Saturday, January 21, 2012

Little Bit Nervous - UPDATED

About a month ago, a friend and I were talking about the problem of finding friends for Michael.  He is introverted, quirky and his social issues cause him to often be by himself.  Or he finds just "one" friend that he likes--and it seems our luck is that then they move away.

She suggested that maybe there was a MeetUp group that we could join.  Something for geeky kids to play and do things that he likes to do (like video games, D&D, board games).  And it struck me as a "duh!" moment--like, why did I not think of that sooner.  That night I went on-line. There was Nada, zip.  Nothing for a quirky kid like mine (or even a quirky family like mine).

So I went out of my comfort zone and MADE a group. I called it Quirky Kids MeetUp, put the description out there (essentially, playgroup for ADHD/socially impaired kids).  And I figured I would be throwing away $20 for the posting.

I still may be.  But tonight at 7 p.m. I scheduled the first Meet Up at Panera Bread.  My son and I will be there with his Heroica set and pastries.  There are actually a few people who have signed up to meet us there.

I am nervous (I hate small talk, I am introverted, this is totally not something I want to do, I would rather have my more extroverted husband do the talking--but he is going to be home with the distraction, um, preschooler).  But I want my son to not only see how to make connections with people, but also maybe actually make a connection or two himself.

I hope this turns out to be the first of many meetings/outings.  But even if it is the only one--I feel happy that I   went out of my comfort zone and tried to make this happen.

UPDATED:

The meeting went better than I could have expected!  People came out despite some snowy roads.  The children were very good; and I hope that we can do another MeetUp soon.


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2 comments:

Cibele said...

This is so awesome! I am glad you took charge and tdid this for your son!! I am happy to hear that the meeting went well.

drlloyd11 said...

A lot of people look online, see nothing, and give up. Deleann took a deep breath and stepped into the deep end.
Ok..Ok.. its just a meetup group but I have to say I was sooo impressed with her that she did this.
How often can someone still impress you after 22 years?

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