I Am Watching You, Stamford.

My world is getting small.

I seem to see someone I know everywhere I go, and I blame the baby. In a good way. I feel like, especially in the mall/Target/Cove/Bull's Head/SMNC cicuit- you know, where the parents hang- I had better be on my best behavior, because chances are, I'm gonna see someone I know.

This feeling actually makes me DRIVE better, because I'm afraid that if I drive like a punk, that person is gonna pull into daycare RIGHT BEHIND ME, and I'm going to be revealed as a jerk to this other parent- a parent who I'll see regularly for the next several years. I see my good behavior as an investment in future karma- and a good reputation.

I've got a good memory for faces, and I like talking to people, and I'm always looking at people, so obviously this makes me more likely to spot people. It's sort of a hobby of mine, actually.

But having the baby in daycare, and taking baby yoga and other classes, really has caused me to be connected with many, many more adults who live in the same area I do.

I just ran into a woman I recognized at a playground, and we puzzled for several minutes over where we knew each other from. Stamford Hospital Mom's Group? Attachment Parenting Group of Fairfield County? Baby Yoga? La Leche League? No... I realized later that night that I knew her from the one toddler yoga class I tried out at Elements Yoga in Darien.

Don't have kids? Well, maybe you go to my GYM, so I might know your face any way.

So hey, even if you don't recognize me... I might recognize you, so YOU better be on good behavior!

That's right, Stamford, keep on your TOES, 'cause I am out there... watching you.

List of just some of my random sightings:

• A Stamford Hospital Moms Group friend at Capriccio.
• A baby yoga friend at Stamford Museum and Nature Center.
• A coworker and her kids at Target.
• A Stamford Hospital Mom at Cove.
• A Stamford Hospital Mom at the grocery store.
• A mom I know from our walks at the grocery store.
• Another Stamford Hospital Mom at the grocery store (who I avoided).
• A lady I recognized but couldn't place at a playground.
• A coworker's friend (who I'd met at a playdate) at Target.
• Also, lots and lots of other people I see but avoid.

You see what I am talking about?

I should really make an effort to DRESS better since I seem to see people I know a lot, but a lady can't do it all... especially when she is STILL not quite back into her pre-pregnancy wardrobe.