of baby class! Owen and I went to our first ECFE (early childhood family education) class today. I was skeptical of taking one because I really thought they were for people who didn't know what they were doing. But my friend Pam spoke very highly of them and another girl in my book club said it was the highlight of her week. Since Owen and I spend most of our time with just each other I thought it would be good for us to get out and be with other people our own age. Him with the babies and me with the grown-ups. Oh, and it turns out, they are for people who don't know what they are doing. And that includes me!! Because Owen didn't come with a manual.
So our class is for 6-11 month old babies. Owen is the oldest by about a month or six weeks. Although he wasn't that much bigger than the 7month olds. A lot of them were sitting up though and that bothered me. Because Owen still doesn't sit up much on his own. But I have to keep in mind that he is developing at his pace and doing what he needs to do. Another mother, who has 2 older children, said he may just bypass that and start walking. I just want to be sure I'm doing all the things I can so he grows and developes appropriately.
There are 10 other mothers and babies in the class. More boys than girls! Hooray! In my book club there are a bunch of babies and Owen is the only boy. We did introductions, had a little free play and then split up. Mommies on one side babies on the other. Neither Owen nor I had a problem with this since he's been around lots of other people for his whole life now. And we were only on the other side of the room. Our mommy discussion was introductions and a little bit about ourselves. It was fun to get together with other people who are in a similar place in their lives. I think many of them were around my age too! But I'm not a good judge of that. It reinforced for me that other woman are having children when they are older.
So the class went well. Owen didn't crawl over anyone. He did manage to snatch someone's toy but we gave it back. No fits either. Normally he would have been napping at this time but we got a quick nap in before we left for the class. I had to wake him from his nap but he didn't fuss about that either. Some days I marvel at how easy going he is now considering what a fuss bucket he was for the first 3 1/2 months. The only part I had a hard time with were the cute songs. I am licensed to teach grades 1-6. I do not have an early childhood degree. For good reason. I am not an early childhood person. Little kids scare me. I know this sounds silly but I'm just not so good with kids under, well under age 8! Owen is the exception, he's mine. So it's a stretch for me to sing all these cutesy songs! But I will get better at it. Owen seemed to really like a few of them. Especially the ones with movements. I'm also looking forward to making some new friends. Not that I don't love my current friends. Because I do. It's just that they can't come over and play during the day!
Now since Owen is down for a nap I'm going to go have a little creative time! I haven't had any projects to post recently!
So our class is for 6-11 month old babies. Owen is the oldest by about a month or six weeks. Although he wasn't that much bigger than the 7month olds. A lot of them were sitting up though and that bothered me. Because Owen still doesn't sit up much on his own. But I have to keep in mind that he is developing at his pace and doing what he needs to do. Another mother, who has 2 older children, said he may just bypass that and start walking. I just want to be sure I'm doing all the things I can so he grows and developes appropriately.
There are 10 other mothers and babies in the class. More boys than girls! Hooray! In my book club there are a bunch of babies and Owen is the only boy. We did introductions, had a little free play and then split up. Mommies on one side babies on the other. Neither Owen nor I had a problem with this since he's been around lots of other people for his whole life now. And we were only on the other side of the room. Our mommy discussion was introductions and a little bit about ourselves. It was fun to get together with other people who are in a similar place in their lives. I think many of them were around my age too! But I'm not a good judge of that. It reinforced for me that other woman are having children when they are older.
So the class went well. Owen didn't crawl over anyone. He did manage to snatch someone's toy but we gave it back. No fits either. Normally he would have been napping at this time but we got a quick nap in before we left for the class. I had to wake him from his nap but he didn't fuss about that either. Some days I marvel at how easy going he is now considering what a fuss bucket he was for the first 3 1/2 months. The only part I had a hard time with were the cute songs. I am licensed to teach grades 1-6. I do not have an early childhood degree. For good reason. I am not an early childhood person. Little kids scare me. I know this sounds silly but I'm just not so good with kids under, well under age 8! Owen is the exception, he's mine. So it's a stretch for me to sing all these cutesy songs! But I will get better at it. Owen seemed to really like a few of them. Especially the ones with movements. I'm also looking forward to making some new friends. Not that I don't love my current friends. Because I do. It's just that they can't come over and play during the day!
Now since Owen is down for a nap I'm going to go have a little creative time! I haven't had any projects to post recently!
4 comments:
i attended a similar class when my oldest was a baby. i felt a little out of place. the other moms were professionals on maternity leave. i was embarking on being a sahm til he was 3 months then i went back to work. but when my dd was born i became a f/t sahm while she was in utero. and i found a class offered thru the library. i felt way more in place. glad u r out there trying new things and exposing lil O to new things as well
lynda
It does a take a while before you feel totally comfortable singing kiddie songs - well it did for me anyway. Hang in there, it gets easier. :)
So did you have any time to create?
That baby class sounds like such a good idea. It's a good thing to surround yourself with other moms that are in the same stages as you are with Owen. I went to several groups when Joshua was small and it helped me tremendously.
Well, that kind of thing was years ago for me, having an 18-y.o. now. But, it does sound like the Mommy & Me classes we went to back in the day, lol, and it's great training for after he is potty-trained and can go to Mother's Day Out school a couple times a week, if you have that. THAT saved my life, LOL.
I'm certified to teach K-8, and ITA about the little ones. They scare me too! LOL
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