[blparent] Joining a mommy and me group

[Judy Jones]

Hello, Kia,

When our girls were younger, I attended La Leche League meetings, and what a wonderful outlet.  I learned that they were great support for many more things than just breastfeeding, and made longtime friends from first attending.  I eventually became a league leader for a short period of time.  There were never any issues about being a blind mom, as we all were centered on child-care, and I found both groups to be very accepting.  (We were in an Idaho group, then in a Washington group when we moved).

My experience was that other parents are very accepting when they realize that you all have the same goal in common, the good of the children.

We found the same thing true when I would take the girls to indoor play parks in Tacoma where we lived.  When we first went there, I had someone that worked there give me a walk-through so I would know where to stash the shoes, the restroom, the different play equipment and games, of course the snack counter, etc.

Never had any parent freakouts about the blindness.  When the kids were little, like the other parents, I would climb around on the toys for a while with the kids, then go get a latte, whatever, but did the things that other parents do, play for a while, read a book, get a coffee, take kids potty, etc.

The employees got to know us at the various play parks, and we had several different birthday parties there.

Judy

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kia Vaca via blparent
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2015 12:26 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Cc: Kia Vaca
Subject: Re: [blparent] Joining a mommy and me group

Hi,

I have been taking my daughter to a mommy and me group since she was 5 months old, and she is now 13 months. Since I am a pretty reserved person, this was a huge step outside of my comfort zone, but I’m so glad I did! My daughter has only known our close friends and family; so it was important that we get her to interact with other babies and other people. The class has, and is still, making a big difference. It has helped my daughter to adapt better to different situations and different people.

Just to give you another perspective on mommy and me classes, our class is more structured. First, we start off the class by allowing our babies to acclimate themselves to their area. In our case, the class is held in the lactation room of the hospital where my baby was born. All the mothers and babies come in and play for a bit. Next, there is music time where we all sing songs with hand motions. By the way, I stay after class and work on the hand motions with the teacher so that I can do them with my baby. Next, We read a book or two. After that, we go around the room and introduce ourselves, along with our baby, and share something positive that our baby has done within the past week. We also share one thing that each of us are working on as a parent. This class has been amazingly helpful for both my daughter and I. Not only is there a time for my daughter to play and interact with other babies, but there is also a time for me as a mom in which I give and receive support from other mothers.

I’m not going to say that it was easy for me to go to the mommy and me class because it wasn’t. I started by forcing myself to speak to other mothers in the class, even if it was only with the mothers sitting on each side of me. Then I worked my way to speaking up during the discussions, and slowly, the mothers began to become more comfortable with me. The most important thing to remember is that if you are confident in yourself, and comfortable with interacting with your baby, the other mothers will see you as a mother who only happens to be blind. I encourage you to continue your search for a mommy and me class that is welcoming and supportive. Find a way to attend. You and your baby will be glad you did.

Kia

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