Since almost the beginning of my blog, I have oft' written of this thing called play group. It has gone a few names in my blog, actually. Play date, play time, play group; it's all the same. It all started when two dear friends of mine and I had babies. Here we were, three very new mommies with three tiny new babies and we were rather frightened by the huge task we had just taken upon ourselves. (Well, that may have just been me.) Motherhood is a pretty big responsibility and you rarely feel the weight of the responsibility so much as when you first pick it up. So, we very quickly decided that we should get together regularly and let our babies "play" (have you ever watched an infant play? They don't. They lay there and observe.) while us moms talked about life and stuff.
Our plan was a great one. Starting when Noah was barely 3 months old, we met together once a week, except for special occasions, and we have continued that tradition for two years as of yesterday. It has been a blessing to me in many ways, and I hope it has been the same for my friends. And boy, have things changed. I'll give you an example;
Playgroup then:
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| Lucy, Madi, Noah |
Playgroup now:
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| These are only the older kids |
Along with Lucy, Madi and Noah, we now happily play with Lydia, Wyatt, Kyle, James, Ella, Ethan, Witten, Caleb, and sometimes Lauren, Autumn, and Ollie. Sometimes, a new friend or two pays us a visit during play group. In case you didn't count, that's 14(ish) youngsters ranging from 2 years old to 2 months old. No longer is it a quite couple of hours for mothers to talk while sweet babies goo-goo and coo on the floor; now it's an exciting and energetic time that mothers bring their kids to so that they will wear themselves out and take awesome naps later.
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| Why hello, Lydia! aren't you adorable! |
Playgroup goes a bit like this:
-everyone arrives one by one. As more toddlers show up, the noise increases and the air fills with cheers and shouts and laughs. As more babies show up, the floor fills with rollers, crawlers, and Kyle's sweet little 3-step-shuffle. (He's so close to walking)
-By 10:45-ish, everyone that's going to come has arrived and there is a moment of settling-in as mothers find their seats (temporary though they may be) and toddlers uncover the treasure trove of toys.
-Around 11:20, there is a 20 minute period in which a crescendo of noise reaches its cacophonous high-point. At this time, mommas have to practically holler at each other to be heard. This strange anomaly happens every time. It quiets down soon enough, usually because of the urgent "shh!" coming from us mothers.
-As lunch time nears, more whines and cries of grouchy grumps can be detected amidst the sea of silliness. This signals the end of play time and mommies pack up their gear and children and head home for that aforementioned post-playgroup nap.
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| Three manly little men right there |
I thank God for these busy mornings. I thank Him for these friends He's given Noah, Witten, and me. I'm so very happy that I have friends living life at about the same pace as I am. Having these women around me for the past two years has encouraged, edified, and supported me in my low times, while grounding me and helping me to stay humble in my high times.
I thank God that He has already answered my prayer for Noah to be surrounded by sweet, wonderful friends. I will continue to pray for God to provide wholesome, Christian friends for Noah because I know that I won't be able to direct who Noah and Witten will be around and befriend for much longer now. At the same time, I pray that He preserves these young friendships for years and years to come.
To any readers and friends of mine who are looking for a small (again, -ish) group of young mothers and their children to plug into, please feel free to hit me up. We love inviting new people and making new friends!
To my dear friends who have been sharing this play time tradition with me for a while already, I love you all dearly and I love your precious children! I pray for you often, too. Thank you for being such awesome friends!
aww...shucks
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