My First Date

Last week, I read this post over at one of my favorite blogs, Shannanigans, and it had me cracking up.  As she was talking about her re-entrance into the dating world (you know the mommy-baby one), I, too, had decided to take the plunge, so her words resonated with me.    Finding other moms and kiddos to play with can feel a whole lot like entering the dating world again (one that I thought I had thankfully left behind!)...the whole will they like me?, will they like Colton?, will the conversation be awkward?, will I ramble nervously?, etc.
You see, when I decided I would be an official SAHM (stay-at-home mom in case you haven't seen the lingo yet), I knew the one thing I was really worried about giving up was my adult relationships.  Over the years, my coworkers had become some of my closest friends, and while I know we will keep in touch, I also know that I needed to meet some other people whose lives were in the same place mine was (only one of my friends currently has a baby!).  I also knew my social butterfly of a baby boy toddler would need some time with his peers as well considering he would no longer be going to daycare every day.
While Shannon had the chutzpah to actually approach a fellow mom/baby in a Target, I had to take a less direct approach.  I hit up Meetup.com in search of mom-toddler group, and was lucky/hesitant to find one that seemed to fit my criteria.  The moms seemed to be about my age and the children seemed to be about Colton's age, so I decided to take the plunge and join the group.  Admittedly, that was a pretty easy step.  Signing up to actually go to my first event was a little more nerve-wracking.  But I did it...I signed up for a pool play session and went last Friday.
With temperatures hovering around 100 last Friday, I seriously considered using the heat/pregnancy as an excuse to back out, but I knew if I didn't go this time, I would probably never go.  I wasn't really nervous...more just convinced that this would be a total waste of my time...that these women would be sitting around trying to one up each other the whole time and talking about nothing but breastfeeding, cloth diapers, and other mommy stuff.
Thank goodness, I was wrong.  I was so pleasantly surprised by my experience.  The women, for the most part, seemed very similar to me.  We talked about our kids some, but also talked about Virginia Beach, and restaurants, and wine, and going out.  Although all of the children were either younger or older than Colton, he seemed to really enjoy being around other kids.  All in all, it was a pretty good day.  While I can't be sure they liked us too, I think they did!
I already have plans to join another play date at the park in another week or so, so here goes nothing.
How bout you other moms out there?  Do you go on mom dates too?  Or were you fortunate enough to have friends with kiddos?