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operation homebody, take two
August 20, 2006 / 04:40 PM

8/20/06 center for creative play
Originally uploaded by wordsforsnow.
The thing is, the whole Gymboree experience really upset me. Josie’s response to the situation upset me, my response upset me and the fact that the other babies and parents did not mind the scary bright clown world upset me.

All babies progress at their own speed. I know that. I tell parents that every day. I was a nuttcase when Josie wasn’t crawling and now she crawls like a superchamp. Now I worry that she’s not walking, and allllllll the other babies are walking. All the other babies aren’t scared of clowns or seesaws. Clearly, I need to chill out and not worry. But (in case no one is aware of this) I’m NO GOOD at the not worrying. I worry!

Worry!

So, today we packed up my worries and the child and headed to the Center For Creative Play, a nifty little place consisting of a huge open space for toys and kids and parents. What it didn’t have was clowns or bright! colors! or forced interaction, and after a few minutes both Josie and I chilled out and started having fun. I think it is a good compromise, a place to get out and interact with other kids without the anxiety provoking singalongs. It seems to be a better fit for our family, and I feel better. I still worry, but I feel better about yesterday's debacle.

(Josie started sobbing in her sleep late last night, which she NEVER does. It took me a few minutes before I could even get her to open her eyes and wake up. Even money she was dreaming of clowns. Gymboree did however have very cool bubbles. Scary clowns, cool bubbles. There's always a trade-off isn't there?)

You know, I’m probably all grumpy and angsty this weekend because of the Red Sox, which seems a poor justification to making my poor daughter leave her comfort zone. Darn Red Sox. Start winning some baseball games, turkeys!

Think of the children!

Posted by: Suzie
File under: On The Homefront
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Comments

You know, I think of that whole Gymboree, loud colors and noises thing, as part of the tv baby phenomenon. I've gotten the impression that Josie is more of a direct attention, learning girl, than a Barney, tv as babysitter, kind of girl.

I'm not a mom, and I have 99.9% odds of never being a mom, so I have zero place to drive-by parent, but I think, if you have a sensitive (as opposed to desensitized) baby who isn't entirely comfortable with crazy lights and noises and creepiness, maybe that's not such a bad thing.

Posted by Tanya
August 20, 2006 07:03 PM

I'm sorry she had such a horrible time with Gymboree.

And as for the Sox? Jay blames Sammy's crankiness on their poor performance - though we did agree that we guess it's good that he gets used to the August heartbreak while he's young.

*sigh*

Posted by erika
August 20, 2006 09:22 PM

Funny - after reading the last post I was just about to suggest the Center for Creative Play, then I read this post and realized that would be pointless. I'm glad Josie had fun there. We found it to be a great place for running around in winter when it's hard to burn off toddler energy.
We need a Pittsburgh bloggers playgroup! Then the children of all us socially anxious types could get together and be sociable.

Posted by Sarah
August 21, 2006 09:36 AM

The fact that Josie doesn't dig clowns is, in my opinion, a pretty good sign that she's a smart kid.

Our 3-year-old loves -- LOVES the Children's Museum and the Science Center. The 1-year-old is quite content to run around the play area at Ross Park Mall.

Posted by Bob
August 23, 2006 12:37 PM

I just read this post. I don't think you have anything to "worry" about, truely! There are so many different things that can bother babies early on; then, these same babies grow up to be kids who will tackle anything, quite often. Take a wait and see approach to the whole experience. Miss Josie will come to her own in due time.

Posted by Trace
August 24, 2006 09:29 AM

As an employee of Center for Creative Play I have to admit that your entry reaffirmed why I do what I do everyday. And, as a mother of two young children (who do not like clowns either), I could relate to your position as a professional worrier. And, although I'm not sure how old your daughter is, it was around 13 months that my oldest started doing the waking up crying bit, where they weren't even really awake. I was terrified until I read somewhere that this is when dreaming starts to get more vivid--even if untrue it made sense to me and made me feel better. Stupid clowns.

Posted by Heather Mediate
August 24, 2006 12:04 PM


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