Baby Babble

During this past summer I was at the Maple Valley Farmers Market on a lovely Saturday morning with Lyla. I believe it was Kids Day in July. There were booths for groups like Kinderswimmer and a local stay at home mom’s group, among others, but those were definitely not catered toward working moms.
And there’s nothing wrong with that at all.
I did feel like I needed to find some kind of group that had play dates and programs for working moms.
To Google search I went!
And I found the Maple Valley-Covington Area Moms on Meetup.com which I immediately applied for approval so I could get involved.
A couple of the mom organizers on the site knew of me because of my columns in the paper during my pregnancy. I even ran into Amy Shadd while working on a story about a martial arts instructor and the programs he offers through the city of Maple Valley. Her son was in the class.
Turns out the MVCA Moms had a booth at Kids Day and I just didn’t see them. Figures.
So, I was approved and perused the calendar. There are two events I try to get to regularly each month: coffee and conversation at Cutter’s Point by Home Depot in Covington and a recipe swap play date hosted by a mom in Black Diamond.
I went to my first play date/meet up in late August. It was great to just meet moms with kids of all ages and talk about mom stuff with a group. There’s something about talking with other women, whether one-on-one or in smaller groups, about pregnancy, the challenges of parenting and the wonder of having kids.
I love the recipe swap play date because Lyla gets to play with other kids and we get to try new food. Since she is down to try anything once it’s a great way to encourage her adventurousness while also allowing her the opportunity to work on her social skills with other children.
I have mom friends whom I talk to regularly on Facebook, via e-mail and text messages, but the meetup group has been nice because it makes it easy for me to find activities for Lyla and I to go to together all in one place. And these moms are local, too, whereas my mom friends on Facebook are scattered all over the region and even the country.
Sometimes you just need to get together in person with other women and their youngsters and have fun.
They also have dad’s night out, mom’s night out or in, and other activities that are kid-free as well as stuff for the whole family.
I just have so much appreciation for this group and what it has added to our life.
Are there are other opportunities out there for activities with Lyla on weekends or weeknight evenings that I’m missing out on in the area? Let me know!