Toddlers and Twenty-Something Year Olds

They say that toddlers and teenagers go through similar emotional development...but after having dinner with some friends last night I think that working-single-twenty-something people can be included in this comparison as well.

Let me first start with sharing that we had a meeting with the director at Isa's day care to talk about her up coming transition to the Toddler Room. For those of you who have gone through this transition you know that it is a big deal. It can be a very stressful time for both parents and child as both get used to the new faces and new routines. I will be honest and say that I am probably less prepared than Isa is, I am not ready to accept that she will be turning into a toddler, I still want to keep her a baby.

We have no idea how she will react to the move, they have been taking her over to 'visit' the toddler room and to be introduced to the teachers and the children, and the good thing is that she will see some familiar faces since many of her friends from the infant room are there now. Her teachers tell me that she loves to go over and play with the toys but this surprises no one as they are new and very fun toys, so who would not love to visit.

So yesterday we discussed how the transition will work and some of the things that is expected of us. We will be given a list of how we can help her become more 'independent'. It is expected that she will be working towards being able to put on her own jacket (I have no idea how I am going to accomplish this), put on her own shoes, eat everything by herself (including soup), sit at a table, and sleep on a cot. I have to be honest and say that I have no idea how this will be done but it will be. I think that she will get a lot of help from her little friends...they tell me that peer pressure is a powerful tool at day care.

Though I am not ready to see my baby change rooms, I am very ready to pay toddler prices. It will be a very welcomed relief to the budget. I already know what I will be spending the extra $200/month...paying down debt.

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Now to my dinner with friends...I met up with some co-workers of a good friend of mine to celebrate Chinese New Year. We went to china town for a "traditional" Chinese dinner.

Now this story is not about the dinner and whether it was authentic or not. It is more about how the co-workers interacted with each other. Let me give you a little background information. Before Isa was born, I had a group of friends at work with whom I would have lunch with every day, go out after work for drinks and go clubbing on Saturday with every once in a while. We would do a lot of things together and would joke and make fun and sometimes throw insults at each other for fun.

All of these friends have now left the company that I am working at and so when I returned to work I did not have anyone with whom I can have that same relationship. Not only that, but I have to leave everyday at 4:30 to pick up my daughter. I am a very different person now, and I was a little shocked that I felt that the way the group was acting last night was extremely childish and annoying. I can't believe that I felt that way, I told me husband and he told me that I just did not have the same cool people at work to hang out with, but this is not the point. The point is that I know that I am pass that, I don't need to act like that, that kind of behaviour is for teenagers or early-twenty-something.

Am I wrong in thinking this way...could I have become boring and stuck-up? I don't know...a little part of me misses my old friendships but there are just so many more wonderful things now that I am a mom and my responsibilities have changed. I love the amazing people that I have met because I am a mom.

There are times when I feel old at 28.