Mom Friends
Monday, November 10th, 2014From Monday Mom – Neetika:
I couldn’t be happier with my decision to be a stay-at-home mom. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. One of the most difficult aspects of the vocation—at least for me—is the feeling of isolation I experience daily. Since my main tasks are caring for a young baby and taking care of the house, I’m home a lot. Sometimes many hours go by without my interacting with another adult. I have no co-workers. So other mothers sort of serve as my colleagues.
No matter what you do, it helps to have others to commiserate with. Such kinship is crucial when your business is children. There are days when you feel overwhelmed or even downright clueless, just like we all sometimes do at 9 to 5 jobs. It really helps to talk things out with others who are going through the same thing.
I haven’t made close friends by just chatting up other moms at the playground—that’s not really my style. But through a local parents’ group and other random connections, I have a small base of other moms I rely on. And I’m excited that I’ve recently struck up a friendship through another source—Haley’s preschool. I’ve chatted with another mom at drop-off and pick-up a few times. Her daughter seems to be Haley’s closest friend there and she also recently had her second child, so we have a lot in common and decided to get together outside of those quick interactions.
I love meeting new people. That’s something I miss about the working world. But with Haley in school, I have more opportunities to connect now. I’m realizing now that the most isolating part of staying at home is definitely when the children are very young. I never knew that as their activities ramp up, so too might my social life! If I can make friends half as easily as Haley can, it should be a fun time.