November 2011 Moms

? for those who SAH...

For those of you who stay home with LO, what are your plans for pre-school/socialization? 

Currently we sometimes go to a mommy-and-me yoga class and that exposes her to other LOs but I feel that we are getting to the age where she'd do well with more interaction.  

I'd like to do a part time/part day pre-school/MDO but I haven't found one I like yet.  I've been thinking I'd start her around 18 months and feeling the pressure to find a place!.

I have a couple other friends with LOs DD's age, but we don't often get together.  And I don't belong to other mom's groups.  Maybe I should look for one.

So....what do you all do for socialization?  Do you just know other people with kids and hang with them?  Belong to a mom's group?  Go to mommy-and-me classes?  Have you started preschool or when do you plan to start?

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Re: ? for those who SAH...

  • Well, like I mentioned in the FFFC thread, we were going to a Book Babies class, but she literally walks around and barely lets me touch her to do any of the fun song stuff, so I felt like she wasn't necessarily benefitting from it. I think I am just going to take her to the library 1-2 days a week and play freely with other kids in the kid's play area. I think I will also take her to the mall's playground area more and just hose her down with sanitizer after (joking, kind of). 

    I have looked into toddler dance classes and I don't think she is ready for those yet, even though they start at walking age. I have also seen that they have toddler music class at our local music store (instrument rental & lessons type place), which I assume is just letting em run around, listen to music, sing songs and play with toddler instruments. It is pricy though ($180 for 12 weeks, but you get a bunch of stuff to take home). My mom said that she would gift it for her 2nd birthday, which would be awesome, but that is obviously far away.

    I think the best option that I can implement right away is a toddler gymnastics class. It is $40 a month, once a week, and the description sounds exactly like what DD needs... Just burning tons of energy basically.

    We get together with some of my friends with kids once in a while, but it is difficult because they all work (not a single one SAH) and most weekends, they want family time, understandably. I got together with a good friend and her 2 yr. old on Tuesday (she had a random day off) and it was awesome. She's like, I wish I didn't work so we could do this all the time! I'm like, I knooooow...

    I just haven't clicked with the moms in the forementioned Book Babies class. Sigh. Hopefully something will come of one of the options I mentioned. We shall see.

    As for preschool, I'm not gong to start her in something like that until she is 2.5 or so. I found a coop preschool that looks awesome, so I think I will research that more when the time comes. 

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  • DD did 2 years of pre-school before going to Kindergarten, and that almost seemed like too much. I don't know that I could have handled her going for 3-4 years! (Around here it's kinda expensive: 3 days a week, 3 hours a day was $350 a month.)

    I signed DD up for classes through our Parks and Rec and we had a great time. It also felt good knowing that she wasn't the only one learning to act right in a social setting. If you don't see a "Mommy/Daddy and Me" play group in your area, start one on FB. Make all the places you socialize be a public place. It can lead to a whole lot more (networking, baby-sitting swap, which babysitters are good, family friendly and free events).

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  • I joined a Mom's group and we get together with at least one other kid DS's age about once a week.  It's through meetup.com--check for one in your area!  It's been great.  We also do story time at the library once a week.  Still haven't decided if we'll do preschool or not.
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  • We go to story time at the public library and attend a gymberee style class once a wk. If your local library is too far or does not offer storytime check Barnes and Noble. They normally have a storytime. Its not real cold where we live so we've started going to the park most days. You should checkout meetup for groups in your area. Good luck!
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  • We do several things each week that gives DS socialization. Sunday he goes to Bible class with other kids his age. Tuesdays, while I do a bible study he goes and does nursery with other toddlers. Wednesday, I'm in charge of a MOMS group so he goes and plays in the child care area for two hours. We also do play dates through out the week with friends who have kids. At this point I am thinking about organized preschool around 2.53 years old.
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  • I have been struggling with this as well. DD has zero socialization with kids around her age. We have a few friends with kids but they are all older (3+) or younger (newborn). None of the libraries near us do a story-time for under pre-school age. We did a free trial class of My Gym but it seemed pretty pointless since for her age range it is geared toward walking and DD isn't walking yet, so we may try it again in a few months. I have checked into meetup.com and there is a group near me but they seem to mostly have events for people with children under 6MO or 2+ except for one toddler event that is always during DDs nap time.

    By this summer I will hopefully be working in a pre-school and then will consider putting DD in it, otherwise I would wait until she was 4.

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  • Since my children will be homeschooled, I will also do preschool at home with them.  One of my close friends has a son who was born a few days after DD and we see each other at least once a week.  We hangout with cousins who are close in age to my kids once a week.  We have a playdate with another friend at least once per month.  I did MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers) when DD was an infant, but it didn't work well for us because of transportation issues.  MOPS was really awesome as a group though and it is an international moms group.  If you want to know more visit www.mops.org

    BFP #1 10/13/09 EDD 06/20/10 DS Born on 06/26/10
    BFP #2 03/08/11 EDD 11/16/11 DD Born on 11/04/11
    BFP #3 08/29/12 EDD 05/06/13 M/C on 08/30/12
    BFP #4 11/01/12 EDD 07/09/2013 M/C on 12/28/12
    BFP #5 04/30/13 EDD 01/03/14 DS Born on 01/02/14
    BFP #6 01/11/15 EDD 09/22/15 M/C 03/09/15
  • We go to story time once a week and then he is in the church nursery once a week as well. He has 3 cousins all close in age that he sees almost every day.

    I'm really debating on a mothers morning out this fall. It would be just a few hours and two days a week. The only thing holding me back, is having a young baby at home.

    If I don't think year, I definitely will next year and then the next year he will start 3 year old pre school.

     

  • We have or go to playgroups. I am in a unique situation, since we live overseas, all my friends here are women married to active duty military members, or married to US goverment employees. So none of them work.

    There are some playgroups on base, a story time, and some go to MOPS. I don't, simply because it conflicts with naptime, or I would. I would go crazy if we were in all day. Nolan needs at least two or three days a week playing/seeing other kids, and I need the mom social time.

    German Kindergarten starts at 18 months or so here, it's different city to city. I was considering it for him (I think it would be like three days a week for three hours) in the future.

    If we were in the states, I would do Gymboree, or My Gym or something active like that. The Music Together classes are popular here, and I know the are in the US as well.

    b/w=FSH 15.6, AMH 0.4 surprise natural BFP on 3/12/11
    DS born via unplanned C-section at 40w6d

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  • Everyone has given some really great ideas.  But I did want to mention one thing.

    I was so discouraged by the amount of moms groups on Meetup.com that were requiring contracts and annual fees.  The contracts stated you couldn't fraternize with another group and annual fees were $100+ on some of them.  There were also minimal requirements to meet regarding the amount of meetups you had to attend a month in order to stay active.  I do understand the intention of these rules/requirements, but they weren't for us. 

    So I went on Babycenter.com and found that someone was asking about any other SAHMs in our city.  That was 3 weeks ago and there are now 12 of us that just say where we are going to be the next week and we all go or don't go.  It's simple, and carefree, and non-commital.  It's been great so far. 

    Anyways, just wanted to give ya the heads up that you might be able to start your own just by going on a baby board for your city.  :)  GL!

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  • Library play time once a week, Barnes and Nobles story time once a week, Free museum days twice a week, tots time at the museum once a week, and "gym" time at the museum once a week.  We won't be able to do all of them all the time but they are great options for us.
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