Movie Mom

Before we begin, let me just make one thing clear...this post is not about BlogHer. If you were looking for news on the Conference That Must Not Be Named, then please click here. I'd also like to make it very clear that I'M NOT BITTER AT ALL. ( @$%*#%*!). We can have fun right here in TO, can't we? Anybody?? (The silence is deafening, folks, back me up here, will ya?). Okay..

I mentioned in a recent post , 100 , that I was snubbed for going to Movies 4 Mommies. Here's the story. Upon the arrival of the Boy, my life became a veritable maelstrom. We were having trouble breastfeeding, the boy was found to have a double hernia, and my time going back and forth to the hospital seemed to outweigh my time spent at home. Because of this, I didn't hook up with any mommy group. The nurse that visited the house suggested that I go to this "Bringing Home Baby" group at a local church. The hospital treks interfered with that and I never went, eventhough I really wanted to. As a result, I felt adrift and friendless.

That's when I heard about Movies 4 Mommies, or as they were called in my 'hood, MiniMatinées. I thought to myself, "Great! I get out of the house, AND I get to see a movie! I may even talk to some other moms.." So I went. The people there were lovely. They gave a gift to first-timers, and there were weekly draws for other prizes, as well as some presentations about local baby amenities. Since the movie was at 1pm, it fell right at the Boy's nap time. He would sleep for an hour, and then feed for an hour (Yes, you read that correctly - each breastfeeding session took one whole hour, a half hour on each boob. Sigh). It was a perfect fit, and I had a lovely afternoon.

I started going every week. It was a half hour walk each way, so I'd get my exercise. I saw a fairly recent movie each week (the selection at MiniMatinées ran to the decidely offbeat and documentary taste). Being terribly shy in real life, I chatted self-consciously with other new moms. It was something for me to look forward to. And hey - I'm an actor - I'm always up for seeing a new flick. I think it really helped me to keep my sanity intact in those early days, too.

Eventually, I met up with a friend who I met at FitMom, and she invited me to join her Mommy Group. Ironically, it was the same people who would have been at that Bringing Home Baby group that I never attended. They got along so well that they decided to keep meeting. I joyously agreed to go, because I was feeling very isolated. I tried to integrate myself as much as possible into the group. Some people were very nice, but from a number of them, I got the feeling that I was an interloper.

When they found out (by my own admission, of course, I'm not shy about the truth), that I went to MiniMatinées every week, I was quickly dubbed "the Movie Girl" by those less charitably-minded. There were snide jokes that my son slept more at the movies than in his own crib. There were many insinuations along the lines of "my baby would never stand for it" or "I'm not sure it's such a good thing for them".

My friend from FitMom and I became quite close, though, and she started coming with me to the movies on a fairly regular basis. We made it a little playdate, and it was really fun. And, yeah, I saw some movies that I probably would not have spent money on had I not had a babe in arms. Sadly, my MiniMatinées have closed their theatres, but the good memories remain. So does my new theory on parenting: Do what you gotta do to get through the day with your sanity intact. And don't judge other moms. You don't know what it's like to be in their shoes.

This was cross-posted at MommyBlogsToronto: Mama Drama.