Today was a good day. The weather was nice so we were able to get outside for a bit, the kids were (relatively) behaved, we had a healthy lunch that everyone ate, and I had some grown-up time because of a wonderful invention called Skype!
Last year, when I was "officially" off on maternity leave, I was fortunate enough to have a handful of friends who were also on maternity leave as well. Including Wee Man there were 9 children born in our circle of friends and family around that same year, so there was lots of opportunity for grown-up interaction and socialization for both Mama and Wee Man. This year - not so much. In fact, I think I've only had one play date since September when a most of my mama-friends went back to work. Being a stay-at-home-mom can be very isolating...and while I've never been a big one for huge social occasions, I do have to say that I crave adult conversation and interaction regularly!
Two good friends of mine live in other provinces. Both are also stay-at-home-moms and have little ones around the age of Wee Man (yes, they are included in the 9 children mentioned above). So in order to stay in touch, see each others little ones, and have some adult conversation (ie: sentences over 5 words long!) I have started doing Skype dates with them both from time to time.
I love Skype. What a fabulous invention. Today was so much fun! Wee Man and Little A were both so excited to see Little M and her mama on the computer screen and it was fun to see the kids interact with each other. Once the initial excitement over the people in the computer talking to them passed, we were able to have a conversation while the little ones played around us. Every once in a while Wee Man would come back and look at the computer and say "hi" (just to see if he'd get a response back, I think) or Little A would come sit on my lap to see what was going on, but it was a fabulous way to connect with another grown-up while still letting the kids have fun and play around us!
A couple of weeks ago my other out-of-province friend and her two kids joined us for lunch via Skype. That was a little more interesting of an experience, as trying to carry on a conversation with 4 kids who were more interested in what was going on in the computer than what was in front of them on their plates didn't go as well as you would have thought! haha. But it was still fun to connect with them - and see their new home! The joys of laptops - her daughter wanted to show us her new Princess Room (she's almost 3) and so we tagged along while they made the trip upstairs into her room and got to see her awesome Disney Princess stencils on the wall!
So while my adventures in play dates outside of the home have definitely decreased this year over last, I am happy to say that with a little technology and creativity, I'm able to curb my craving for adult interaction from time to time and look forward to the next Skype date(s) with my dear friends! With these regular Skype dates and some potential future play dates with a friend who just had her first little one this past weekend (we'll give her a month or so to get into the swing of things! haha!) I think the rest of this year will be much less isolating than the latter part of 2011!
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