"Mother, Tell (the) Children Not to Walk my Way..."

Posted by GIRL'S GONE CHILD | Thursday, December 08, 2005
This morning I went hiking with my new friend and baby Lola. Lola is an older woman (by a few months) and quite striking. She likes to hike with toothbrushes in her hand, playing drums with her Mom's hair. Archer could care less. I feel like such a dictator nudging her backpack with the Bjorn saying, "seeeeee. Baaaaaaaby. Frieeeeeeend."

Archer eats his fingers and looks at me like "what the hell, momz. pssshhhhhh." It's true, the little man is going on seven months and he has yet to respond/play/take notice of the other kids/babies. Archer socializes with the dogs and family members. Once in a while I'll suck on nu-nu*'s with him and play with my feet but other than that... nada.

My mom keeps telling me to get involved with a play-group or mommy-and-me class but I just can't bring myself to do such a thing. Call me a snob but joining Mommy-and-Me class is like buying a mini-van. It has FUTURE PTA, PROUD PARENT OF AN HONOR STUDENT, MY CHILD HAS OUTSTANDING PEOPLE SKILLS written all over it like one of those bumper stickers.

Archer comes from a long line of antisocial misanthropes so I am hoping this is not hereditary.

Maybe six months is too early. Boys mature slower than girls do anyway. Maybe Archer is a poet, a shadow-lurking sponge who is taking it all in, watching out of the corner of his eye and trying to find the right words to rhyme with toothbrush. Maybe I should just chill out and let the kid figure it out when he feels like it.


GGC

*pacifier
| |



/* FEDERATED MEDIA AD SPOT */

8 comments:

the stefanie formerly known as stefanierj | 12:57 PM

My friend has 11-month old twins and even they barely notice each other. They don't notice Heavy D either, and he's been hanging with them once a week since he was 6 weeks old. In fact, Sam (the boy twin) sees D as nothing more than an obstacle to crawl over and/or take a nu-nu from. I think it's just part of a baby's not being entirely sure where he ends and the rest of the world picks up.

It's ME who needs the socialization anyway...the kid is just an excuse to get together with another equally sardonic mama.

Anonymous | 9:44 PM

little E's doc always said "so long as she's doing what she needs to be by the time she's in high school, let the rest slide because they're all on different timelines". i got 8 more years of letting it slide, and i will do so happily. :)

Anonymous | 11:20 PM

I've heard that it can take a long time before the kids get social. One of my friend's little boy was first taken to day care at 3 and she noticed he never seemed to play with any of the other kids. So she finally asked the day care lady if there was something "wrong" with her son because he wasn't socializing. The day care lady looked at her and said, "They're ALL like that."

I have been slacking on joining playgroups too. I suppose I'll get around to it eventually. I wish you and some of the other cool moms were in the area. (sigh)

GIRL'S GONE CHILD | 11:37 PM

i know, WG, me too. Sniffle.

GIRL'S GONE CHILD | 11:09 AM

fuck. i'll stop the barking then. :)

Alisyn | 3:05 PM

In my experience, 6 MOs only notice a few things: YOU, their hands, and loud noises that startle them. Pretty much everything else is filler.

Archer is NOT slow. He's totally on par with practically every kid I've ever met. And when he does start noticing/playing with other kids, you'll long for the days when all he did was sit like a little lump on your lap.

Have you tried Craig's List to meet up with other moms in your area? That is how I found my tribe of hip and totally awesome mom friends, who have since become my best friends. Also, even though Archer's a little young to enjoy it, you'll meet a lot of moms at the park/playground. Or a mommy/baby yoga class..?

Stick to your guns, GGC. Mommy and Me classes are not where you are going to find cool and interesting mom friends. Not that there's anything wrong with those moms... but you know what I'm sayin. Your tribe is out there somewhere.

GIRL'S GONE CHILD | 4:09 PM

I hope so. I can't believe how many of you live in San Fran. HELLLLO.... where's the baby momma's in L.A.?

Anonymous | 7:26 PM

I don't do Mommy-and-Me.

Post a Comment

Subscribe