I knew that our morning was getting off to a shaky start when I had to text Ms. Liz and Ms. Megan and let them know I was running late. Then, I circled for about 15 minutes looking for parking, and when I found a parking space, schlepped Charlie through the rain about 3 or 4 blocks to the cafe. When I finally got in the front door, the place was swarming with moms and kids. I noticed that a waitress-type person had a pad of paper in hand and was writing down someone’s name…and then heard her say “it’s going to be 45 minutes”. Uh oh. This didn’t look good. I saw Megan and Liz through the glass and waved at Liz as I was waiting in line.

I’m afraid I wasn’t very kind to the employee. Not my finest moment. She told me that it would be a 45 minute wait due to fire code restrictions and I felt like I had been socked in the stomach. Seriously. Charlie could see all the fun stuff through the glass, including a very cool giant playhouse, but wasn’t able to go in and play, and by the time I gave the employee an earful, I was so angry and upset that I hurriedly told Liz we were leaving and trudged back to the car.

You may think that this isn’t that big of a deal, but to a mom who finally got her child dressed and out the door on a rainy day, it was huge. I felt like I didn’t have the appropriate “papers” or handstamp to get into the “cool club”!!

Now, I come to find out that the cafe has been featured in some newspapers recently and we think that’s why it was so swarmed today, that and the weather of course. I do feel badly about the way I spoke to the girl who told me about the wait, but I really think they need to figure out a better system so that moms don’t get separated by the party they are meeting. I mean, how annoyed would I have been if I had been the mom who had paid and was waiting for my friend, only to be told she was sent away and I was stuck there by myself? Luckily, Liz and Megan had each other, but I missed out on the conversation and girl time because the cafe experienced an influx of people.

Luckily, as I was pulling into the garage at home, Ms. Kim called me wondering what we were up to and I simultaneously hit the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-through and drove her way as I choked back sobs and explained to her what had happened. We spent the morning there and let the girls play until naptime.

I’m sure I will give Family Grounds another chance, but they really do need to investigate some type of online reservation system. Part of what saves young moms are the connections you make, ESPECIALLY in the city. It is sometimes a huge effort to get you and your child out the door and into LIFE. I know that it is run by Christians and that their mission is true, but they definitely need to iron out some kinks (which I’m sure are things you don’t learn until you are in the thick of things)…

If you do decide to head to Family Grounds, my recommendation would be to get there when they open. Liz later told me that at 9:30 there was hardly anyone there…so it pays to be on time or even early. Ah well…best laid plans, right?? Off to drown my sorrows in a cup of red chai pumpkin spice tea…