raising a mommy

raising a mommy

Saturday, August 31, 2013

my (not so shocking) confession

Today's blessing:
Kind people

Well, here it is. Some of you who know me already know this truth. Some know, but don't understand the full extent. Still others may have no idea, though I'm not sure how that would happen.

My friends, I am awkward.

No, really.

I'm not talking about chewing on my hair or being unable to make eye contact.

I don't know how to talk to people adults. I'm good with kids. Kids are easy. "How old are you?" "What's your favorite color?" "I like your shoes." "What did you have for lunch today? I love chicken nuggets!" Kids don't care if you don't have a witty response to their question; often they don't care if your response is even accurate - they just love that someone took the time to listen to their question and provide some form of acknowledgement to it. (At least, this is correct for the kids I worked with!)

I've been fortunate enough to always have a built-in group of friends. In high school I had an immediate in with the musical people. College brought my runner friends and the music majors with whom I shared the majority of my classes every semester. After college, I got married and slipped right into my husband's life and circle of friends, bringing my own with. It's been so easy.

Then, one day, we were at church. (Well, not just one day - we've spent many days at church. Many, many days.) We were wrapping up a choir rehearsal, and it happened. Another mom from the choir made eye contact and smiled. I smiled back and went back to my post-rehearsal packing up. Then she came over to talk to me. "We should get our kids together for a play date sometime!"

A play date? Like where the kids fight over the coolest/noisiest toy and the parents sit back and watch, sipping a beverage while talking? To each other? Oh dear...this is so far outside my comfort zone, that I don't even know what to say. I probably smiled and nodded and came up with some silly generic "That would be great" response before running quickly in the other direction.

"Maybe she'll forget about it. She was just being polite. She didn't really mean it..."

Then, the next week, she brought it up again. She actually seemed to want to do this. There was no avoiding it. So we set a date.

And, my friends, I did it. The kids played. The parents talked. I think we probably sipped water because it was one of those 90+ degree days. And I survived.

I am still not completely comfortable around adults. I would way rather make goofy animal noises with a four year old while setting up the ultimate farm, complete with cows, hippos, and a peacock or two.

But I can do it.

And as I unpack my new home and think about all the adventures in front of me, it is comforting to know that I can make intelligent conversation with grown ups. If I have to.

But we should do it over dinner, because a glass of wine really helps!

1 comment:

  1. This is really funny. Sometimes I don't know what to say either. My problem though is when I'm in a group of people. If I'm one on one, I'm good. But put me in a group setting and sometimes I just freeze up and stand there!

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