Just about 2-1/2 years ago I walked into a large room in the corner of an office building for the first time. I put a blanket on the floor, took off my shoes, filled out a name tent, and sat quietly waiting for the meeting to start. Oh yeah, I also took my 6-week old baby boy out of his carseat and placed him on the blanket in front of me…like all of the other new moms in the room.
For a little more than 4 months we met in this room once a week and discussed the realities of having a new baby. At 6-months old, our babies graduated and we were on our own. Little did I know that I would meet 14 very special women and their children through this group. We had been split up into smaller playgroups to meet on our own schedule. Our group decided that Friday Playgroup would work for us. There are 15 of us. Some of us stay home full-time, some of us work full-time, some of us do a little of both, but we meet every Friday. We have been meeting every Friday for over 2 years. We started out with 15 babies…now there are 15 2-1/2 year olds, 8 additional babies, and 3 more on the way…including our 1st set of twins!
The Mommies of Friday Playgroup
We weren’t able to celebrate our first pregnancies together, but we have celebrated all of our babies 1st and 2nd birthdays together and have had baby showers for the new babies that keep expanding this playgroup! I love our Friday Playgroups, but I cherish the times that we have Mom’s Night Out to laugh and talk and not be mommies (although most of our conversations still revolve around the kiddos)!
I am so thankful for the Mommies of Friday Playgroup!
stephany taddeo 
I’ve never been to a play group, the pictures of yours are always so cute, especially since Reece just looks like he has a bevvy of girls drooling over him-at least when they were really little. Very cool accomplishment to stick to for this long, although I could never do it I’m very impressed by you all! I thankfully have MeMe to take Sash to play dates with her great grandpa and great uncle, have lucked into 2 wonderful home daycare ladies and will be hauling Sasha up to Mom’s preschool next year so she is very well taken care of but to stick with the same group for this long is truely amazing to me! Nice job!
I am very grateful for the friendships you’ve made and support of the playgroup. It’s comforting for me to know that you have a group of really good people to share experiences and ideas with. I think there is a lot of comfort, and it builds a lot of confidence, knowing that “you’re not the only one going through…”
Thanks, Ryan. Yes, they are valuable friendships and it is comforting. And, we are forming some friendships with their families by doing dinners together, etc. when the dad’s can be involved!
gender determiner? that’s a good one.
WOW! That is incredible!! I actually teared up reading this and remembering how isolated I felt when Matthew was first born. What a gift it would have been to have a circle of women going through the same major life change! It is wonderful that you have been able to maintain such a wonderful group of support and friendship.
Megan-
The initial group was supported by the hospital where I had Reece (and Lorelai). The group was free if you had your baby at St. Vincent’s, but mom’s who had their babies elsewhere (at home, a birthing center, or another hospital) just paid $35 to be a part of it for the full 6-months. I know you probably have a good group of friends and moms that you depend on now that Matthew is three, but you could see if there is something like this offered thru the local hospitals for baby #2! (if you are interested, of course)
So glad you have your playgroup Steph. We had a neighborhood playgroup for years and both Joey and Patrick got to make many friends there. Even though I don’t take Will to playgroup anymore, many of the neighbors I met there have now become close friends. That is awesome that you have such a big group that can meet every week!
Tracy-
I love our Playgroup. We don’t make it EVERY Friday, but someone hosts it every Friday. We rotate among our houses and sometimes do “fieldtrips” to area parks, etc when the weather allows. Even now, the group is getting so big, it is sometimes overwhelming to have everybody in one house, so we go to indoor play areas, etc. We also do trips to the zoo and playdates together other days of the week. It has really been a blessing…especially in a city that we were so new to when Reece was born!
Such a special group of women and children – I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of them – and such a great idea for new families… especially since society is so much more mobile these days and family support groups are often far, far away. You are all lucky to have each other and those friendships will I’m sure become stronger and even more important as time goes on.