The Plus Side of a Kids Only Environment

I've been in a very positive mood this week. To continue with that, I'm going to list as many positives as I can about not interacting much with other adults.

The lack of interaction with other adults has long been one of the major complaints of stay at home moms. I've definitely felt that way too but as I "listened" to the few friends I do stay in touch with through instant messaging, it occurred to me that there are a few benefits to hanging out with kids and only kids.


1) For most of the day, I am treated to genuine smiles and laughter.

2) When they are unhappy about something, they let me know clearly and its easily fixed with a cuddle or some food. And then, they forget all about the issue without holding a grudge.

3) Except for my own, I don't need to deal with other people's stupidity or inefficiency.

4) There is only awe and admiration for the things in our world with children around.

5) We live and experience the present. Little children don't plot, have no hindsight, and don't try to manoeuvre themselves ahead of the competition.

6) I don't have to feel anxious that I'm going to miss a deadline and even if I do, nobody berates or belittles me.

7) I am only surrounded by people who love me. They might throw a ball in my face every now and then or wet my clothes but there aren't any knives in my back.

8) I never need to feel self conscious about the way I look, the ideas that I have or the actions I carry out.

9) New ideas are readily tried out.


There are probably many more than this but I'll stop now. I think many of these only exist when children are very young and I feel lucky to be enjoying every day of it.

Will they like me?

This year is turning out to be a bumper year for making new friends. Its great and all but I've noticed that my self confidence has plummeted since becoming a stay-at-home-(literally)-mom. I'm always second guessing myself and wondering if people will like me. In the past, I just assumed that I was the most likable person around!

After each meeting with another family I'm always wondering if they liked us enough. Did I talk to much? Was I too pushy? Will they want to meet with us again? Did they think we were too lenient with Aaron? Or did they think we were too harsh?

I know its just me and these wonderful people probably, hopefully, didn't think anything like that. I really need to forget about worrying what other people think. If they're really not that into us, so be it. There's no sense in pretending to be people we're not anyway.

Another thing that constantly has me worrying is Aaron's behavior. I swear, he behaves decently when we are home alone. I can even say he's well behaved. However, when there are other people around, he decides to test all his limits. People are going to think that I don't teach my son....

Today was an exception. I met up with some people and there were 6 kids in total. And Aaron was normal! You can't imagine how it felt to just sit back and watch him play peacefully with the others. I didn't feel any of the usual anxiety and didn't need to sit on the edge of my chair.

Anyway, I think I need to stop taking things so seriously. And, stop wondering about what people think of me, my family and my parenting skills. Having new friends is meant to be fun!