Our First Meetup

A couple weeks ago we were at the splash pad and Carter kept trying to play with a little boy there the same way he used to play with one of his friends at daycare.  The little boy was scared and didn't know Carter so he ran off to his dad.  I felt bad for Carter and decided it was time to make setting up playdates a priority.  I searched online for stay at home mom play groups and discovered meetup.com which was a website my mom had mentioned one of her friends used to meet people to run with.  I figured I'd give it a try and found a group for stay at home moms in my area.  I requested to join the group and a meetup was scheduled.  I was excited and nervous at the same time.  The first meetup had to be one an administrator was at so I could have an "interview".  I really wanted Carter to have the chance to play with other kids but the whole thing felt like a blind date.  I couldn't help but think, what if I like them but they don't like me?  Then I thought, what if they like me and I don't like them?  What if they don't like me and I don't like them?  Will it be awkward?  There were just too many scenarios going through my brain.  Luckily the meetup was at the local aquarium which Carter and I have been to numerous times, so I felt comfortable with that.


This morning before heading out I felt like we were doomed for failure.  Everything had gone down hill quickly and it all began yesterday.  Carter had gone a long time without a goose egg on his head.  I want to say it's even been months.  Then yesterday he was walking around outside carrying a flashlight when he decided to take off running, fell, bumped his head, and skinned his forehead.  It wasn't too bad.  But then later in the day we were watching the World Cup final and everyone started cheering when Germany scored.  Carter got scared and turned to run to me, but I was over to the side behind him and not directly behind him so he ran into the corner of the coffee table.  So now I was taking my toddler with not one, but 2 goose eggs on his forehead and a sizable bruise to go along with the 2nd one.  We decided to head home at Carter's bedtime and bathe him before we left so he'd sleep in the car.  We've done it plenty of times and it typically works like a charm.  Last night he decided not to sleep in the car.  He didn't scream or fuss, he just sat quietly in his car seat and played.  So he went to bed at 9:30 when we got home.  I had a very large iced tea at dinner not thinking and am not used to caffeine.  I laid in bed until 1:30 am before finally drifting off to sleep.  Then this morning Carter woke up at 5:30 am and refused to go back to sleep.  I was so tired I wanted to cry and Carter was already crying.  We were quite the pair.

My banged up boy.

I gave Carter his morning snack as I got ready for our meetup.  He proceeded to throw most of it on the floor while saying "no" repeatedly.  Thankfully he did eat some of it, but was just so darn tired.  Then as I was carrying him out to the car he slapped my head.  That's something that he never does unless he is super overtired.  I had a bad feeling and was afraid things would go south quickly for us while at the aquarium.  I found myself nervously brushing my hair with my fingers over and over as we drove.  That's one of my nervous habits that typically comes out when I feel like I need to impress someone.  When I looked in the rearview mirror I saw Carter had fallen asleep. 

Ready to meet new people at the aquarium?

As we arrived at the aquarium and I put Carter's shoes on he woke up.  He wanted down so he could walk to the entrance and saw a little girl behind him so he stopped, waved at her, and yelled "hi".  I was hopeful that he could hold it together and things wouldn't be all that bad.  That hope began to dwindle as I realized the aquarium wasn't open yet and were we going to have to stand in line to get in and then to renew our membership.  By the time we made it inside he was desperate to be down and taking off.  I found the group leader and then we had to stand and wait for the rest of the members to arrive.  Carter was getting antsy so I let him down to walk around with the other kids as the lady told me about the group, meetings, rules, etc.  As we were talking a little girl walked up to me to inform me that Carter had hit her little brother.  Carter's at an age where it's difficult to discipline him if I don't see him in the act, but I pulled him to the side to talk to him and then took him over to apologize to the little boy.  Then I swear moments later he walked over to a little girl in her stroller and slapped her on the top of the head.  I caught him in the act, grabbed his hand, told him no very sternly, and had him apologize.  In that moment I was about to call it a day and march his little hiny right out of the aquarium.  But the rest of the members had arrived and we were able to enter the aquarium.  Thankfully since I caught Carter in the act of slapping and was able to address it immediately, it didn't happen again.

Trying to get a picture with the shark statue outside the aquarium.

 

This gives you an idea of how my overtired wild child was acting!

Right away Carter walked up to one little girl in the group and gave her a hug.  Then he reached out and wanted to hold her hand.  She was older and so stinkin sweet.  She held his hand and walked around with him for the first couple of rooms.  She would excitedly say, "Oooh, Cawtah, come look at this!" and pull him toward the next tank.  Carter was having a blast and would not let go of her hand.  He even attempted touching some of the animals in the touch tanks which he's never done before.  I guess having a buddy next to him doing it gave him a bit of bravery.  After the first rooms the little girl wanted to keep moving quickly and Carter kept walking back to look at tanks he'd already seen again, so they dropped hands and that was the end of them walking together.  It was so cute while it lasted and I'm already looking forward to getting them together again.

I was bummed when I got home and saw the only picture I took was blurry, but that's probably best since I had just met the little girl's mom and didn't get permission to put her picture on my blog.  This way you can't see her face.

Things calmed down a bit once we got about half-way through the aquarium so I was able to actually chat a little bit with a couple of the other moms in the group.  It was nice for me to get to interact with some adults.  I had my expectations set pretty low after our sleepless night and wild morning, but it actually went really well.  Neither of the moms of kids Carter slapped even said a word about it.  They let me take care of the situation and that was the end of it.  Carter made a friend and loved going through the aquarium with other kids.  I enjoyed chatting with other moms.  There were enough moms in the group I didn't feel too singled out being new, but there was a small enough number I got to meet everyone who was there.  I will admit I was holding my breath every time Carter went up to one of the kids because I was afraid he was going to slap someone again.  He's just so unpredictable when he gets overtired!  I am so glad I went out of my comfort zone to do something different and meet new people.  I wouldn't exactly call myself shy, but I'm definitely not outgoing either.  Meeting new people makes me anxious.  I'm glad to have that initial meeting over with and I'm looking forward to getting together again!

On his tippy toes checking out the shrimp.

He sat and watched the turtles forever!  That's where he lost his buddy.  She was ready to move on.

Walking through the shark tunnel.