. It was a small group and after about a year and a half we ended up no longer being part of the national organization because our membership had dropped due to moms returning to work with the economy, or their kids starting school. A few of us w/ young kids still wanted to get together, so I organized our activities (meeting at parks, each other's houses, and doing community activites/field trips) and did weekly emails to members about things. I also advertised on CL and met a few new moms that way, as well as at story time at our local bookstore (a few of us always meet in the cafe for snacks/coffee every Wed. before story time, then take the kids to story time). We also try to do a once a month Moms Night Out, just to go out for dinner or dessert and leave the kids home w/ dad :) We also did about a year of structured preschool lessons/activities with our kids 2 days a week before they were enrolled in preschool and they enjoyed this and it helped get them excited about attending preschool (another mom and I both have our degrees and experience in elem. ed. and had lots of resources to use for this).

Our group is still pretty small and only one other mom and myself are consistent with meeting 2-3 days a week and others come every now and then. Since we meet so often, the two of us have gotten to be good friends, and our kids are good friends. Our oldest daughters went to preschool together and will be starting K together at the same school this fall and they are best buddies.

Check out MOMS Club or the other links that were posted above, or try out a local story time at a book store or library during the week, that's a good way to meet other moms who are home during the day and I've found they are often looking for cheap/free things for their kids to do as well, so from there, try meeting at a park and see how things go :) Good luck!