Gang Initiation.

So, recently Eliette and I joined a "Mom's Group", or "Play Group for Kids, but all of the Moms have Meetings and Events Too".
:)

A friend of mine belonged to this area Early Childhood PTA group. She told me last year that I should check it out, and I didn't....but then this year, when they were having their annual "round up," I decided to go. It was Fall, back to school time, and time to start new things. On top of all that, I am making it my personal mission to ensure that this child has AMPLE opportunity at socialization with her peers, as Gage's early years were lacking in that arena. {As an aside, Gage and his sister seem to have completely opposite personalities to begin with, so this may be more of a mission/goal on MY part rather than anything she's lacking.... I own that.}

So ANYWAY!

We headed to the park for the party/"round up."

 Eliette insisted on taking her shopping bag and walking herself...

They had a whole cowboy theme with different events/stations for the kids. Eliette enjoyed the rocking horses...

She enjoyed the sidewalk chalk....

For a little while she enjoyed her dress up items...

She enjoyed the snacks, and I met a few of the other mothers that day. A couple I already knew.... and then we decided to head on home.

There we were on the path to the car. Miss Independent insisted on walking herself...like she does.... And that's when it happened: the nearby school let out for recess or PE or something, and children came barreling out of the school nearby. Before I knew it, Eliette was plowed down by a trio of school age girls, and my baby SLID down the sidewalk before these girls piled up on top of her. It happened so fast and yet in slow motion at the same time. Eliette was crying, the girl who was right on top of her apologized profusely and she was crying (upset and sorry, not hurt), and I was just shocked and frustrated with myself that I couldn't stop it.... I told the girls it was obviously an accident and that I wasn't mad. And then I was surrounded by moms from the mom group. They were so good to us! Eliette still nurses, so they got me a chair and water and sat us down and I nursed while they put band-aids on my baby.

Later, I was able to joke with one of the moms that the group is hard core, and that Eliette got jumped in. {thus her "gang initiation," wink*wink}

Ugh! My poor baby.

But alas---this was a while ago now. Those bumps and bruises have healed and been replaced twenty times since then. We've enjoyed the benefits of the group activities, and we're all okay.I think this is going to be a fun group of moms, and a few of the moms are even in my Sunday school class at church, so it's just a win-win for our kids!
:)