-
Go Nigel, Go!
-
Would You Like To Buy My Monkeys?
Jul
26
Timeline Of A Neurotic Freak Out
by Leslie
Sometime in March - I make friends with a mom at the YMCA. Our daughters become friends, too. I am very excited. Making friends has been hard for me.
Saturday June 9th - Julia and I hand deliver an invitation to her birthday party to our YMCA friends. The YMCA friends say they will be there. We are excited.
Wednesday June 27th - YMCA friends cancel on the party. They have a good reason. Everything’s groovy.
Thursday July 5th - YMCA mom invites us to join a playgroup. We say yes. We’re really pumped about the playgroup.
Wednesday July 18th - The first play date goes down. Julia has a blast. She likes the kids in the playgroup and I do, too. There are four moms (myself included) and they all seem nice. I talk way too much (especially about my website), but no one stuffs anything down my throat to stop me, so I’m feeling pretty good. We stay about half an hour longer than we should have, but leave on a high note.
Later on Wednesday July 18th - I compose an e-mail to the YMCA mom with a lot of exclamation points thanking her for such a great time. She had said she’d like to review some books for my site and that she was interested in a magician that is going to be at the library the following week. I ask her about a book and give her the scoop on the magician.
Even later on Wednesday July 18th - YMCA mom e-mails me back. She says she has something to do on Monday, but will try to be there for the magician. I notice her message has significantly less exclamation points than mine does (exactly 50% less).
Monday July 23 - Julia and I go to see the magician. He is really good. YMCA mom does not show. Julia pretends to do magic the rest of the day.
Later on Monday July 23 - I receive an e-mail from YMCA mom. She said she tried to come to the magic show, but thought it started at 2 p.m. instead of 1 p.m. She fowards me directions and details for the playgroup this week. (The mom that is hosting playgroup this week lives on a lake. She suggests we bring suits to let the kids swim.) I check the e-mail I sent the YMCA mom about the magic show to make sure I told her the right time. I did. I remember the birthday party cancellation thing. I begin to think that maybe she doesn’t like me as much as I think she does.
Even later on Monday July 23 - I RSVP for the playgroup on our website. I say that we’re coming. I send the mom who is hosting the group an e-mail through the site to say that we’re looking forward to it and ask if there is anything we can bring. Again, I use many exclamation points because we’re really excited.
Very, very late on Monday July 23 - I am in bed thinking about how much I talked at the playgroup. I worry about it. I get up and look at the last playgroup e-mail with the directions in it. I notice the correspondence between the other mothers. Lots of exclamation points. The correspondence with me? Not so many.
Tuesday July 24 - The playgroup host mom sends me an e-mail. She isn’t sure who I am. I am offended. I stomp around the house. Didn’t she remember us? How could she not remember?
Later Tuesday July 24 - My mom and I are watching Julia play T-ball. I tell my mom about the e-mail. I obsess about it. I recall how exhausting it was for Julia to have playgroup and piano class on the same day last week. I pose the following question:
I decide that we will not go to playgroup.
Even later on Tuesday July 24 - I e-mail the moms from the playgroup and say we won’t be able to make it. It is because of our schedule. I do not say it is also because I feel a little unwelcome.
Wednesday July 25th - Playgroup goes on without Julia and me. I miss our old playgroup from Wheeling. I remember that they meet on Wednesday, too. I cry a little bit.
Thursday July 26th - Julia and I hang around after Kindermusik to talk to the teacher and one of the other mothers. They ask about playgroup as I had gushed about how grand it was last week. I admit that I did not go. I say it is because of the schedule and then confess that I felt poopy about the e-mail thing. I tell them that we were going to swim at the lake. I discover our Kindermusik teacher lives right next door to the house we were supposed to visit for playgroup. The Kindermusik teacher tells me how nice that mom is and that there must be a misunderstanding about the e-mail. I think I have a big fat mouth.
Later Thursday July 26 - I arrive home from Kindermusik and check my e-mail. There is a message from the YMCA mom. She says they missed us at playgroup and give us the details for the following week. There is also a message from the mom who hosted the playgroup. The message is very nice. She says they missed us. There are lots of exclamation points. She explains that the first e-mail I received from her was in response to an empty e-mail she received from my address - the message I sent through the playgroup site delivered an empty message, so she wasn’t sure who it was from. I feel like an idiot.
What have I learned from this? I AM A CRAZY PERSON.
Comments
18 Cool Kids Came To Play
-
I Write A Haiku Each Day
-
Hurts So Good
-
Categories
- Daily Haiku
- Mommy’s Stuff
-
You Should Do This
-
Ooooooh. Aaaaah.
Ahh, Leslie, we do miss you guys very much!!! There is always an empty stop at playgroup where Julia used to be. Lets really try and set something up together soon!!!
PS. Did you notice the exclamations? Who loves ya baby!
Ah, Leslie. I love you. I will email you all night long with tons and tons of exclamation points!! And don’t worry, everyone likes crazy. Crazy is fun. Crazy is exciting!
If it makes you feel any better I don’t have a playgroup either. But, I did push someone else’s kid on the swing at the park today and the whole time she called me ma’am and thanked me and was really nice and then the mom came and got her and I told her that she had a very polite little girl and the mom looked at me like I was a weirdo who just goes to the park to push other people’s kids on the swings even though I have my own kids and could push them instead and then she walked/ran away from me very quickly. Stoopid mothers.
boo hoo!! I have no playgroup to go to but mostly because I am crazy like you and over obsess about EVERYTHING and almost always think negatively about something that just isn’t true. I know this because my husband says that I do this alot.
Maybe I will meet moms from my son’s school soon. He starts in like 12 days. OMG!!!!!!!!!
Ah the joys of being a touchy, sensitive girl eh? It is so easy to take offense and not feel welcome, I remember those days so well! thank God I’m older and wiser now.
Leslie, you are crazy. But I think we’ve all known that for a long time now.
…wait. I forgot these: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are not crazy.
I would have done the same thing.
I would have been sure that either I
a) offended someone or
b) talk so much they don;t ever wnat to hear my mouth again.
Uh, yeah….got ya covered on the over analyzing, super obsession thing. I do this too. All the time. All the damn time. But I know I am a crazy person. I suppose it’s time that you knew it too.
Oh my goodness, Leslie! This is so familiar. We homeschooled for six years and almost everything, academic or social, was made through these kinds of arrangements and I know I, and almost all of my fellow moms, did these freak-out dances from time to time. It was the ones who didn’t that we really worried about
.
Huge hugs to you and I’m glad you got the nice e-mails, finally! And lots of exclamation marks to you for you and for your wonderful blog!!!!!!!!!!
I am neurotic when it comes to e-mails I hate them you can never tell the tone or what’s behind it. I get offended and then feel retarded because I analyze everything and find out it was nothing!
You are not alone!!
Of course you’re crazy! Aren’t we all from time to time?! I am currently obsessing over an incident at the library! Brother left the kid zone while I was not looking and headed out the door! Fortunately a kind librarian brought him back and all was well! Except then, because of our schedule (for real!), we have not gone back to the library in three weeks! We had previously been going every other day or so! Here’s the obsessive part! Does the librarian think we are avoiding her because of “the incident?!” Does she think I am embarrassed because I am a bad mother?! I actually wasn’t embarrassed at the time because I know I’m not a bad mother and I wasn’t avoiding her but now I kind of am avoiding her because I am embarrased that she might think I was embarrassed when I wasn’t! See! You are totally not alone in the crazy department!
You have no idea how hard it was for an almost English teacher to end every sentence of this comment with an exclamation but I did it… for you!
Wow… someone else as neurotic as I am! How comforting!! My husband tells me that I am a nut for obsessing over emails and conversations like I do… and perhaps I am. But it’s nice to see that there are other nuts out there, too!! (Feel free to count the exclamation points in this comment!! I tried to put in a lot of them so you would know that I like you a lot!!! Cuz I do!!!)
I do that too and I have known some of these women for years. I think it is female nature.
I am exactly the same way. I try not to be. Really I do. I”m goad it was all a misunderstandin.
OMG - I do that crazy stuff all the time!! My husband gets so mad at me for relying so heavily on email, he always reminds me that things can so easily be misinterpreted via email.
And when exactly are you supposed to leave a function? I think that I have overstayed my welcome way too many times. Could that be why I don’t get invited anymore? Hmmm, I’ll have to email some people about this one…
What have I learned from this? I AM A CRAZY PERSON.
And the problem is …. ???? You are a mother!!!!! You are - by definition - crazy!!!!! We ALL are!!!!!!!
(and just for good measure> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Leslie this reminds me totally of myself, this is why it’s just easier for me not to have any outside of work or outside of internet friends. Instead I have maybe one or two and my younger sister who is actually my best friend.
I overanalyze and am oversensitive on everything involving personal relationships. Josh tells me I’m a pain in the ass but totally worth it. lol
Looking forward to hearing about the next playgroup (since I’m behind…maybe there’s another post about it already?).
[…] Why didn’t I tell you about this yesterday, you ask? Well, you know how much I freak out about playgroup on a regular day. Can you imagine the torture I’ve been putting myself through? Okay, whatever you’re imagining, multiply that by infinity. […]
I would sooooo have had a similar reaction to this whole scenario. I mean, the evidence was there, right? You ain’t crazee, you are a mama. And a cool one at that.
I have to admit, I was starting to get a little peeved at the other playgroup moms for not spreading the !!!!!!!!!!! I know how fabulous & !!!!!!!!! you are from your blog & they get to experience your fabulousness & !!!!!!!!!!!! in real life! Glad there was a happy ending!