Playgroup

Occasionally, I get surveys from our EI agency or the county. I always write in the comments section that I would like them to sponsor a playgroup. My mom ran a playgroup at our church when Mini Me and Swatcho were younger. She had an art center, water or rice table, housekeeping area, puzzles, circle time and snack time. It was fabulous. She has since moved on and I haven't found anything comparable.

Then in October Goldie's Service Coordinator gives me a call to say that she has been invited to join a playgroup once a month. She thought I would have already heard since the agency my mom is working for is organizing the playgroup. So, I called Mom to get the scoop. She tells me that the playgroup is for Early Head Start families and the county asked them to allow 5 families from EI to participate. Not everyone wanted to collaborate with EI, but Mom told them they would do it as long as Goldie was one of the 5 kids. So here's how it went:

Week One: Circle time, free play with toys, craft, more free play in gym area, eat lunch, read a story

Week Two: Circle time, free play with toys while listening to immature mother brag about how advanced her 5 month old is because he can pull to stand and crawl, play with balls in gym, eat lunch, read a story

Week Three: Kids have free play while parents learn how to plan a meal, eat lunch, read a story

But, I was really looking forward to the one on one time with my Goldie Girl.

The Good:
~ Goldie played with some toys we don't have a lot of, like cars. She even imitated the boys crawling and pushing the cars, which is something we've been working on in PT.

~ It was great to see how much progress Goldie made from month to month

~ Lunch was free and they were very accommodating of our food allergy

~ This month Goldie had a blast running around the gym (I skipped the story and let her run loose, setting a bad example for all the other parents and children)

~ One week, she ate off of a paper plate and even tried to use utensils

~ I got to play with my baby and just my baby :)

The Not So Good:

~ Immature mothers. They were just annoying. Even when I was a young, new mom, I never was a baby bragger. People can see my kids, I don't need to point out that they are walking or talking. Those things are kind of obvious and don't define my self worth. I decided I would go in with blinder on, ignore them and just focus on being with Goldie.

~ Hank has to watch Swatcho because she isn't allowed to come. It is also in the morning and sometimes Swatcho ends up not doing school that day because we also have PT that afternoon.

~ I'm the only mom who went consistently and I think the only one whose child has a diagnosis. I think the other EI kids just have delays because I couldn't tell who they were. I wonder if they would have chosen Goldie if her grandma hadn't made them?

~ Its really just a government sponsored parenting class disguised as a play group. Reading a book, planning a meal...Don't. waste. my. time. Goldie's book collection rivals that of our public library and I don't care what they say the breading on chicken nuggets is not a substitute for potatoes! I want her to have experiences I don't always provide at home, like the gym, water table, circle time, and crafts.

I called the Service Coordinator the next day to say we wouldn't be back. Then I signed up for Family Kindermusik through Swatcho's school.


What has Goldie been up to?



Her new thing is to pretend she's holding a camera and saying "jeeze" when I try to take a picture of her. She will also walk around with my camera in front of her while she repeats jeeze, jeeze, jeeze.



Hiding from therapists




and learning to blow her nose.