Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for all the great replies.
We have done quite a bit of out of home type stuff. We've had in-town babysitting by college kids about 10 hours a week since DS was about 2 months old (I should call it respite care, LOL). It was around then he began with a horrible groaning noise unless he was constantly shown things, read to, etc. The babysitters take him places like the park, library, to their sorority houses, to see friend's puppies etc. So that has been great although he definitely prefers mommy and daddy. Other than that we have juggled things and not had other care.
We are inbetween two towns about 30 minutes to each and then 1 hr to a small size city. We went last year weekly to the city for toddler chinese for 3 months, that was fun. We've done virtually all organized things that are in either town: swim lessons each spring, Kindermusik (DS was not a fan), a wonderful library song/story hour where the un-librarian like librarian the kids with puppets etc. I am not sure why we haven't found playmates at these things, part of it is that most parents work fulltime and are managing one extra thing on a weekend, have not time left over for informal playdates with someone who lives a half hour away.
There are moms clubs (geared towards stay at home moms) in both towns and we've been active with one of them (sadly not allowed to actually join because we are not in the county). There is a moms club in the other town also, much less active and I hadn't contacted them but after reading through all the replies I just did... perhaps I can get them to make it more active or at least use it to get some names of people.
After reading all the responses I feel like we just need to find him a couple of near-aged kids for regular playdates, and that would do fine for the next year. I had gotten discouraged as I think I started to look for playmates for him starting when he was about 9 or 10 months old, probably way ahead of when other local parents do -- he has just been so needy for stimulation since the beginning. I haven't gone so far as to put an ad in the paper... that seems so drastic, LOL.
On the plus side for where we live we see plenty of Jemima Puddle Ducks and Foxy-Loxys, we pick blackberries out the back door, watch blossoms turn into apples and bake them into pies, etc. All things considered, I wouldn't trade it.
Reading through the responses it sounds great to look forward to when he is 3 and has options like camps. Around here those types of things tend to start at age 4 so I figured that was a long way off -- but I bet our nearest city has some camps for 3 year olds. Thanks so much for mentioning that.
He enjoys games like, "I see something that starts with", hide and seek, matching games or bingo type games, acting out stories, etc. If he could be in a well organized teacher led group that does activities like that he'd love it.
My gut feeling is our one option probably isnt' worth it, after reading all the posts... I can't rule out though that he might just like it anyways.
If I were to start him in the fall just to try it, how many times do think to come to a idea of whether he's going to enjoy it or not? I suppose that must vary with the child but a ballpark? I know there would be an adjustment phase where most kids would not find it fun even if it would be in the long run so I'm not sure when I'd know. Here's where I dont' have enough child experience... Is it reasonable to ask his opinion on it once he's gone a few times?
Thankyou thankyou thankyou for all your comments. Its wonderful to be able to say things matter-of-factly and not feel like I'm making a comparison with other kids or something like that.
Polly
