Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Playgroup

When is it OK to hit someone over the head with wet wipes when that person talks absolute rubbish and you know you are going to have to face that person for two hours every week until you kids are old enough to decide for themselves what playgroups to go to?

My local playgroup often turns into a battle field where the more experienced mothers (older and/or more than one child) fight it out when the new mothers (first baby, everything is new and confusing) ask an innocent question about introducing solids or how to fight sleep deprivation.
There will be at least two or more mother honchos, opinionated, strong-willed, have read every baby book known to man who will give not so much advice but more a long list of what is right (their way) and what is not (other mother's ways).

They will not listen to anyone else, they will interrupt you if you talk, and they will not think twice about telling you that you are wrong should your advice be different from theirs. These alpha-mothers have made it their life to know everything about raising children and they consider themselves experts in the area. They get very emotionally attached and take it personally when someone isn't following the same sleeping or feeding schedule as they do, they will report you to child services if you don't breast-feed for as long as they consider proper, and they will pretend to be your best friend just so that they can enter your home and get a good look at the surroundings in which you raise your children, just to dissect it and criticize it.

These are the mothers fighting it out at playgroup every week. That is their life, and they are devoted to it.

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