Hi, I'm Claire's Mom - Nice to Meet You

Oh hey, friends. It's November! Sorry for the prolonged absence. Nothing like having back-to-back illnesses, a family emergency, a mobile baby and studying for two tests for pre-grad school to take me out of the blogging game for 6 weeks. Ay. But I'm back!

Now that Claire's getting older and in need of constant redirection, er, entertainment, we are venturing out and trying new things. We go to story time at the local library, we took a music class at Gymboree, we're taking gym classes at The Little Gym...it's been great fun. But one thing that always takes me by surprise at all of these places is the kids are totally running the show...all the way down to parents' identities.

I first noticed this at Gymboree. Here's how my first conversation went:

Me: "Hi there! I'm Melissa and this is my daughter Claire."
Parent 1: "Oh hi! This is Zoe."
Parent 2: "This is Bella. Hi Claire! Hi Claire's mom!"

I almost wanted to interject and remind them my name was Melissa, but I refrained. Next up was The Little Gym.

Instructor: "Okay everyone, please welcome our new student Claire and her mom."
Me: "Hi, I'm Melissa."
Group: "Hi Claire! Hi Mom!"

Hmmm...

Now, clearly I do these extracurricular activities for my daughter. I'm not going to Gymboree or The Little Gym for my own enjoyment (although who doesn't like a good parachute game? Am I right?). But I'm amazed at how parents don't even introduce themselves unless it's as their child's parent. Is that it for my identity? Am I now Claire's Mom and nothing else?

I should probably cut parents a break. After all, some people have a hard enough time remembering one name. Two might be more than they can handle. And if there's someone who will be around my daughter for awhile, I'd prefer they'd remember her name. That's not going to keep me from introducing myself.

Sidebar: if you haven't yet watched the show "Up All Night", you are missing out! It has a fantastic cast (Will Arnett, Christina Applegate and Maya Rudolph) and it's hilarious even if you don't have a child. If you do have a young one, it's like they peeked inside your life for inspiration. Imagine my surprise when I'm watching "Mr. Bob's Toddler Kaleidoscope" and everything that I just wrote about appears in the first 3 minutes.  I couldn't embed the episode (sorry y'all), but you can find it here on Hulu. I promise, it's worth 21 minutes of your time.

See, who doesn't love parachute games?

*Psst - any website I linked to, I do not get paid for. I love them and I'm just spreading the good word.