How Do You Pick Up Moms?

Back when I was a single gal, I loved going to house parties.  Saturday night, my girlfriends would come over, we'd do our hair and make-up, toil over what to wear, then pick up a 6-pack of Mike's Hard Lemonade on our way to the party.  Once there, there was the obligatory bowl of chips, but mostly it was an excuse to sit around and have a few (too many) drinks with friends, and meet cute, single guys.  Once a cute, single guy caught my eye, I knew just what to do.  We'd lock eyes from across the room, I'd play a little shy, then a little hard to get, hit him with some charm and some not so subtle flirting, and boom!  He was mine. 

House parties these days are a little bit different.  Now, house parties are usually held in the afternoon, and the occasion is someone's 5th birthday.  There are juice boxes, pizza, loot bags, and 15 or so kids hopped up on cupcakes.  And, instead of meeting cute single boys, I meet moms.  I was at such a house party tonight.  We were in the backyard, where there were two bouncy castles and a swing set.  I sat down next to a mom whose kids, like mine, had made their way over to the swing set and she, like me, was trying to avoid eye contact with her kids for fear of having them ask us to push them.  We bonded over our shared loathing of swing pushing.  Turns out we actually had a lot in common.  We have the same sarcastic sense of humour, same easy-going parenting style, she has two girls, I have two girls, her kids are 3 and 5 years old, my kids are 3 and 5 years old, she laughed at my jokes, I laughed at her jokes, and before I knew it, 3 juice boxes later, the party was over.  We gathered up our kids and their loot bags, and headed for our cars.  If this new mom had been a cute, single guy, I would have known exactly what to do to close the deal.  But, she wasn't a cute, single guy.  She was a fellow mom.  Should I ask for her phone number?  Should I arrange a play date with our kids?  Was it too soon to suggest a girls' weekend away?  I was busy contemplating my next move and didn't even notice that she had gotten into her car and driven away. 

So that was it.  A new mommy friendship lost, because I have no idea how to make the first move.  I know kids don't come with an instruction manual, but if anyone ever decides to sit down and write one, I sure hope it includes a chapter on this topic...sigh...