I'm just wondering do you take your children to a playgroup?

I take mine to a playgroup at least once a week, when they aren't sick. They seem to enjoy being around the other kids and doing some of the activities they have set up for the kids. It also gets me out of the house and talking to people. So far I'm the only one with twins though.

So how many of you are brave enough to venture out to a playgroup with your twins?

 

We do a music & movement class once a week. At first they were real clingy to me but they have come around and love the class and the instructor so she helps out with one of them. I know she's had other sets of twins in her classes.

 

I'm a member of a local mom's group and have been going to playdates once or twice a week. We have coffee every Tuesday morning too, so we always try and make that! When the twins are born, I'll try to go as much as I can. But, I have a feeling it's going to be tough with four kiddos!

There's one other mom who has twin boys, but she never shows up to anything and I've never met her. So, I'll be the only "active" member with multiples. To be honest, I've made some great friends through the group (so have the kids) and they're really excited that we're having twins.

 

Do you have a local twins club? I organize a play group thru mine and it is great to hang out and chat with other moms of twins while the kids play!!

 

No, not really. They just started play dates with one of the kids (and his sister age 5) this year while in pre-K. They never really had an interest before for other kids until this past September. The boy's mom and I are going to try and keep the play dates up over the summer too.
Most of the time around here I feel like we are always a play date.

 

We don't have any family or friends where we live, and I really wanted to get the girls out and interacting with other kids. I tried a regular playgroup, from meeetup.com, and it was a total waist of my time. They were always saying they were going to meet somewhere and then not show, or I couldn't find them as they weren't where they said they would be and would just call the cell phone of the group leader, I got rid of my cell when I stopped working. Most of their meet ups were mom's only, personally I would rather be around my kids than them, so I never went to those. My biggest problem was the one time I did actually meet them a few of the other Mom's didn't watch their kids and was impossible to watch that both my girls were safe around them, they were already walking at the time but were still really unstable on their feet. We spent most of our time away from the other kids because of the few that were doing bad stuff like throwing sand and running around without any regard to the others, they knocked someone else's little girl down and she got pretty banged up. When I voiced my opinions, they dismembered me, but I was not going to try and do anything more with that group anyway.

I have recently heard of a new twins group close by and have been talking to one of the VP's of it and she seems real nice and they have outings at a local P&R center that has a splash park, and she says that all the little ones are well behaved and they know that everyone has to watch there own, since most are pretty big family's. I am really excited to go with them on some outings.

I guess what I'm getting at is, talk to some of the members before wasting your time. With twins you don't have much anyway and really suck's to have others waste it.
Good luck

 

We started going to a twins playgroup on Fridays. We have a local coffee shop that has a fully fenced in play area where we go right now. I actually have a sitter on Fridays so it works really well right now. I can actually talk with the other moms and my sitter helps chase the boys around! We have a club with about 40 members- CCMOM- Central Coast Mothers of Multiples. I am looking forward to going to parks and other outings as the boys get older with the club.
I was in a moms group with my daughter and we went everywhere and each mom hosted a playgroup in rotation- that'd be crazy now with all twins!!!!!!
Lanie

 

I did a few times when they were younger. We went to our twins club playgroup and they also played with the kids twice a week at Baby Boot Camp (my stroller fitness class). They saw my cousins who are 4 and 8 most days as well.

I don't take them to playgroup much anymore though because it's hard to get everyone there on time and they are playing so well together that I don't want to shake anything up until I have to. They'll have swim lessons with other preschoolers in July and then start gymnastics once a week again in August so I'm just going to stay comfy at home until then.

 

We never went to a "planned" playdate. We have a ton of kids who live nearby, and just have impromptu playtimes all year round. Sometimes it will be everyday, and others times it is once a week. My boys are the only multiples among their neighborhood friends.

 

We do. I've always taken mine out (not their first winter) since they were about a year old. I just can't stand to be at home all day every day!

 

I'm a member of a local moms group that does a lot of daytime playdates. We did a lot of activities before Oliver was born and now we are slowly getting back into it. I even ventured to a park playdate with all three kiddos. It was exhausting, but worth it. Thankfully, most of the parks that we go to are fully fenced in. I prefer to do those things with the group since collectively we tend to keep an eye on all of our children.

The best thing I did, though, was to join a local gym that has babysitting. My kids love to go there. We go three times a week for an hour. It's usually different kids each day, they have tons of toys and the babysitters are wonderful. I get an hour to work out and they get an hour to play with new people and toys. So, it's not a playgroup, so to speak, but it gets us out. I even met another mom with three kiddos that are the same age as my kids.

 

It's not that I'm not brave enough to do it, it's that our schedule does not allow for it. Mine still take 2 naps and there is no flexibilty in letting them sleep later if we are out since I have to get my oldest DD from school at 3:30. I have gotten together with another twin mom a few times, but it's not a weekly thing because her two take 2 naps too and they are different times than mine. I do plan to get out to do more things like that when they are down to one nap and I plan to have them down to one by the time school starts again at the end of August.

 

We also have a schedule issue. There are several play groups and I belong to the listserv component of a few in the area, but we've never been able to manage it logistically. Brandon and Zoe are still napping twice a day; between naps and meals I find it very difficult, even now, to get out with them for any extended period of time. And as far as naps go, for some reason B&Z are much better morning nappers so if I'm to skip a nap (would hardly be the first time) I'll skip the afternoon nap. However, virtually all of the playgroups around here usually meet from 10 to noon...which, in this house, is nap time. (And the afternoon groups tend to be just far enough away that they also create a logistical problem.) If I had only one child I think I'd go out of my mind (although I also imagine the logistics of playgroup would be easier to begin with) but the two of them keep each other, and me, so entertained that it's generally okay.

 

I belong to a group of moms and try to join them at least once or twice a week.

Mine are still napping twice a day as well. However, their first nap is early enough so that I can get out for a bit between the time they get up and lunch.

ETA: We do try to do indoors activites like playgroups in a home since that is safer than a park now that they are mobile.

 

I've been going to a playgroup since DS was born, 3+ years ago, and among 8 women with 3yr-olds, 7 of us had a 2nd baby, and 3 of those 2nd baby pregnancies were twins!!! It's really, really crazy, but it's manageable chaos. We rotate houses each week, and get together Wednesday night at 6:30. I LOVE LOVE my mommy friends!

k, to count:
6 3yr olds
3 sets of 1 yr old twins (6 more)
4 1 yr olds

OMG!

 

No, I never did playgroups with my kids. I took them to storytime and Toddler Time when they were little, and they attended preschool at ages 3-4, but I've never had an organized group of parents who get their kids together.

 

I am a member of 2 organized groups & I have an "ad hoc" group of 6 moms & kids that I have over to my house about 2 times a month. I am dropping out of one of the groups right after I host a playdate at my pool next week (it is a group of ER doctors & residents wives - I joined because my best twin mom friend was a member, but she has since moved away. I like the organized groups because I have met a lot of women that would have otherwise not crossed my path. My "ad hoc" group is composed of neighbors, people I met in Kindermusik & a couple women who I met in the ER group. My problem with playgroups is they always want to have them in parks. Summer in Texas is brutal & the children are roasting in the heat, even at 10am. My attendance drops way off in the summer!

I have read a lot on this board, in magazines & in books about the "mommy wars" & "cliques" but I honestly have not found that to be the case. Some women just don't click with me - or I don't click with them - but there is always one or two women that I have good conversations with in any group. There is always one that looks at me like "who do you think you are?" (I think it is because I always dress my kids really fancy & put big, big bows in their hair, even for a morning at the park. For some reason there is a certain type of woman who is offended by that) - but I ignore it & don't take it personally.

It takes some getting used to - getting up, getting dressed & getting to the playgroup - but my kids find it enjoyable & I find it a welcome break from refereeing all morning .

 

Our local YMCA has a gym class for up to 3yo's. We go on Tues and Thurs. It took them some time to cling to me, but now, they really have a good time and know almost all the songs and dances. There is another set of twins that comes, they are 3 months older than mine, but she always has someone with her to help, I am always there with my two by my-self. It's in a large gym that they block the door, so I don't totally panic if one wonders off from right in front of me.

 

Not really a playgroup every week per se, though we do visit friends with kids their age often. But they do go to Mommy and Me, storytime at the library and a music class each week.