My husband takes care of our daughter one day a week while I go work outside of the home. It’s a win-win situation for me: I get to interact with adults alone one day a week and my husband has empathy for me the rest of the week.
Usually when Unknown Papi watches Put Pie, they drop me off at work and then come meet me for lunch. It’s a nice routine, but I can tell that Unknown Papi could use some different stimulation. When I take care of Put Pie if I get lonely and want to talk to an adult, I just go to the park and cruise for Mamis. I know tons of pick up lines, such as:
“We have that sweatshirt, too!”“How do you like your (insert brand name stroller here)?”“OMG! She/he is so cute! How old is she/he?”
You get the idea. Sometimes if I’m feeling particularly shy, I just dress my daughter up in something really cute and wait for other Mommies to approach us. It’s like catching flies with honey. It’s not as easy for Unknown Papi. Since the majority of care-givers at the playground are women, it can come off like Unknown Papi is just cruisin’ for women as opposed to cruisin’ for parents.
Yesterday, Unknown Papi, went to the DMV parking lot with his skateboard to get some exercise and there was a Daddy watching his child ride a bike. The child, who seemed to be around the same age as Put Pie, started watching Unknown Papi skate. Unknown Papi said, “How old is he?” The father answered, “She is 29 months old.”
Do you see what happened there? Classic rookie mistake. When in doubt of gender you have to look for clues or work around it. The child was riding a pink bike and wearing a pink helmet. Unknown Papi noticed, but didn’t want to stereotype and still thought the child looked like a boy. That’s when you do the work around. You smile, nod in the child’s direction, while asking the parent, “How old?”
When Unknown Papi came home and told me about the encounter, we laughed at his rookie mistake. Then he looks at me sheepishly and says, “I guess we have a man-date tomorrow.” What?! “Yeah, he’s supposed to call me at 9:00. I’m pretty sure he will” Well, look at that! Seems like Unknown Papi doesn’t need my advice on how to pick up Daddies, he does just fine on his own. I couldn’t be prouder.
HAHA! Rookie!! Thats awesome he found a new dad-friend though! My son's dad use to take him to Dolores Park or the Pandhandle and he was like bees to honey! I'd go to Dolores Park and unknownly come home with nothing but sand stuck in my shoes and juice boxes leaking in my bag!!
Awww, how sweet. Maybe he should give my hub some pointers – he's got no daddy friends! In fact, I think I'll steal some of them for myself.
LOL yay for Unknown Papi!
Unfortunately, i do not have the talking to people problem. You're lucky if i don't talk to you! I do not even need to dress my kiddos up.
Just run if you see me coming, LOL!
Too funny…but hey! it worked out in the end for ol' U.P.
Color blindness is a good thing when it comes to other people, but it sure can be a buzz kill when trying to get play dates for Put Pie. Cute story.
Awwww, funny and sweet!
Aw. Your little Pappi is growing up. Sweet.
Love it. xxx
So that may be advice for picking up mommies……..
That is classic! You go Papi…gettin' your date on!
Hahahaha awesome. Nice job, Unknown Papi! I hope his bromance goes well. 🙂
Cute!
Oh yeah, he'll learn…he just needs some more field work.
Awe that is so cute! A man-date… love it! Good job Unknown Papi! Apparently daddies don't get as annoyed as mommies when someone calls thier kid the opposite sex. ha ha ha!
Oh crap. He really effed that one up! LOL
That is too cute!!
Rookie mistake! It is harder to make friends as parents but especially as Dads/Papis. Good for him for making the effort and making a friend! But you know what I love best about your story — your husband “skated” to the DMV where a man was “biking” with his son. Only in San Francisco, baby, only in San Francisco.
🙂
lucky you…
babies are hard for men, your husband is nice!
what i like most is that he came home and reported it to you so that you could laugh about it.
Ohh Mami, do you think you can come meet us at the park? We only live like three thousand miles away? I want a mami date with you…………..
Funny! And 'man date' is becoming a popular term these days. Guess Papi is in the groove after all!
Thanks for the pointers! I usually end up convo-locked with a jehovah's witness.
Oooo I think we just discovered another difference between men and women. Women would be annoyed that the sex of the child was stated incorrectly. Men – totally shake it off and let it go. Huh.
Hahahaha, so funny!!!
Aww. So cute. They have a man-date! I hope he calls!! No one needs that disappointment if not.
That's too cute! lol
This story is so cool, I could not stop laughing thoughout the read! Cruising for daddies and mammies! I guess one day it will be my turn, I can't wait :)!
Unknown Mami you rock!
Cute! 🙂
I don't have problems to chat with strange people…that's the salt of my expat life – I'm mostly alone during the day time…
I've met many friendly, helpful people here, young and old…
Go Unknown Papi!
Men are much more forgiving of the rookie mistakes. We have to be since we are used to criticism from the female of the species. {*grin*}
Haha! Too cute! It is harder for guys to make friends like that sometimes!
I almost spit out my coffee, when I read that “SHE is 29 months”! hahaha I forgot to not drink coffee, when reading your blog! 🙂
Pobrecito Papi!!! I can't stop laughing! How kind that he didn't want to stereotype and assume that a pink bike and helmet would belong to a girl! Hahahahahahah! At least he got a man date out of it!
Can't wait to hear how the first date goes!
Good for Unknown Papi. Hope the visit with the other dad turns into a nice friendship for them. You are such an awesome wife to encourage him that way.
Awww. His first playdate. Hope he doesn't get stood up 🙂
I love your “tons of pick up” lines.
Maybe Papi and his new friend will find a nice sandbox somewhere to play in and bond.
Lol! Thats always my fear with Mr. Man. Luckily all the Dads he's met I've known the moms beforehand so I can warn him.:)
that was a fun read…being married to the guy that knows everyone in town (and city mind you) i forget that most men tend to be a little more reluctant to be social. Our lives can change quite drastically when we have kiddies…especially in a challenging environment. I'm terrible now..i try to avoid those conversations that have been visited 6 times before.
Our youngest daughter had that gender mistake happen a few times. I think she thought it was fun to trick people.
man-date play-date – I don't care for all the scheduling that seems to go on now.
Hey let's make a blog-date? It's nuts.
What a great story 🙂 I love that UP stays home one day a week. That's so heartwarming!
This is the funniest post Ive read today…so cute….U go papi!
looks like he is off to a good start despite the rookie mistake — reminds me about my husband and his skating “bromance” 😀
so funny!! way to go unknown Papi!!!
Mommy dating is harder in Germany…
Funny how pick up lines work in different venues.
Awwwww! That is adorable! Yep, classic rookie mistake. Hope he enjoyed his man-date today! 🙂
The parks around us lately have been filled with more men than women. Often leaving me in a kinda awkward position.
Wow, Papi did great all on his own!
Wow…Papi is turning into a Mack Daddy! Go Papi!!
This is SO cute! Congrats to him for putting himself out there. I hope his man-date works out!
How SWEET! love it! 🙂
B xx
Such a super star friend picker up that Unknown Papi of yours : )
This is awesome. You're right; those are mistakes only a novice would make. I'm sure he's a quick learner, though. 🙂
That is so funny!!! I learned how to avoid gender in conversation when it comes to dogs. A lady was walking a puppy down my street and stopped to pee on my tree. I was out there with my Buddy. I just asked…”how old?” and the lady responded with “oh he is 6 mos old!” Well, I should have been able to tell by how the dog peed… did it lift its leg or not? But that doesn't fly with me anymore since Buddy is a boy and still pees like a girl.
Everything would be harder for me in Germany.
It sounds like he recovered WAY better than I do when I make mistakes like that. Or maybe it's because he said it to dad and not a mom. Moms can get really mad about that type of mistake. With their first kid, anyway…
“pick up lines” LOL! And did that father really say “29 months old”?? Do we keep using months after their 2 years old? I already feel weird saying mine is 20 months…anyway, I've been browsing through your posts and enjoy your writing =)
I'm going to start saying my age in moths too. I'm 469 months old.
Yep, classic rookie mistake! Oh well…it's good that he found a daddy to man-bond with lol. I hope that all went well!
I just love reading your posts. Even if I don't always comment…I always read. I love the way you put things!!
a Papi who skateboards and wouldn't be weirded out by a father who put his boy all in pink… a very kewl future is ahead for Put Pie
LOVE that unknown papi is slick on the man dates.