i've totally given up on any and all playgroups - does this make me a bad mother?

[workstostaysane]

i just can't stand them anymore.
dd is 15mo. its the noise, the false camaraderie with people i barely know, too many toys, too much monitoring of who hit whose child to get to the wendy house etc
i've been struck off one list for not showing up enough and have finally stopped even trying to get to any others.
does anyone else just not bother?
and am i depriving dd of something essential?

I find them a really good way to keep DS amused and socialised (after a fashion) - but he is 2 years old. At 15mo I can appreciate you are forced to intervene a lot more and can be more stressful.

I tried toddler groups with both of mine. Both went to a grand total of no more than 5 sessions each. I could not stand it, for the exact reasons you described.

Both my dc are sociable, and made friends easily when starting nursery, so don't worry about them missing out.

Can you arrange to meet up with friends and their dc so you and your LO still get to be out adn about and socialise? (good for your sanity as well)

at that sort of age i avoided them like the plague with my DTs, far too much like hard work!

I only went to ones which were on a more casual basis ie. could turn up as and when it suited, a small NCT postnatal group and activity groups for music and swimming. That way I didn't feel obliged to join in any politics or smalltalk.

oh yes hippi. lots of friends to see with their lo's. so not worried about her not playing with other children.
i suspect gursky is right as well though. she is probably still too young for them. she bottom shuffles as well so is not walking yet which means i have to intervene a lot. maybe i'll try again in 6 months time.

I started going when DS1 was 15 months and I have to day, one in particular saved my life.

I had really struggled until then and found support and friendship that lasts to this day. Have to say wasn't the same at all of them though, so instead of writing them off altogether, perhaps have a break and then try a different one.

Maybe as dd gets older you could try a more activity based one such as music, messy play or soft play.

I've managed to avoid "playgroups" so far, DS is 17mo. But he goes to softplay twice a week, nursery once a week, swimming once a week, and I meet with my antenatal class once a week - so to me there are plenty of "social" meets there without me having to cringe in a setting I wouldn't feel comfortable in. I'm not really sure I get this whole "socialising" your toddler either - if you yourself live a sociable life then surely as a matter of course your child meets people (and not just kids) on a regular basis, or am I missing something??