Talking A Load Off My Mind... and switching it with another

Thank you for the well wishes. My son is doing a lot better today.

I haven't done much else this week-- just lots of watching my son breathe and researching childhood asthma. I've been educating myself on the terminology, treatments, and theories.

I even contacted our local asthma specialist and got her to come to OUR HOUSE and examine my son THAT day. (It pays to be pushy, people)

There's plenty of info out there, just not much in the way of a cure or prevention...

Since my son's asthma seems to be brought on by upper respiratory infections which are a permanent fixture of... you know, CHILDHOOD and completely unavoidable, there's apparently "nothing we can do about it".

The best we can do is "hope" he outgrows it and just accept it as "part of our lives" until then.

Well, I'm sorry, but I'm just too much of a control-freak mommy to buy that!

His doctor has put him on daily inhalers as a preventative. However, I'm not too keen on that either as they seem to come with some equally scary side-effects.

I've also read that something like one in FIVE kids suffers from asthma, so I guess that means at least one in five of you parents reading this post are dealing with this too.

Any insights or support you could provide would be really helpful to me right now... even if it's just to tell me to get over myself already.

I'm a big girl. I can take it.

In the meantime, I'm going to get started on designing that bubble for us to live in and resign myself to a life of only having online friends...

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Other things that have been overshadowed by the recent week's events, as if this post wasn't long enough...

OUR HOUSE IN TEXAS SOLD!!!! Yew-haw!

Oh yeah... did I forget to tell you? It was under contract for about a month, but seeing as the last "committed buyers" backed out a week before the closing, I wasn't about to hold my breath.

In talking with other American expats in London, we've learned that most opted to rent out instead of sell their homes in the States. We actually considered doing the same when a serious offer came in...

As much as we didn't like the idea of being absentee landlords, we hated paying that mortgage even more. Now, we don't have to do either one!!!

Now for the tacky details... We certainly didn't make a killing on the house, not that we expected that we would.

We got back about as much as we put into it-- the cost of two buckets of paint and some nifty Container Store shelves, which is just fine by me.

By Popular Demand...

Because you asked so micely... TA-DA! Our mom photo!

Okay, so the black pants/white shirt combo worked well in a pinch and the portrait did turn out AWESOME! Pfff... Shows you how much I know...

This is certainly a photo that I will always cherish. It's the best "good-bye" gift I've ever received.

Picture Perfect

I know you're on-the-edge-of-your-seats dying to know how our long awaited picture day went.

About as well as expected... as in, it was INSANE. I mean, whose ridiculous idea was this anyway?! Oh, wait. That's right. ME.

In spite of having planned this fiasco weeks upon weeks ago, I was running incredibly late. (Diva, that I am and all...) I was totally stressed out (I really HATE being late) and the kids...

There were lollipop bribes, talk of Happy Meals, and promises of brand new bimmers for sixteenth birthdays if they would only sit in one place and please, please stop crying....

This is about as good as it got...

In the end, I got what I wanted all along-- one "no-where-near-perfect" photo of the boys, all together and just as they are... Crazy, unruly, and terribly TWO.

They walk alike, they talk alike, sometimes they even think alike...

It breaks my heart to tear my son away from all of the little friends he's made...

While he probably won't remember any them in twenty year or even.... say, tomorrow, my parting "wish" for my son's playgroup was a one last photo of all of the boys together.

Besides, I thought it would be great to show him how he was more popular at the age of TWO than either of his geeky parents ever were... Ever.

However, getting this accomplished entails corralling eight boys- six two-year olds and two big brothers- and hopefully getting one decent photo out of it... Just one. I imagined having everyone over, piling the boys on my sofa (plying the moms with mimosas), and simply start snapping away with my digital camera.

Sure, it would be no where near "perfect", but I didn't want "perfect". I wanted to capture them "just as they are"- crazy and unruly, but sweet. All we had to do was wait just another week for one of the boys to come back from visiting his grandparents...

No problem, except somehow that one week turned into two, and my simple little plan evolved into taking the boys to a professional studio and dressing them in matching outfit.

I'm not typically a fan of staged photos, but since it was now going to take place in the middle of our move, I cheerfully set up an appointment at a local studio that I've used in the past and liked.

They didn't even balk when I told them the number of toddlers that would have to be posed, looking at the camera ,and smiling... at... the... same... time.

As "picture day" approached, my son got sick and I had to cancel the morning of. The other moms and kids got together anyway at a local park or somewhere, and unilaterally decided that we should get a photo of the moms, too (!!!)

Also, in matching outfits... (gag.)

Again, the studio didn't flinch when I called to reschedule and inform them about the "moms photo" that we would also like done. In fact, they were more than happy to accommodate us, although I'm sure there was plenty of eye-rolling and heavy sighing as soon as I hung up.

Well, at least there was on MY end of the call... Matching mommy outfits? Really?

The following week, we had to cancel our appointment again due to a death in one of the families... and some hemming and hawing over the jeans which we, the moms, were supposed to wear.

Apparently, one of the moms doesn't own any jeans... like, AT ALL... or maybe it was that she didn't find jeans to be flattering on her...

Well, whatever it was... Jeans are out, but everyone has black pants, right? And a white shirt?

Wow! My favorite combination... for a cater waiter.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Stealing My Thunder

The other day, I went over to tell my next door neighbors about our upcoming move to Loooooon-don.

OMG, I still can't even believe I'm saying that!

Anyway, I though it would be courteous to give them a little forewarning before the "For Sale" sign went up in the yard.

Relations between the next door neighbors and us have cozied since we finally broke down and hired a lawn service for our yard. We're still not the best of friends, but they are nice people and great neighbors. It's a shame we have to leave them.

They were sad too, but super excited for us. As you can imagine, we've been getting that reaction a lot lately. Having been through a similar situation, my neighbor warned me about the range of emotions to expect from our loved ones...

Shock/denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance and asking to crash at your place when they visit you in the fabulous new city you will be living in.... Sound familiar?

I didn't really believe her until the e-mails and phone calls started pouring in. Most are supportive and excited. One person's messages consisted of random brain farts about going to Wimbledon and courtesying to the Queen, and, of course, a lot of requests to visit...

The moms in my playgroup immediately started planning a girls' trip to London this Fall, although I have no idea who the heck they plan on staying with... hehe! Well, except for one...

As I mentioned in my previous post, I could have blabbed about moving to London ages ago when we were only thinking about it (Lord knows we had a lot to think about), but I didn't. Although we kept our families in the loop as things were progressing, I waited until things were finalized and we had made a decision before telling our friends.

However, when I announced our news at playgroup the next day, another mom took the opportunity to announce that she was moving too... maybe. To Houston... she thinks...

You see, her husband may be up for a new position that could possibly relocate the family this Summer... but, it may not happen until the Fall.... Winter? Totally, by next year. They don't know exactly because the job hasn't quite been offered to him yet... but, it's totally his... in a "wink-nudge" kind of way... (gag!)

She admitted that she plan to keep her news to herself until things were FINALIZED, but only brought it up because I had just announced that we're definitely moving...

After that, whenever one of the other moms wanted to hear the details about our move or Hubby job, she would counter with more of their tentative plans to repaint the walls so her house sells better... or ask about our thoughts on converting her pool to saltwater... you know, so her house sells better.

No.

One.

Cares.

I'm selling all my worldly possessions and giving up everything familiar, so my Husband can pursue his dreams and we can live in London.

I WIN!

Geez, some moms just can't let the competition just end....

Pointless Political Conversation with my Parents

Mom: Who are you voting for now?

Me: Barack Obama

Mom: WHAT! He's not a Republican.

Me: Nope

Dad: I will never vote Democrat. If a dog ran for the Republican party, I would vote for the dog.

Me: That's just because you like dogs.

Dad: I do like dogs.

Baby Fight Club

The first rule of Baby Fight Club is - you do not talk about Baby Fight Club. The second rule of Baby Fight Club is - you DO NOT talk about Baby Fight Club.

As someone once observed about my child, it's not very often that he shows any dominance or "alpha male tendencies" towards other kids. As the youngest kid in his playgroup, I watched in heartache as he amicably handed over toys and snacks to the older, agile boys. I wanted so bad to teach him to stand up for himself, but how to do that without looking like the big, bad bully mommy???

Trust me, he most certainly didn't get this "give peace a chance" demeanor from my side of the family... and quite frankly I had no idea how to handle it. I'm far better equipped for getting someone to calm down rather than lighting a fire under them.

Luckily, I didn't have to do anything at all. Over the last few months, I've witnessed a change in him. He still doesn't instigate fights, which is GOOD, but he's no longer one to accept someone taking his beloved dog, Blue away from him or anything else, for that matter...

Still one of the smaller kids in his playgroup, but strong for his age, he initially developed a tactic of grabbing on to the other kid's shirt and pulling him down to the ground. At which point, my son will grab back his toy and run off. Completely genius if you ask me, but of course, I'm biased.

I've notice that each of the other kids have developed their own trademark tactics. One bites. One hits. Another throws. The biggest kid of the bunch, who never has to fight for anything, just climbs on the furniture. (Not really fighting, but that's just what he does...) They all SCREAM.

Each kid seems to take their turn being the provocateur, but once the fighting begins they all jump in. It's cunning. It's merciless. It's every baby for himself. It's over as quickly as it began.

I recently noticed that my son has developed an entirely new strategy all together. At last week's playgroup, he begged for a snack from the mommy hosting it at her house. Once he was given something to eat and asked to take a seat at the kiddie table in the kitchen, the other boys were intrigued and started begging for snacks too. While they all sat at the table munching on grapes, crackers, and cheese, my son slipped out of his chair unnoticed by the rest and ran back to the living room to play with the now abandoned toys. Again, my child is obviously a genius or an evil mastermind...

Maybe he has picked up a thing or two from me after all.

A Bull in a China Shop

Or, rather a toddler in a paint-your-own pottery shop...

A few weeks ago, the playgroup moms decided that hand-painted pottery "from the kids" would be a GREAT Father's Day gift. I say that like I actively participated in planning this event...

Nope, I just ignorantly went along with it... more like blissfully neglected to consider what it really entailed. I mean, what am I doing bringing a toddler to a shop FULL of breakables and paint!!!

It went about as well as one could expect. That is, NOT WELL at all. My friend commended me on how "brave" I was to try this with my son, because she certainly wouldn't have been with her first born. Her two boys, ages 18 months and 7 years old, happily painting little picture frames beside here. I told her, "I'm not brave. I'm stupid. Very, very stupid". Never one to back down from a challenge, I was pretty confident that if the other moms could handle it, I could it. Speaking of which, where is the mom that suggested this foolish... er, spectacular idea???

Well, she arrived an hour and half late, dressed all in WHITE with her happy, clean toddler in tow. When I remarked that she was ambitious to wear white to this, she gleefully remarked, "oh, we're not painting today. We did this for Father's Day last year (tee-hee) and it was so much fun". This time last year our boys were two months old so, I'm sure it was...

Baby fast asleep in the stroller, waking up only when it was time to stick his hand print on a platter of some sort or maybe not even... Mommy blissfully painting away.

Ummmm, flash forward to the present where I sat along side my fellow playgroup mommies and kids, holding my screaming, squirmy child (who only screamed more when I put him down) in my lap with one hand while masterfully painting my project with the other. (Note to self: highlight multi-taking abilities in resume). As my son became more and more restless and LOUDER, I suffered a few rude stares from the other patrons, but I didn't care. We came to paint and paint we did...

I chose to decorate a sarcastically large cereal bowl for my husband since he takes care of the breakfast routine with our son and I always tease him about eating a sarcastic amount of cereal every morning. I thought it was cute idea and, more importantly, it seemed relatively simple. I managed to crudely paint the outside, inside, and ask for assistance with getting my son's hand prints on either side of the bowl before he reached total meltdown.

Why was this such a good idea, again? Oh wait, it wasn't...

For $8 more, an artist can clean up put the finishing touches on our project. SOLD! I hurriedly gave the shop owner my instructions and tried to pay for my piece. I patiently stood in line behind a woman asking a million questions...

My son started grabbing and tossing various knick-knacks, pens, and papers that were on the counter. His playgroup buddies were getting pretty restless too and their moms fell in line behind us. Before our turn was up, an older lady tried push her way in front of me and made some comment OUT LOUD about "these boys must need to get home...", to which I curtly replied, " Yes, they do. So maybe you shouldn't try to cut in line". As this point, my son was full sprawled on the counter, which very clearly indicated that we were indeed here first.

I asked that clerk if I could just pay when I come back to pick up my bowl, she looked at me and said, "Oh, right. Sorry, are you in a hurry..."

YES, I AM IN A HURRY! I WANT TO LEAVE! MY SON WANTS TO LEAVE! and in case you haven't noticed... EVERYONE IN THIS PLACE WANTS US TO LEAVE!!!

I guess my little boy wore himself out because as soon as I buckled his car seat, he shut his eyes and fell asleep... until we got home, where he decide to resume his tantrum.

My husband better appreciate his stupid Father's Day bowl...

Here's something new...

I recently signed up for a local mommy group via Meetup. I know, I know... what do I need with ANOTHER mommy group?!!!

Well, I wasn't looking to join another mommy group. I happened to be looking at join another book club. I decided that the other ladies in the mommy book club are boring. I never went back after the first meeting.

If you haven't heard of Meetup, it's a great place to find people with shared interests, causes, or goals locally. The groups are supposed to meet face-to-face on a regular basis in order to foster more personal experiences. They have some pretty fun groups, but, alas, no book clubs in my neck of the woods.

Unless you count The Dallas Romance Novel Book Club Meetup Group or the North Texas Objectivist Society? Uh, pass and pass.

They did, however, have a mommy group for my town. Although I really wasn't interested in joining yet another playgroup, I was interested bogarting their summertime ideas for me and my son. I simply had to sign up and get on their mailing list to access their list of events...

The past few weeks, I've received e-mails about trips to the park and story time at the library... All typical stuff... until I received THIS e-mail today.

Hi Ladies!

I know we tried to set this up earlier and it wasn't such a hit, but let's try again. Strollerskating! How exciting does that sound?! I haven't been skating in years, but it should be like riding a bicycle, right? :) Plus, not only will we bond and get to know each other, but we will be getting in some great exercise, too.

Every Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. You bring yourself, baby, stroller, and skates--if you don't own any, don't worry, they offer skate rental.

So, what do you say...let's try and do this again because it sounds like so much fun.

We hope to see you there!!

It sounds so "Parenting X Games", I just may try it out. I'm just not so sure about the "bonding". I'm not that confident about me skating, maneuvering a stroller, and talking at the same time...

...and as I mention before, I DON'T need to join another mommy group.

Photo by moominmolly

Oh, did you want some closure...

So what the heck happened with Jealous Playgroup Mommy, you ask?

A few weeks ago, I met up with her new clique, er... playgroup and it was pretty much a disaster. Four sets of mommies and tots were invited to her house for the first play date, from there she had already created a schedule of who would host subsequent playgroups and when. No, she didn't bother to ask if these dates would work for the hostess first...

One had to cancel at the last minute because of a sick kiddo and the other went on some random tirade about how children's immunizations are made from aborted fetus' and that's why she won't vaccinate her daughter....

um, shrug.....

Unable to politely break away from this long-winded, crazy stream of rants that I wasn't quite following in the first place, JPM was left to wrangle the boys who had since wandered into another room...

A room where JPM, apparently, not only keeps fragile, delicately hand-painted breakables at toddler level, but a very sharp hook on the end of a long stick that she uses for her plantation shutters... also at toddler level, by the way. I was able to break away in time to rescue my son from the hook stick. It had "it's only fun until someone loses an eye" written all over it.

Once the boys were brought back into the playroom, JPM's son started beating on my son with a plastic bat and ramming him with a toy lawn mower... I was quick to jump in, but I could tell JPM was getting pretty stressed out.

At one point Ranting Mommy asked if this meeting time worked for us (it doesn't) because it really didn't work for her either, but JPM was quick to jump in too... That is, to inform us that we are NOT changing the time.

It started to rain as Ranting Mommy and I made our gestures to leave, but JPM couldn't have gotten rid of us fast enough. The two of us did the rest of our goodbye-ing outside as we each held our kids in the drizzle.... promising to "try and make it again next time" and "we should go to lunch before then", blah, blah, blah. My son ended up missing his afternoon nap all together and was still miserable because of it days later.

Lesson: Missed naps pay forward. Respect the nap.

A few days later, I "formally" withdrew, informing the other mommies that it just wasn't going to work out. JPM wasn't the slightest bit phased by it. I, at least, expected an obligatory "aww, that stinks. We'll miss you and your son"...

Nothing.

Frankly, it was almost seemed like she wanted me to quit the group, but I don't care. It is such a relief to be unshackled from this regularly scheduled misery. It was about time someone put an end to it...

The next day, Ranting Mommy confided in me that it wasn't really that fun for her either and she was thinking of dropping out too. What can I say? Nobody likes dealing with a pain in the ass.

So there you have it-- the big anti-climactic break-up story of me and my play group. Hopefully, JPM and I can both get past this and "just friends" again...

The outlook is sunny. She called the other day just to chat about non-playgroup things- inquiring about getting together for dinners like we used to and catching me up on the gossip. The very next day, she was supposed to drop by, then totally blew me off. Sigh

Timely enough, the May issue of American Baby features an article on dealing with difficult playgroups (and difficult playgroup mommies). I couldn't find a link to the story to post here, but trust me, I could have written it considering...

I have other friends, I swear.

Jealous Playgroup Mommy is just the only one that's been frustrating me lately... and yes, I probably should stop calling her that...

We've tried unsuccessfully to meet once a week at our agreed upon playtime. I've had to cancel a few times for legitimate reasons, but she hasn't seemed to mind. In fact, she almost seemed relieved.

At this point, I'm not sure who's doing what for who. Is she still making the effort because she made such a fuss about it in the first place? Or am I doing it to be accommodating to her? I just don't know anymore.

I guess she was feeling it too, because this week she decided to start HER OWN playgroup with some of the other moms we know. While I don't mind one bit if she wants to socialize with other people (I mean, HELLO!), I really didn't appreciate being bullied out of the group with, "Well, the other moms can only meet at your son's nap time and on the day you have another activity planned, so that's when I decided our new play dates will be..."

This is after she asked if we wanted to come over to her house and BRING HER LUNCH instead of meeting at our agreed upon playtime. Like I have time for that!

Whatever...

I wonder how long until the other mommies realize she's no fun to play with....

More Momma Drama

Jealous Playgroup Mommy (JPM) was at it again...

While my son and I have thoroughly enjoyed our other playgroup, we're still meeting up with JPM and her boy. Both playgroups are associated with the Mommy Group through our Church.

As I mentioned before, we're close friends. Our husbands get along. We sit next to each other at Mass almost every weekend. We're always at each other's homes for one reason or another so, as you can imagine, I expected to see her during the week anyway... Why not make it a "play date" for our boys too?

I was delighted we were approached about including another mom and toddler into our lonesome twosome last week. I've been hoping others would join our group. Mostly to make it more interesting, but also to take some of the pressure off me to be there every single week...

This new mom has a son close in age to our kids, plus a five-year-old in preschool. Since we meet in the afternoons, she would have to bring her older kid with her. I told her that was cool with me, but I'd have to "confirm the time with the other mom in the group", which was my way of actaully saying, "ummm, JPM is going to FREAK OUT. Let me make sure it's not in front of you."

I was right. When I called to "check on that time", JPM was really not be happy with that idea of having a five-year-old in her house...

Please don't ask me what she expects to do in four years when her child becomes one himself. I don't know either.

So I suggested that we just meet at around 10 in the morning when the older boy would be in preschool, thereby avoiding that situation entirely... Unfortunately, that didn't work because JPM's son naps at that time, but if "we could get together at ummm, say, 8 am" when her son isn't napping, that would work.

Oh-kay. In a word, NO!

She quickly rescinded on her offer of 8 am when she realized that it interfered with her yoga class and that wasn't enough time for her to workout.

Then, I suggested that we have our play dates at a local park so that there are playthings for everyone... Nope, nope nope. She wants it to be at her house or at least someone else's house because at the park she would have to interact her child instead of occasionally glancing at him from atop the sofa...

Are you sensing my frustration, yet?!

Still, she wants more people in our group and is putting the heat on me. When she asks me why other moms haven't shown more interest, I think to myself, "have you checked the course manual for the prerequisites lately?".

Not getting anywhere, I told her I wasn't going to call back this woman and tell her, "No, you can't be in our playgroup because you decided 2001 was also a good year to breed..." so, she was going have to decide what to do about it.

Wisely, I let this decision stew over the weekend and it solved itself...

By Tuesday, the new mommy and BOTH of her children were welcomed with open arms by my other playgroup. JPM was so upset that we lost another mommy that she agreed to moved our meeting time to 11 am, which accommodates our nap schedule beautifully.

Yes, Internet, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Why, are you shocked?

Another titillating tidbit: I found out that I'm not the only one that thinks JPM is a pain in the ass. In fact, I was chatting with some other people in our Mommy Group this week and at the mere mention of JPM's name each of them stopped me short and said,

"JPM?! Oh! Don't ever, ever, ever be in a playgroup with her! I tried it once and I got out quick... So-and-so even warned me about her, so I should have known better. Do you know her well?"

Boy, do I ever...

Just so you know, I feel really silly about THIS being the biggest conflict in my life at the moment. It's just a playgroup, afterall... but, it's what I have to complain about this week.

I love this girl to death and I didn't want something this petty to come between us.

Photo by xtinalamb

I went to playgroup and no one cried.

We went to our first play date with the new playgroup and I must say... we had fun! At one point, my son beamed at me with a priceless smile that had "Thank you, Mommy" written all over it.

The other moms were very friendly and extremely interested in my life pre-SAHM-hood. Our conversation was very engaging. We exchanged "tricks of the trade" and the babies (all boys) got along very well. I can't ask for much more than that.

Having learned my lesson about double-dipping in the playgroup pond, I mentioned to them that I was in another playgroup. Having ONE mommy friend freak out on me was enough. I didn't need six more...

Their collective response can best be summed up as, "uh, okay."

TERRIFIC!

To quote a favorite TV theme song, "I think we just might make it after all... "

Photo by John Hightower

Hurt feelings at playdates. Not just for kids....

A fellow stay-at-home mommy friend got mad at me last week for joining a second playgroup and not telling her about it.

That's right. You heard me. I joined a second playgroup. I did not inform her. She got mad.

She found out over dinner earlier in the week and fumed about it for a few days until I called to talk about something completely different.

Her side of the conversation went something like this...

"I considered us to be close friends. I was really hurt that I had to hear it from a complete stranger."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Is this why you showed up late to playgroup last week?"

"If you didn't want to be in playgroup with me, you should have just been upfront and told me. I'm not the type to get mad about something petty like that..."

... and I sat dumbfounded on the other end of the line.

For a moment there, I thought I may have (inadvertently) cheated on my husband. Nope, THAT my friend could have forgiven. This was PLAYGROUP. Obviously I didn't realize they were considered "exclusive relationships".

In picking one, was I to forsake all others? For better or worse. In sickness or well checks. Until death (or kindergarten) do you part…

Geeez.

In reality, I haven't actually "cheated". In fact, my son and I have yet to show up to one of the (second) group's play dates. I JUST talked to the organizer last Tuesday and told her their meeting time of 10 a.m. on Fridays was going to be tough to make, but feebly promised that "we'll try".

I suppose there is also the little matter of my friend having ditched this particular playgroup months ago, back when I was a "working mom". She and the other mommies didn't really hit it off. By the third date, they were having a ball and she was checking her watch. So, she decided to dump them. No hard feelings.

Silly me, I must have forgotten all about "girl law #1": if your friend dated them, you can't. There must be some clever saying for that. Bros before hoes...Sistas before Mistas...Hmmm? I guess the same goes for playgroups.

Three days before my last day of work, she called my office to ask if we could start our OWN playgroup-- ASAP. I said, "Sure", and we started meeting three weeks ago. We want to open it to other kids, but she has been so particular about who we should "let in" (Surprise...) that I doubt we'll make much of a "love connection".

I didn't really care. I figured we'd be getting together or talking on the phone anyway. Why not make it constructive?

The truth is my son will (hopefully) start preschool one day a week in October. I figured it would be good for us to start doing something more with our days other than cooking, cleaning, and shopping together. Plus, it's good for him to be around other kids… and me to be around other moms. I wasn’t looking to stop meeting up with my friend. Just to make new ones…

The last few weeks have been rough, as is expected with a 10 month old. One week he got sick. The next week was my turn… and since our kids are the only two in the group, if we don’t show, playtime is off.

I can see how she jumped to conclusion that I could be "dumping her"… or maybe I didn’t think it would be such a BIG FREAKING DEAL that we needed to have a “talk"

My friend basically ended our conversation by bad mouthing each and every one of the other moms, but assuring me that "maybe I'll get along with them" and apologized for being so "negative".

Maybe it WILL work out between us and we will live happily ever after... or I will be entering a den of crazy...

There is a reason why I am exceptionally selective about my female friends… and have very few. As far as I’m concerned this one just went on notice.