Call 1-800....playgroup?

They (there they are again) say that the internet and electronic communication are making us socially inept.  The "us", I assume, can't really be nailed down to one demographic but rather, is anyone with a Facebook account, anyone that prefers text message over phone call or email over mailing a letter.

Putting all the debates about this phenomenon aside, I would have to say that moms everywhere, with children of any age, are forever in debt to the internet and in fact, the internet is making us MORE social, not less.

My family and I recently located from Chicago to Delaware.  We know a few people here, one family in particular that we see somewhat regularly, but for the most part, we don't have a ton of friends with kids within a close proximity.

As a new stay at home mom, I figured it would only be a matter of time before I totally lost my mind from lack of adult interaction from the hours of 8AM to 5PM.

That time was last week.

It was a subtle breakdown...no dramatics of Hollywood nervous breakdowns but it happened.

First instinct?

Google.

(Not Dr. Google, the family practitioner, OB and pediatrician that we all know and hate, just Mr. Google, the friendly purveyor of finding anything you want on the web).

Search terms including variations of mom, playgroup, toddler, Delaware, etc.

I made my way onto one site and found a playgroup in my area. Bam.  Kid gets playtime, I get adult conversation.  Done and done.

Now, 20 years ago, my options would have included the following:

1. Church

We don't do church.  Not even a little bit enough to feign interest in joining any sort of congregation, only to infiltrate the circle of moms.

2. The Yellow Pages.

Nevermind.  Pretty sure that was never a Yellow Pages category.

3. Making conversation with moms in public places, like the gym, the park or the library.

I'm probably one of the most outgoing people you will ever meet but other moms intimidate the hell outta me. You must tread so lightly with other new mom friends anyway (avoiding the hot button mom topics just to build your mom-friend foundation) that trying to make something out of nothing in a public situation is just....frightening.   I don't want to do it, they don't want to do it, but secretly, while we stand with our arms crossed watching our kids, we want the conversation.  But no mom wants to strike first.

Now jump to present day and the internet has given us the more comfortable alternative to starting those scary, awkward first conversations.  A few clicks and you have "introduced" yourself to other moms and can easily show up to a playdate and hopefully mesh with the existing group.

It may not be a match made in heaven but the point is, you can find another group that easily.  

So, maybe I frequently prefer to email over making a phone call.  And my non-Facebooked husband does get irritated that I spend so much time online.  But now?

He's thanking the internet for getting me OUT of the house and meeting new people, instead of wearing yoga pants every day and "forgetting" to shower.  And my son is thanking me (well, not really, but maybe some day he will appreciate it) for getting him out to play with other kids, lest he be a weird, clingy mommy's boy into his adolescent years because he hung out with me 24/7 for too long.

So, as much as my life is online these days, the offline time that I needed so badly, is because of the internet anyway.  Funny how that works.