Soft Play (Sc)area

I thought i would blog about something i feel quite strongly about and that is soft play areas, baby gyms, activity centres, whatever you want to call them...they are scary and battle-field like.

Maybe i'm just looking at them all wrong, but here is what i see.

Dont ever go alone, oh nooo you will get stared at by the mommy-cliques, they look at you as if you got three heads..

I went to this new one today and there were not alot of people there to be fair, it was a bit dry, but the play area was nice and big and pretty fun(yea i got in there).

I noticed all the moms in twos, threes and even groups of four or more. I guess i stood out like a sore thumb. This one lady kept staring at me as if i was a criminal i have absolutely no idea why, i was also the only mother who actually went into the depths of the ''jungle'' and played with my child which got a few stares. Yea ok so what? at least i make an effort instead of sitting there clucking like hens about the latest contents of my childs nappies.

The only person who spoke to me was what looked like a very friendly daddy who looked like he was alone with his two kids and he was the sweetest person there. To all the others i may aswell have been invisible.

Now i know you might wonder what im going on about, but, as a mom you just expect other parents to be friendly and its supposed to be an atomosphere where everyone mingles and shares the joys of parenting.

Im not sure if there are any other moms who feel like this, who maybe have been to a play area alone and felt left out by all the little cliques.

Its like being back in high school. And i dunno about you but i hated high school.

If you are reading this and maybe you see a girl sitting alone at a soft play area looking a little lonely, do what i would do...oepn conversation and maybe even have a coffee with her.

After all, we all have one thing in common, our kids, the future generation.