Mommy Friends

Today’s Prompt: A comment as a blog post. Pick someone else’s post (from the past or from today) and write a comment to them. Write that comment as your blog post for today. Link back to them to let them know you were inspired.

I'm going to draw from three different items I've stumbled upon online in the last day that inspired me to write this post.

First, I saw this tip from a relationship expert in regard to making new mom friends: "Your time is more precious than ever. You don't have time to be around people you don't enjoy."

Since Sweetie was born and I chose to stay home with her, I've made it a mission to find other moms and kids in similar stages of life. I want people around me who know the latest version of me - the parent - or Adult 2.0 as my friend S calls it. And, unfortunately, so many of my beloved friends from my pre-parenting days are working parents with whom I rarely get a chance to catch up.

In the last 21 months though, I've joined at least 12 mommy groups. Maybe more than that. I have started to lose track. I've quit most of them. Or watched them dissolve. I've been appalled at the immature leadership or the way people treat their children. Or just felt the ages or activities weren't right for where we were.

I'm down to 2 groups as of this week. And I feel great about these 2. I can honestly say that every mom in them is someone I can trust, someone with a sense of priority about their children.

These two separate groups of women have become my daily social cornerstones. And I feel lucky to have all of them. These are IRL friendships I'm committed to fostering. Women I can call when I need someone on short notice to watch my precious daughter for a couple of hours when the babysitter cancels. Women who know that I like coffee and have it brewed, who make an effort to read my blog and understand diabetes better, who accept me when I'm awkward or wordy or cynical or clumsy (again, Am, sorry about the lamp) or when my daughter is howling like a fire engine from the kitchen because she can't reach the baby carrots (which was hilarious - each time it was repeated).

I am so excited to have these women by my side through this phase of my life. I've never felt like I related that well to women my age. I know that it's often said that you can count yourself rich to have a few really great friends. Between my friends from pre-parenting days, my DOC friends, and my mommy group friends, I know I should feel like a billionaire right now. On the tough days when I feel exceptionally lonely, I need to remember that I have these treasures in my life.

Just a special shout-out to the remarkable women in my life:
-to each of the "f-ing happy, good-looking" Fun Mamas
-to the truly kindred spirits that are my Brights BFFs
-to the extraordinary women of the DOC
-to my childhood girlfriends who have remained in my life (specifically learndhappiness, kanyiri, and tastyeats)
-to my mom
-and to my bestie for 10 years running - whom I call Ho-Bag

As my friend Scott says, living successfully with diabetes has a lot more to do with living than it does diabetes. These ladies help me do the living part with humor, support, and exceptional style.

This post was written as part of NHBPM - 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J.