Recently, my friends have been joining mommy groups. Groups where moms and their kids get together for weekly outings and activities. (How is that different from the play dates and activities I already have with my son and friends? I don’t know…but I’m guessing that it just is.) I don’t belong to a mommy group. Maybe I needed to. I, too, want to swap recipes, host Tupperware parties and join multi-tiered marketing schemes. I began to feel left out. Something had to be done.
So, I did what any good mother would do, and researched the best of mommy groups out there on the internet, of course.
And there it was: www.meetup.com.
Meetup.com is a group heaven. There are hundreds of groups to choose from anywhere in the country, and not just for mommies. I was overwhelmed. How do you choose the perfect one? Then, I found one in my area. “Star Trek and Space Exploration Group,” but thought that maybe I was getting off topic a little bit. (How fun would it be to explore space, though? Do they teleport themselves?) So, I continued my search and found one that seemed to fit a little better. I signed up for “San Fernando Valley Moms.” (Because I just knew that we already were going to have a lot in common. We were from the same geographic region, how could we not?)
I couldn’t wait to join. I began imagining hosting Tupperware parties, buying scrapbooking supplies and earning my Gold Star sales executive pin in my new marketing group. I couldn’t wait…but I had to.
I filled out the questionnaire and clicked “join.” A message appeared instantly: “awaiting reply from leader.” So, I waited and waited and waited. No reply.
I double checked that my application was complete. Yup. Three pages all about me, my hobbies, my likes, my dislikes, my background, my opinions, my ideas, my life story and what I ate this morning for breakfast (I thought the last one was a little much, but answered it anyway -Lucky Charms.)
I couldn’t wait to hear from the leader. I couldn’t wait to be led.
Two days later, it came…the email I had been waiting for.
It read:
Your request to join The San Fernando Valley Moms Meetup Group
was declined.
The person who declined your request said:
Feel free to post your pic and re-
apply.
A second chance? Gold Star Executive of the month? I decided to pass. I’m actually glad I got rejected. I know…that’s what everyone says when they get rejected. But I REALLY mean it. I’m just not cut out to fit into a certain group, and besides, I have way too many plastic storage containers already.
