new stay at home mom with guilt

I'm also new to being a SAHM with my 11 month old. I have friends with babies about the same age (we all met in a birth class) and they are taking their babies everywhere. Library reading groups, swimming lessons, baby yoga... I have considered doing the library thing because its free, but the other stuff is just more than I'm willing to pay and more time that I am willing to commit. In my opinion kids (babies too) are over-scheduled and often lack the down-time needed to exercise those creative little imaginations. I think its ok to stay home some days or just go play in the park. There is a whole exciting world of leaves and dirt and bugs to discover that is more valuable (in my opinion) than any scheduled, organized class. However, socialization is also important! So what I do is try to get with my mom friends once or twice a week. On the weeks when we meet twice, for one meeting, we come up with an activity (which at this age, it ain't much!) like ball rolling, water scooping/pouring, stacking blocks, etc. This way the babies do get some skill building and the rest of the time its just playtime. I do know that if I had my boy at long, scheduled activities every day of the week, he'd be pretty unhappy with me. He'll survive quick errands or quick trips to the store on a daily basis but for more strenuous things like organized activities or grocery shopping, he can't handle those more than a couple of times each week. Our world revolves around his nursing and napping and he'd fall apart if I messed with that by keeping him out all day every day.

Now, as a former teacher, I think its great that you want to get your kid out and teach him social skills along with enriching his learning with classes and activities. Kids who have parents with high expectations like that make better students. BUT kids who are over-scheduled end up suffering at school because they may not have time to do their homework and are often tired at school because they are so busy. There's a balance. I'd say that its good to have an activity or two but its also good to have lazy days at home to encourage that little mind to think for itself and you'll have a kid who is stimulated to learn new things but can also entertain himself. :) That's what the teacher in me thinks.

Don't feel guilty for giving your little one a little bit of both worlds. Also, don't feel guilty for NOT going out every day. You have to do what's right for you and your baby, regardless of what other people are doing. As for us, we can't afford lots of things plus like I said before, he wouldn't be happy if I kept him out for a long time every day anyway, so we just don't do it. I like to look for free (or super cheap) activities. Our city has an indoor pool that costs $6 for us both so I'm trying to take him there about once a month. We go see friends once or twice a week (free!). Also, babycenter.com has activities for babies based on their age that we try to do on our own at home every day. I also keep an ear out for free classes. We got in on a baby massage class once for free because the massage school needed "models" for their class, so we got to go participate so the students would see how a real baby would react to massage (and I learned how to do it myself!). :)