Mommy and Me

I finally tried out one of these "Mommy and Me" classes, at the invitation of a very nice woman I met last week. I had been meaning to try out one of these things but they honestly sounded pretty awful: a bunch of stay-at-home moms and their little darlings, sitting around in a circle, singing songs, and clapping and stuff. But the woman who invited me to the class at the local library was very nice, so I went to talk further with her.

So how was the class? I WANTED TO TEAR MY FREAKING EYES OUT. It was held in a mini-auditorium style room in the library, full of carpeted risers for kid-sitting. There were about 8 kids, mostly under age 2, and their moms. At some point, an overweight faux-librarian lady came in (I refuse to believe she was an actual librarian, because those people always seem pretty sharp), bearing an oversized Raggedy Andy doll which became her alter ego.

The only redeeming quality of the Mommy and Me class was that it was short: the singing/clapping part was only about 15 minutes of torture. The other saving grace was that, because I have two babies, I had held one and had an excuse not to clap. Really, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" was mildly entertaining when I was five, but I just can't stomach it as an adult. Ditto for "The Kookaburra Song." I know, I know: one day soon, I will be thankful that some lady wants to entertain my children for 15 minutes for free, but really, do I have to endure it, too?

So, to cleanse my mommy palate, we did a "Mommy and Me" class with just one Mommy: Me! This "class" consisted of taking the babies to Downtown LA, where we started out in Pershing Square.


Later on, we found ourselves taking a stroll . . . around the Arts District. Which is really a warehouse district full of desolate streets and tons of great graffiti art.


I know I looked a little ridiculous, pushing the double stroller around the edgy/grimy/hipster neighborhood, but it was just what I needed. A dose of urbanity to counteract the mind-numbing Mommy class on Monday. Besides, the boys need to learn about the world, right?