An Awkward Welcoming

The other day I attended an event. For the sake of respecting the event and the organization behind it, I don't want to share the name. We will just refer to it as "the event." So I had been thinking about attending the event for a few weeks. Someone had mentioned it to me before and said they thought I would really enjoy it. I looked it up and found out when and where it was. The website for the organization had a contact option, so I even took the time to email the coordinator and ask what I needed to do to attend. The website also encourages people who want to attend to "jump right in!" Seems easy, right????

Flash forward to this week. I decided that since I hadn't heard back then it would be fine for me to just go to the event. They had free childcare and I was really happy to get to take Eva. I've been looking for something that will give me encouraging, non-mom time to grow as a person while at the same time giving Eva fun meet-friends time. Eva was really excited when I told that she was going to go and play with some new friends.

So we get there and I figured out where to take her. I was in the processing of dropping her off when they started looking for her name on the list. "Umm, she isn't going to be on a list, " I said. "Oh I'm sure she's here somewhere...." says the nice childcare lady. I'm thinking, NOPE, she is definitley not going to be on that list because nobody ever told me there was a list. "You registered, right?" asks childcare lady. I tell her what I was already thinking, that no I did not, because nobody ever told me that I needed to. So she kindly says that she will take me to the coordinator. I explain who I am (AKA, the mom that didn't register) to the coordinator. She tells me that the event is pretty full, and that there is typically a waiting list. At this point I'm pretty bummed out and Eva is getting impatient and begging to go play. How can I tell her that she might not get to go make friends? The coordinator decides that maybe she can go ahead and let Eva stay. I politely mention that I really don't want to drop Eva off if I won't be able to stay for the event, because to come back after 5 minutes and drag her from fun new friends will be guaranteeing massive toddler sadness. The coordinator says she thinks it will probably be okay.

She walks me down to meet the Boss Lady in charge of the event. Boss Lady looks very confused at why I would possibly show up for the event if I hadn't registered. I mentioned that I did email her, to which she remarks that it probably went to her junk mail. Okay.....so I'm awkwardly standing there with Boss Lady while she tries to decide what to do. I'm trying to be nice, and tell her that I understand if there isn't any room to stay, but that I'd love to even sit in the back if that is an option. I also mention that my child will be heartbroken to have to leave new friends minutes after meeting them. She is clearly worried that there won't be room or that going against the policy might cause a nuclear explosion, although she assures me that she "wants me to feel welcomed." At this point I am trying so hard to be polite and understanding although I really just wanted to cry. I hate feeling awkward. I hate feeling like an inconvenience. I wanted to just grab my child and quietly slip away but I also really wanted to stay. The whole point of "jumping in" to this experience was to have fun and learn!

Finally, Boss Lady tells me that there is room at one of the tables. I take a seat at a table and get ready for the event. And here is the redeeming part - the event is TOTALLY AWESOME! The women I sat with were super friendly and welcoming. I really liked what I learned about and what we did. I can totally see why people would recommend this organization because it was really great! Also Eva was so happy when I picked her up and had done a cute little craft.

So what is my purpose to this blog? It really isn't to vent about my experience, because it was overall very positive and I ended up being so glad I went. I wanted to share my story to say that it taught me an important lesson in being welcoming. Whether it is at church, or hosting youth group, or having anybody ever in my home, I want them to feel welcomed. I never want anybody to ever feel like they are an inconvenience or that there isn't room for them. I would rather give up my chair or my meal or my time than ever have walk away feeling left out. Thankfully, I am used to awkward situations in my life and I feel like I have a decent ability to shake it off and keep putting myself out there. I am also able to understand that their reaction wasn't personal, they were probably just thrown for a loop and didn't know what to say. That's okay. I really did enjoy that morning and I am thankful for the opportunity to learn about making people feel comfortable.

Moral of the story: Be nice to new people. Show them they belong. That's how everybody deserves to feel.