I survived. :-)
Actually, I had a good time! I met a few people, saw that there are actually a lot of very nice people there, and no one yelled at me. I didn't make a single enemy, and I actually may be on my way to making a few...ahem...could it be...FRIENDS? :-)
They served punch, not Kool-Aid. There were some wonderful people there, and there were some people I had even met before. There was a woman there named Connie (if you're reading this, "Hi, Connie!") who I'd seen at Wal*Mart once a year or more ago, wearing her baby in a sling, and I'd thought, "Oh my goodness! I should go talk to her! I've never seen another person wear their baby in this county!" But I chickened out and gave it to the Lord (I know...I must be a real geek to pray for friends...but I'm in a new community, for crying in the mud!). We had also seen each other another time at Edison's fiddle lesson, where she and her son had been taking lessons. It was really fun to talk to her and exchange e-mail addresses.
The Baby was a bit difficult to maintain. I'll have to make sure to prepare for that next time. I was able to pick up a Rainbow Resource Center catalog, which is very cool because I ordered one online and haven't received it yet.
There were quite a few people at the meeting. I'd say there were about 20-25 families there and it seemed like there were quite a few who were coming to the meeting for the first time, just like us. At one point (and I think you'll appreciate this, Heather...I thought of you
The kids and teens all seemed to socialize well with each other, but I didn't hang out with them to see for sure. I'm looking forward to some more activities and opportunities to get to know people.
One of the cool "schooly" things that happened tonight was that they had a Human Scavenger Hunt which gave Sweetheart a chance to practice writing her name. One of the women prepared a list of about 30 attributes, such as "owns a horse," "speaks spanish," or "wearing a jumper." You had to find people with that attribute and have them sign your paper, and it had to be someone outside of our immediate family. One of the attributes was "under 36" tall." Many people had Sweetheart sign her name on the paper. It was good practice, but she was so nervous that she would forget how to spell her name. :-) Monet was really into the game, asking people to sign his paper and telling others which people he'd found that could sign for which things.
The down sides: no matter HOW many times I tell my kids, they will NOT stop interrupting me when I'm talking! Ack! I just can't get them to understand! It wouldn't be so bad if I had one child, but I have FIVE. So as soon as I finish telling one to stop interrupting, here comes the next. I swear, it seems like they have a meeting beforehand..."You go first. Tap her on the shoulder four times. If she doesn't answer tap again and again until she answers you. After she gets mad at you, I'll come up and ask her the question. That way she'll be mad at you and so exasperated that I'll get the answer. If that doesn't work, we'll send Sweetheart. She's not as hard on Sweetheart..." They took turns tapping and talking all evening!
And no matter HOW many times I tell them NOT to talk with food in their mouths, they still DO! I intentionally stopped at Burger King ahead of time so that they wouldn't ravenously attack the snack table, but they filled their plates to the brim and continually spewed banana bread crumbs from their lips. ACK!
And no matter HOW many times I tell them NOT to bicker with their siblings, they insist on nagging and picking each other over EVERY SINGLE THING! And they really don't care where we are! They'll come hollering. The exchange goes something like this:
*Me: So anyway, Mrs. Homeschool Support Group Organizer, your children are so well behaved. How do you get them to...?
One of my children: MOM! I WAS JUST ABOUT TO TAKE THE LAST PIECE OF BANANA BREAD, AND HE TOOK IT RIGHT OFF THE PLATE IN FRONT OF ME...
Me: (whispering in the child's ear) Please do not interrupt when I'm talking. you know that...
One of my children: DON'T YOU EVEN CARE? YOU DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT ME. I WAS TRYING TO GET THE LAST PIECE OF...
Me: Okay, we'll talk about it later...wait a minute. You don't even
like banana bread...
One of my children: THAT'S NOT THE POINT! I WAS JUST ABOUT TO TAKE IT...
Other child interupts: YEAH, HE WAS JUST ABOUT TO TAKE IT BECAUSE HE HEARD ME TELL SWEETHEART THAT I WAS GOING TO TAKE THE LAST PIECE, AND THEN HE RAN OVER
AND TOOK IT AND...
One of my children: THAT'S BECAUSE I WAS GETTING IT FOR BABY! SHE WAS CRYING BECAUSE YOU TOOK HER DOLL AWAY...
Other child: DID NOT!
One of my children: DID, TOO!
Other child: DID NOT!
Me (looking back at Mrs. Homeschool Support Group Organizer whose mouth is hanging open in amazement): So, tell me, how do you get such well-behaved kids?
So, yes. I survived. Barely. :-) And I actually think I'll go back next month. If I can get the kids to be civilized.
*NOTE: This is a dramatization. This did not ACTUALLY happen. This is a gross exaggeration! But...well...okay, it's pretty darn close. ;-) Still, if you have any suggestions on how to train these children in this area, please, please, please let me know!
