Mommy Pick-up Joints

Once you have kids, it becomes quite easy to meet other mamas. I have met women at Costco, San Diego Int’l Airport, Barnes & Noble and Wendy’s among other places. You meet a nice woman and her child{ren}, chat it up and find yourselves at that awkward state of, “OK, ba-bye! It was nice talking to you!” or “OK…uh, well…we should try and get the kids together for a play date sometime.”

Tonight as I was fixing dinner, I was thinking about all the {unusual} meeting places I’ve encountered over the past 5 or so years and compared the Nor Cal vs. So Cal contenders.

So Cal wins hands down.

Apparently my Nor Cal mama {friendships} left something to be desired.

The first one is kind of funny. One Saturday evening Jay, Elliott {8 months} and I were in the Costco on Rengstorff right before close. We went in for a rotisserie chicken for dinner. They were fresh out and we had to wait 15 minutes for the new batch to come off the rotisserie. As we were waiting, I started talking to a woman who was with her daughter that was about a month or two older than Elliott. Of course we had TONS to chat about while our husbands stalked the rotisserie-chicken-packaging-guy. Several other people had lined up and were ready to pounce on some hot poultry. All of a sudden Jay comes back empty handed and this woman’s hubby comes back carrying a plastic container with his chicken. She felt so bad that we didn’t get one that she INVITED US TO HER HOUSE FOR DINNER! They seemed nice enough and lived near us so we said what the heck! Needless to say, this couple was very sweet, but we only got together with them a couple times before things fizzled.

Then there is the time I was in San Diego when my grandmother passed away and Elliott {10 months} and I were on our way back to San Jose. While we were waiting to pre-board, there was a couple with their daughter who, too, was a month or so older than Elliott. Again, we chatted, boarded the plane and exchanged numbers at the baggage claim at Mineta. We hung out several times for about 6 months or so before I got annoyed and decided to channel my energies into some more positive friendships. The tipping point was when she borrowed a brand new Target umbrella stroller {still in the box} for a trip to NYC. No biggie. I am a good sharer. But when she returned that thing looked like it had been run over by 16 taxis. No biggie. I understand. New York is dirty. It was just the way she handled it. Offered to replace it but didn’t. Not the way I would’ve handled it, but whatever.

Then there was the time she complimented the color in our house and wanted to borrow our can of leftover paint to do a test patch on her walls. No biggie. I can share. I don’t remember the circumstances, but I drove 30+ miles to deliver the paint to her and never again saw my paint can. I believe I asked her about it, but never did she drive the 30+ miles to return it.

Needless to say at that point, I was done.

When we moved back to So Cal almost 3 years ago, I met my dear friend Karen at Barnes & Noble. I’ve also spoken about her here.

Then one day over a year ago, I met a gal in Wendy’s one afternoon who has two kids almost the exact same ages as E & H…older girl, younger boy. We exchanged digits and have had several stress-free play dates over the past year and a half or so. Turns out we have some mutual friends, as well!

50% ain’t bad, but it looks like So Cal won this one.

So glad to know you, Karen & Kristie!

To all my Mama Floppers out there, where are some funny places you’ve been picked up on?