s/o How do you make other mom friends when you WOH?

[Anonymous]

I've really been struggling with this one. Most of my pre-baby friends are childless, DC workaholics. As my baby gets older, I would really like to make other like-minded mom friends but seem to have such a hard time finding them! I WOH & rly only have weekends for socializing. I end up spending all weekend with my DH & LO. I love it but I think I could benefit from meeting other women in the same boat.

Any ideas? I live in the district.

[Anonymous]

Through work, and daycare (which is at husband's work, so it's a bit easier since he is good friends with some of the parents too).

Neighbors, and friends I had before kids who also now have kids.

Otherwise, I didn't make an effort to meet any new mom friends. I'm busy enough. I did join a mom's group during maternity leave and met some nice new moms, but didn't keep in touch with them in any real way. I would think in DC, you could hit the neighborhood playgrounds etc. on weekends and find some moms there.

[Anonymous]

No advice?

[Anonymous]

Daycare. I also met a couple of other moms at work - my office is huge and if you don't know someone before you both get pregnant, it can be hard, but it happened sort of by accident with one lady and I got to be closer friends with 2 others after we had kids.

[Anonymous]

Through work, for sure. And, I don't socialize over the weekends. That's family time for me. I do lunches during the week with other moms I've bonded with through work. It's great.

Once I came out as a mom, invitations to happy hours all but stopped and the mom network started up, with little check-ins about STT and doc visits. Cute!

[Anonymous]

I'm just about the only mom in my office... everyone else is a male or childless female.

HH invitations also abruptly stopped as soon as the pregnancy news came out. <sigh>

I like the idea of lunches with other moms... maybe I should just drop that I'm a mom at receptions to see if I can make friends that way? Is that pathetic?

[Anonymous]

I've had the same trouble. i'm also a bit shy and very busy so that doesn't help at all. I really want to be social though, but I never know what to do. I did meet one mom through daycare. I'm joining a toddler yoga class. Maybe that will help. I always feel really awkward at the park for some reason.

[Anonymous]

I've met great mom friends through daycare. We moved, so we're on our second daycare center, and I've had very good luck meeting friends through both. We all WOH and have fun getting the kids together on the weekends -- sometimes at one of our houses (bad weather), and more often at a nearby park or playground when it's nice outside.

We also met a bunch of our neighbors just by taking walks outside with DC in the stroller and later in the push tricycle. Again, the good weather makes this SO much easier.

I think the key is just to be friendly and not to worry too much about saying the right thing to connect. You obviously have something huge in common already -- just asking/talking about the kids is plenty to start. GL.

[Anonymous]

for us it was definitely the neighborhood park. Lots of kids the same age - just strike up a conversation with the next mom you see with a kid about your DC's age. Perfect icebreaker: "what a cute (hat, coat, haircut, etc). how old is s/he?"

Unlike on DCUM, I have not found mommy wars to exist. I WOH full time but met some lovely SAHMs who always welcome me when I have the day off or on weekends. I'm kind of an extra wheel because they know each other much better by virtue of spending weekdays together, but let's face it - we're talking about diapers and potty training and nursery school, not our deepest darkest marriage secrets - so it hardly matters. Also try taking a class with DC - gymboree, music, etc - on saturday mornings.

One other thing, though, OP - not clear what you're looking for mom friends for - is it to have playdates and company while DC plays at the playground, or to have lunch with w/o kids and discuss motherhood? Because if the latter, you're better off looking at/around work for other moms you really 'click' with.

[Anonymous]

Weekends? Preschool events? Neighbors?

[Anonymous]

Daycare and the neighborhood playground for sure.

[Anonymous]

I live in the District too so "neighborhood park" isn't really a place to meet moms (although if anyone wants movies before they are released...I'm your girl).

I've met some moms in the office and a few in daycare, but it's hard when you work full time and live in the city.

[Anonymous]

We don't..not really. We've met some other moms at school/soccer games/playground but it seems as though everyone is busy with their own stuff on the weekends (un included) and after school isn't feasible for us (don't get home till 6pm.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in the District too so "neighborhood park" isn't really a place to meet moms (although if anyone wants movies before they are released...I'm your girl).

I've met some moms in the office and a few in daycare, but it's hard when you work full time and live in the city.

um, I'm one of the pps who recommended this and I live in the district too. not sure if you're saying you live in the ghetto or something, but if you go to the playgrounds - even urban ones - on saturday mornings there will be other families there. Promise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in the District too so "neighborhood park" isn't really a place to meet moms (although if anyone wants movies before they are released...I'm your girl).

I've met some moms in the office and a few in daycare, but it's hard when you work full time and live in the city.

For me, it is a lot different. I work full time in the city and live outside the city. My DD's daycare is downtown near my office and the families seem to come from a mixture of in the city and in the burbs. Having a 40-60 minute commute really restricts the ease of hanging out. Parks are basically out of the question during the week.

One thing I've found as I've gotten older is that it seems to be harder to meet people outside of intentionally constructed situations like moms groups or work. I may be engaging in some revisionist history, but it seems like when I was younger (in college, for example), I would just meet people sort of accidentally and become friends with them. Now it seems like we have to go out of our way to meet people because everyone is caught up in their own lives. Every time I have reached out, it's been a totally great experience for everyone and actual friendships have resulted, but it seems like it's just so much harder now than it used to be.