Cribsheet Cafe Re-fill
Posted on July 28th, 2008 – 12:40 PMBy Kay Krhin
A recap from both May & I:
Thanks to everyone for taking time on your busy Saturday morning to come to Sovereign Grounds for some coffee and conversation!
Like all first-time party-throwers, we wondered if anybody would show up. At the very least, we thought, there’d be the both of us for coffee. And our kids could play. But then they started arriving…about a dozen with babies, toddlers and big kids in tow. Some of our best friends on Cribsheet. Whom we’d never met! Talk about cognitive dissonance.
A stranger would show up, announce her name, and suddenly, she was a stranger no more. Here were regular commenters Darcie, Becky and Katy, who also happens to be our alerter of all happenings Swedish.
(Becky & Frank)
There were Kim and Samara, “strangers” who’d got together for coffee a few months 
back after “meeting” on Cribsheet (yes, their husbands were worried about the stranger met online…) and ended up talking for three hours.
Here was Eileen, a non-breeder who posts musings on her niece (yes, the fracture is healing nicely, thanks for the tips, Cribsheeters)
It was funny how we all had a mental picture of each other from our comments and posts, and we could feel our brains working overtime to reconcile those pictures with the real people crowding the playroom at Sovereign Grounds (thank you, Hakan, for the fabby space). Several people insisted that we had to change our photos on Cribsheet because we looked nothing like them (!).
The morning flew by like an extended Cribsheet post - only 100X better!
Robin talked about her weekend at BlogHer (and brought her schwag bag) - thanks Robin! Lori on how ECFE kept her sane, Kim about why she wants a minivan.
The kids enjoyed themselves too. May’s Zoe whispered to May’s confusion that she had
met Ann’s Zoe before, “at a different playdate.” Turned out they had - on a day when May’s husband had the kids. Even our kids make unexpected connections.
And Chris’ Joe and Kay’s Viv crawled up to each other and shared a very sweet nuzzle. 
As May stated - there wouldn’t be a Cribsheet without the readers and commenters. Thank you all for being a part of this ever growing community.
Keep watching for more Cribsheet get togethers in the future - we hope to have many more!
A special shout out (in hopes that she will comment) to “Lori the Lurker” for coming in all the way from Delano on a weekend to meet us in South Mpls.
21 Responses to "Cribsheet Cafe Re-fill"
Yes, I had the toy-throwing screamer. So much for my first real playdate. I’ll have to figure out how to do the playdate thing some day.
It was fun to meet all of you! It was interesting to try to reconcile the pre-conceived images in our brains with the real faces.
It must have been fun for the kids, too, despite the screams, because they both crashed hard that afternoon.
Thanks so much for putting this all together! It was so much fun to meet everyone - can’t wait for next time! Becky - I didn’t notice your toy throwing screamer - must be for the fact that for the first time ever - little miss social butterfly of mine wouldn’t get off my lap! She did spend the evening wondering where “Baby Joe” went though - Chris has a little charmer on her hands - better keep an eye on Viv when those two are on a playdate! 
thanks again - it was fantastic - and yes, Lauri - great to meet you - all the way from Delano! Do join in - see, we aren’t scary…much!
I wish my son had been less sleepy, as I could have stopped hiding in the corner by his stroller, but it was fun.
Some faces were familiar, just from reading other’s blogs, but it was great to meet everyone.
Thanks May and Kay for setting it up.
And Becky, who cuts your hair? Seriously, I love it.
We had a great time…so glad we could make it!! Thanks again May and Kay for setting it up, and also for the great blog.
I am WAY impressed with Kay for working out at 11 p.m. the night before…that takes discipline! And it was so great to see people I “know”…fun to talk more babies with Becky; “creep” stuff with Darcie and Chris…and of course the inevitable Matt-and-Maddy stuff with everybody. (Is there anyone who ISN’T addicted to his blog these days?!)
Hope I’ll see you at the ASI, Laurie–I’m with you on ECFE classes, by the way! Greatest thing I ever did.
Thanks again, all–already looking forward to the next one! Darcie suggested outside somewhere…that sounds like a fabulous idea.
This was so much fun! Joe has never been around kids his age, so that was neat to see. Glad(?) to see he is already a flirt kissing on miss viv. Too cute.
Thank you again for putting this on. I am happy that I stepped out of my shy little box to come and put faces with names - especially my ‘creeps’!
Thanks for putting it together. I look forward to more events and being able to chat more. It was really fun to put faces with names and connect a little bit more!
And thanks to Chris for keeping me company while my husband was wandering lost around south Minneapolis. I’ve got a pic of Joe, Viv and Vi that needs to go up, cell phone fuzz and all.
And Becky, were you the one who told me about the whole banana trick? Vi ate about 5 bites of banana and a big handful of those gerber puff things, and she didn’t gag once. It was fantastic!
I had a great time as well, it was very fun to meet new people. I had been hesitant to come since I don’t comment very often, but I’m glad I did. An outside get-together next time sounds about perfect (assuming it’s before winter hits).
Robin, glad to hear the banana thing work. I read about that on Marketing Mama’s blog.
So, who had more fun, parents or kids? Hard to tell.
Robin, glad to hear the banana thing work. I read about that on Marketing Mama’s blog.
So, who had more fun, parents or kids? Hard to tell.
p.s. Thanks again, May & Kay! Let’s do this again soon.
I wanted to add that I love the picture you posted of Zoe and I - she’s got a tight grip on the sticker that May’s Zoe so kindly gave her.
What’s the banana trick?! Tell the rest of us!
Ok here goes, Lori From Delano’s first comment! This was a wonderful idea and I can’t wait for another get together. Ella and I had a great time in the city. I also want to comment about what a kid friendly place Sovereign Grounds is, it was nice to feel welcome with a 2 year old in tow! (That wasnt so hard, maybe I will comment again!!)
I totally agree, Lori, Sovereign Grounds was WONDERFUL. I truly felt at ease.
May, Robin and I were talking about a post I read recently on Marketing Mama’s blog about Baby Lead Weaning. I don’t know much about it, but she started her 6 month old on solids by giving her a whole banana. The theory is that once they are 6 months old, you offer soft, whole foods that they can hold (not spoon feeding). Marty and I both have infant gaggers, and we were curious about Baby Lead Weaning. Sounds like it was a hit in the Marty house!
I hope you schedule another one soon, I’d love to attend. This is a great resource and just plain fun to read!
Becky and Robin–
Both my kids were infant gaggers too! It was so frustrating. I had not known about that idea of jumping to whole foods right away…we just did the traditional staged baby foods and the transitions were always so challenging! Sigh…live and learn…
No one ever told me about the gag, and when I started asking my family they all said they’d never seen it before. She was actually throwing up whole meals just by eating tiny pieces of banana.
Now she’s shoving food in her mouth like there’s not tomorrow. I think she’s afraid I’ll take it away from her so she’s trying to mark it all in drool. She’s a little like her father that way…
Oh I wish I could have made it! I have never drove to South St Paul though.
I can not wait for another gathering though!
[…] past weekend, I got together with some local parenting bloggers when the local paper’s parenting blog had a get together. It was fun, I’d never gone to a blog-related get together, but everyone […]
I want to see more pictures!
Oh I’m so bummed that I couldn’t make it! Glad I got to meet the both of you (and Katy & Chris) last night though, and can’t wait for another Cribsheet gathering
