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Home › Articles › Motherhood › Playgroup Perks and Pitfalls

Playgroup Perks and Pitfalls

Moms Share Their Experiences

By Shel Franco

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Canton took her two children, ages 11 months and 2 years, and left the group that was composed of high school friends. A few months later, she saw an ad in a local parenting newspaper. "Some Milwaukee moms were wanting to start a playgroup," she says. "I didn't miss the fighting, but I missed the girl talk. I thought I'd give [it] another try."

This time, the playgroup was filled with children closer in age to her son and daughter. Behavior problems were kept to a minimum and Canton was beginning to relax, until winter came. "They were always sick," she says. "I can handle a cold or two, even an earache, but one of them was vomiting every other week."

Canton doesn't chalk the illnesses up to poor immune systems. On the contrary, she thinks poor parental judgment was more to blame. "Kids were coming with goopy noses and hacking coughs, and little ones are always putting their hands and toys in their mouths," she says. "We'd get home and find out the next day that one of the other kids threw up in the car on the way home from playgroup. I mean, why bring your kid if she's not feeling well?"

Canton took her kids and quit, again. "I couldn't handle the sickness," she says. "I started to dread Wednesdays, if we even could go, since I wouldn't bring my kids if they had the slightest signs of a cold."

For now, Canton is happy with the occasional play date, pointing out that her children will be old enough to start school all too soon. "I don't see how rushing my kids into a social situation will help them be better adults, when all they really need now is Mom and Dad."

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