Indoor Play Time Outing

Today was another first for me—and another step in the right direction. I took Little Miss Sunshine to an open gym playtime for little ones. She had a lot of fun. There were various pieces of play equipment, a bouncy house, balls, etc. There were probably 10 other children there. It only cost $3 for her to play and I would say that was well worth it for a new and different activity where she could run around during the winter months.

Why was this a big step for me?

I have been talking a long time about wanting to take Little Miss Sunshine to some sort of activity where there are other kids to play around/with, but this is really the first time I’ve done it (the park and mall being an exception). I felt anxious the entire time, but did it anyways and I’d take her again.

It all comes down to my thoughts—still thinking other moms are looking at me and thinking negatively of me. It’s not NEARLY as bad as it used to be when I was suffering with PPD, but there’s still just a tiny bit of that going on in my head and it’s something I need to continue to work on. I do remember thinking to myself, “You have just as much a right as every other person to be here—so just stop thinking like that”. So that means I was conscious about my thoughts a little bit.

Since this is something I’m “afraid” of, I think that the more I do it the less afraid I will be because I will grow more confident. It seems like a small battle, but it really isn’t for me! It would be a lot easier to just stay home and not take any risks.

I didn’t try socializing with any other mothers and may have avoided them a little bit. Hey, one step at a time, right? Eventually, I would like to do something like this once per week. It’s good for both myself and Little Miss Sunshine. I just hate that it has to be so far away for any activities. There used to be something similar in my town but I guess it was discontinued. I might look into trying to get it started up again. Who knows? Maybe the mom who kept it going doesn’t have kids that age anymore.

What activities do/did you do with your toddlers in the wintertime?