The only dad at Playgroup.

We always thought that playgroup would be a nice idea for Baby D. Mrs D went as a toddler, as does our 3 year old niece. Once Baby D could crawl we took her along to a try out the local Tumble Tots class, she loved it and I've been taking her ever since.
The entry level class is about an hour long and pretty relaxed, with lots of soft toys and basic equipment to climb on, crawl through, chew, dribble on, etc... We also sit in a circle and sing songs, something which makes me a little self conscious being the only dad there, and as such, the only deep voice singing "The wheels on the bus" and other popular tunes - I've played bass and sung backing vocals in a band for the last 9 years but it still didn't prepare me for this!
I think the main problem is that none of the songs are in my vocal range and I don't know how to pitch them - I either sound like Prince on "Kiss" or Andrew Eldritch from the Sisters of Mercy on "Temple of Love". It makes Baby D smile though, so I guess I'll struggle on...

It's been really nice to see how Baby D interacts with the other kids, crawling, and now running about, playing together, and learning how to share toys. I've no doubt that that the experience will help build her social skills and make her more confident person. For me, it's been nice to get out of the house and meet the other parents, it's always nice to compare notes and have the normal "is your's doing this yet?" kind of conversations.

With Tumble Tots, once the kids in the group are walking comfortably they move up to the next class, Baby D had her first visit to the new class yesterday and had a great time. Things are a bit more structured this time, no soft toys and more climbing/crawling equipment around the hall with plenty of space to run around and burn off some energy. I think she found it a little overwhelming at first, running around like a nutter, but after a bit of gentle persuasion she finally started to investigate some of the play equipment.

Classes are a little longer this time, oh, and there's more singing. Great...