This Sunday I will meet with 8 of my favorite ladies in the world. Each year, for the last 6 years out of 12 – we have been getting together for dinner or lunch to reminisce, get the updates about kids, etc. How do I know these women? When each of us had our first babies in 1999, we were grouped together by Beaumont Hospital in the suburbs of Detroit. It was called a “playgroup”, and our first meeting was in July of 1999. (Each of our babies were from 3-5 months old.) We started meeting every other week at each of our houses, sharing milestones, stories and just generally enjoying each others company. We were all first time moms, and things were so new…it was nice to share in those experiences with such a great group.
It is with this group, that I noticed so many differences in my baby, as compared to the other babies. One of our girls brought her baby to group around the 6 month old age, and sat him in the middle of the room. He was up on his knees and just about crawling. At this age, Phoebe wasn’t even sitting up yet, or had yet to roll over. She was “large, and big babies don’t do things early” (Doctors words). I learned to live with these differences. She was chubby, cute, and entertaining. This went on for a few years…and I learned to add a year on to Phoebe’s development time as compared to our playgroup friends. Phoebe was always sick, and had pretty bad asthma as a toddler. She was in and out of the hospital a few times, and had about 30 ear infections. These playgroup moms became my support, my laughter, my fun, and a great social outing for Phoebe. We had Halloween parties, Christmas Parties, Birthday parties, “mom’s weekend away” (for headbands, drinks, laughter, shopping and bars) etc. It was such a fabulous time.
Most of us had 2nd, and 3rd children- and we had all been there for the ups and downs of pregnancy, showers, and miscarriages. This group was the FIRST group to hear of my divorce, and I could not have lived through it without them. They helped me pack, and move home. They kept my spirits up, and kept me laughing. The day I had playgroup and made the announcement that my husband and I were divorcing- I can remember on of my playgroup friends saying…”I NEED SOME CARBS…give me a bagel.” (My atkins friend) I laughed at that, and still think of it. As years went by…the kids all started school, and we got together less, and less. This is just the nature of friendship, and the nature of having children, and having families. We kept up with the statistics…having some of us divorce, some of us move, lose jobs, get jobs, and hopefully someday re-marry? (that’s a joke:)
As our children get older I hope that visits and outings will become more frequent. Facebook has helped us keep in touch, and see what these beautiful children have grown in to. It’s still hard to believe that we have 12 year old children – that are close to being teenagers! I would not be who I am today without these ladies.
This Sunday we will get together and a few short hours will go by so fast, just like the last 12 years.
Love you ladies. 🙂
Phoebe ASD World 