Our tiny love is growing smarter, funnier, and taller every day. She's already thirteen and a half months old. My husband and I have been married for nine months now and we're still working on what works best for us on multiple levels.
Being mom to our sweetheart is wonderful. Going on dates with my husband is something we're still trying to make a habit - we're okay at it, but not great. Family dates are fun, though, and we do those most often.
Our daughter's best friends at this point in her life are her dad and I. That's fine and totally normal. My husband's best friends don't all live close by, but he's pals with his coworkers and it's easy to stay after work and have a beer, or meet up at The Chimes, Old Rail, or Barley Oak with any of them or an old fraternity brother one afternoon after work.
Ready for the "woe is me" part? I don't work in the same city that we live in so planning things after work with friends is hard, especially with coworker friends who have kids and/or don't work the same hours. Daycare is in the city that I work in, too, so if mother-in-law isn't available, little one is along for the ride, which limits my time out and conversation to her wanting attention and to entertain us. My friends without children are more than likely still single, which is fine, but at this point in my life, it's easier or more comfortable to be with mom friends. I still love my single friends just as much, but it's inevitable that I'm going to talk about my daughter and parenting.
Making mom friends is hard because of said reasons, but also because of parenting styles, stay at home moms (SAHM) versus working moms, the age(s) of your offspring, work schedules, other plans or routines, etc. In fact, I recently volunteered at a consignment sale hoping I could meet some new mom friends to hang out with. What ended up happening was me mostly working alone, listening to a SAHM homeschooler mom talk about some issues she and her husband were having, and buying some childproofing items. All the volunteers who showed up that day already knew the organizers, and had for years, so I was the outsider trying to break into an already established group; not so easy at that type of event.
My brother's wife is the only regular mom friend I have, but we don't see each other as much as we'd like because I work and she organizes play dates for NOMB. That's the other issue - play dates are designed for SAHMs. The one time there was one on a weekend, there was already too much going on so we couldn't go. To me, weekends are for spending time with family that you don't get to see as much during the week, relaxing at home, getting some chores done and running errands.
Somehow, I'm supposed to have me time, have a social life, have one-on-one time with my husband, have family time, work, commute, exercise, and get enough sleep along with everything else. I'm a little jealous of my husband's social life; it's not huge, but it's more than what I have.
Anyone interested in a mom's night out soon? Or a meet up with the kids at one of the St. Patrick's Day parades on a Sunday (I have to work this Saturday)?
