Playground Politics

I took the kids to the park this afternoon after Megan's preschool.  It was little unusual for us.   Our normal routine is to go home and play in the back yard, simply because it is easier for me. The kids can play and I can do other things  (like write blog entries) while they are contained. But it occurred to me that our chances of meeting other families are pretty slim if we stay in our back yard.  So off to the park we went.

We didn't end up staying very long.  Riley was sounding wheezy and I hadn't brought his inhaler, so I wanted to get home to give him a breathing treatment.  Which was true and was how I explained our departure to Megan.  But the other compelling reason was that the park had been invaded by a Mom's group.  Like the nannies in Westchester, the women in Mom's clubs seem only to talk to each other.  It is so frustrating and lonely to be at the park with other adults and have no one to talk to.

I have discovered that the Mom's club phenomena is very big out here. From talking (and ease-dropping) on the Mom's at soccer practice, it seems like it is de rigueur to belong to one or more.  The super helpful soccer mom (the one who told me where to find good pizza) said that it is not unheard of to join with a kid Riley's age.  So, I'll have to think about it.  It feels a little bit like buying a set of friends.  But if everyone else is buying their friends, who am I to abstain?