The time I joined a mommy group

Before becoming a SAHM (stay at home mom) I had now idea there was such thing as a "mommy group". In fact, they even have websites entirely devoted to helping you find your "tribe". Whether you're a single parent, a stay at home mom, a working mom, a single person in your 30's, divorced, like to dance, like to read, they even have a group for classic rock aficionados!

Anyway,  at the begging of 2013 I decide to get out there and be social, like in person not behind a computer, I decided to give it a try, and joined my first mommy group. We had only been in Texas for a couple of months, but I was feeling the need for community (and conversations with other adults).

This group was great and FREE. I made a couple of really good friends (sadly they have both moved away now, but that's a story for another day), and enjoyed having a group of women who were in similar seasons of parenting as I was. We had lots of play dates, visited many parks and learned all the mommy lingo. Until then, terms like "crunchy mom" or "helicopter parent" were all foreign to me. Soon I was hosting play dates and planning trips while minding all the rules.  

I was surprised at how welcoming these women were (making a great impression of Texas), and their willingness to help each other with little to now judgement. You see, when I was working full time, I never had time - or energy - to meet new mommy friends, and the friends I had before I had kids, were still having fun and partying it up in South Beach; not to mention I was in the daze of pregnancy or nursing between 2008 and 2013. In this mommy group, I made time to slow down and make new friends, I wanted to get to know other moms, learn their stories and how they came to be SAHMs just like me. I was so proud of myself for putting myself out there and stepping out of my comfort zone. As for my kids, they flourished into social butterflies, they had fun and immediately fell in love with Texas.

I am so grateful for that group, and was so sad when it dissolved - well it didn't really dissolved, it was more like it moved further north than I was willing to travel for a 2 hour play date - it was great way to meet new people and learn about all the fun things to do in a new town. It was great, still it was time to move on.