new here - question - friends

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-29-2004
new here - question - friends
5
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 12:18am

Hi,
I am new to this board.
I am not staying at home yet; I am still on maternity leave. I have decided to stay at home starting in July when my son will be 8 months. The only problem I am worried about is making friends. I just moved to the city I live in a year and a half ago and all of the friends I have are from work. I do not have any friends that have kids yet. Now that I am on maternity leave I am really enjoying being at home, but I am feeling kind of lonely.
I was hoping to get some suggestions on where to meet some friends while staying at home.

Suggestions welcome....where did you meet your SAHM friends?

Thanks,
Courtney

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2004
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 8:28am
One of my working mom friends works nights, so we get to visit during the day. We have a weekly paper that comes out here, a free one. Alot of times you can find play groups in those, or even the local library has them. Different age groups on different days, I met some great people at the library play groups. Check with your library, and the local churches. Our church has a group that meets on Thursdays from 9-11 a.m., they have sitters for the kids, and the moms get to visit and talk about things. The kids are right in the next room, so you can peak in if you want too.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 9:01am
Welcome to the board Courtney. Glad you found the board.
My name is Mel. I am 25 years old and a sahm of 4 years to my two boys, Andrew (5) and Dalton (1). We live in GA.
We are currently homeschooling our son Andrew. It has been a blast doing so and we are having a great time.
Again, welcome to the board. There are a bunch of great ladies (moms) on here so feel free to jump right in.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-17-2003
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 3:41pm

Hi -

I could have written your post when I first started staying at home! I was so lonely that I thought I was going to lose my mind. I literally would go up to strange women and their kids at the park and try to have conversations with them. Here are my suggestions for meeting new mom friends:

1) Ask moms in your neighborhood if there already is a playgroup that meets. If not, consider starting one yourself. Just getting out and strolling your baby is a good way to meet the neighbors. The playgroup that I belonged to met once a week at rotating houses. My neighborhood did not have any stay-at-home moms, and therefore there was no playgroup. So one day I was attending an Open House at my son's Mother's Morning Out program, and I asked a woman sitting next to me how I could go about finding a playgroup. She invited me to hers (she lived in a neighborhood about a mile from mine). Now she and the other women in the group are some of my best friends.

2) Join a national support group like MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), The MOMS Club, or Mothers and More. They all have web sites and you can search to see if there is a chapter near you. I was part of a MOPS group for four years that met twice a month, and I made some great friends there.

3) Go to story time at your local library and meet other moms (this may be a little premature with a newborn).

4) Join a Kindermusik or Gymboree class (these can be expensive though).

5) Check with local hospitals or the YMCA to see if they have any postnatal support groups - these often evolve into playgroups.

6) Check out local churches - mine has a weekly Mother's Bible Study that is great, and childcare is provided while we meet.

7) Figure out the popular times at your local park (at our park it's late afternoon - after nap time but before dinner) and talk to women there.

Whatever you do, you MUST get out and meet new people or you will lose your mind. It was really hard - I had to make a whole new set of friends, and it took me about a year before I really found my niche, but now I have a great support system of mom friends. Good luck!

Paige - mom of Harper (7), John (6), and Gib (4)

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 3:57pm

Welcome to the board.


I am Traci sahm/homeschooling mom of two boys 7 and 3 years old.


Here are some great links for meeting moms in your area


http://www.matchingmoms.org


http://www.meetup.com/


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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-29-2004
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 4:57pm

Thank you ladies for all your help. You have some great ideas. I'm on my way to making some friends who are moms.

Thanks!
Courtney