The Anti-Cult-of-Mommy

The coolest kids in the park, counter-clockwise from top left: Lucy (Catherine's daughter), Presley (Brooke's daughter), my Benjamin, Liam (Michal's son), and Gabriel (Nicci's son).

As I've mentioned before, one of the perks of joining Gymboree has been meeting other moms. Other moms who are not members of the dreaded clique I'll call the "Cult of Mommy." You may be asking yourselves, "What is the Cult of Mommy?" It's hard to say definitively what it is, but giving you examples of typical Cult of Mommy comments should paint a fairly clear picture.

• "Don't you know that feeding your baby store-bought baby food instead of organic vegetables you puree yourself causes permanent brain damage?"
• "You mean you don't worship at the Altar of Harvey Karp?"
• "Your baby drinks FORMULA?? Why don't you just go ahead and give her crack?"

(Each of these comments is usually accompanied by raised eyebrows and clucks of disapproval.)

Well, a few of us Gymboree moms decided to form a mommy clique of our own. The difference is that our clique doesn't believe you're a bad mommy if you let your baby watch trash TV with you or if you wean him before he starts kindergarten. In our mommy clique, it's ok to admit that you miss your old life sometimes and crave the company of other new moms. Of course, we also love watching our little ones hang out together, which at this age entails plopping them on the same picnic blanket and letting them slobber all over themselves.

At our latest playdate, a certain little one exhibited some remarkably forward-thinking behavior. Lucy decided to make her intentions known to Benjamin. I, for one, was very impressed, because many-a woman much older than she still hasn't figured out that it's ok for the girl to make the first move. Go, Lucy!