Making Friends

Madeline is starting to make some of her own friends and Mama-Dirtyfoot is doing her best to help Madeline along this path. Currently, Madeline is in dance, swim and a Tots 'n Tunes music group. It seems like a lot but Madeline LOVES each of these activities and looks forward to them each week. Although these activities all have children Madeline's age, they are quite structured and don't help in the area of fostering friendship.

As an only child, Madeline needs the opportunity to play with children her own age. Most of the moms in my neighborhood work and their children are sent to day care. So even though there are plenty of children in my neighborhood, most of them aren't around during the day.

I mailed out my check yesterday for Madeline's preschool tuition. She will begin in January for half days two times a week. This will be good for Madeline in some many ways, one of them being socialization. I have also joined a local MOMS group which offers play dates for the children (I just became the groups treasurer today.....why do I do these things to myself????)

Anyway, this morning Madeline and I went to the "Business Meeting" for the MOMS club. As the women talk, the children play in a play area. The place is great. Big tubes to crawl through, ride on toys, etc. The play area is pretty much among the tables where the woman meet and the children can see you and you can see them at all times. Madeline didn't want to have anything to do with it! She pretty much sat on my lap and cried anytime I suggested joining the other children playing. Ohhhhh brother, I thought, how was I going to ease her into preschool??? And, how was she going to do at the play date I had set up for the evening?

In the evening, Madeline and I had plans to go over to the house of a neighbor down the street. My neighbor's daughter is about 6 months older that Madeline,. The mom and me ended up hooking up because her mom (Nancy -for those of you who know her) and my mom knew each other. Madeline and I went to our neighbor's house, had pizza for dinner and I brought dessert. The girls had a great time. They played with all the toys, ate dinner/dessert, painted and watched a little Dora on TV (a treat for Madeline). Meanwhile the mom and I chit chatted away. The neighbor girl told Madeline that she could come over again and they gave each other big hugs before we left. Madeline was in such a good mood when we got home. I could tell that she had a blast. It is so fun to watch this develop in Madeline but it is sad to see Madeline loose a bit more of babyhood.