Do you sometimes find being a mom can feel isolating? Know that you need more ‘mom friends’ in your life? We’ve got great girlfriend advice for you!

We don’t always have friends who are at (or near) the same “kid raising” stage. Getting out and finding other moms to befriend is a great way to get connected, find parenting tips, and meet new girlfriends. Girlfriend Guru JENNIFER HALL shares her suggestions for how and where to find great mom friends.

Moms need to stick together. There is so much that goes into being a mother and we need other moms to bounce everything off of.  Our fellow moms can help us gain perspective on our parenting choices, and help alleviate some of the “mom guilt” we all carry. We simply need to know that someone else “gets it.”

There are several ways to connect with other moms.  When my family relocated from one state to another the year my daughter turned three, I decided to join the local chapter of MOMS Club.  There are also MOPS and Moms Meetups.

MOMS Club is geared more towards stay-at-home moms by having most activities planned during the day (except a monthly GNO).  MOPS is faith-based, and Meetups are more random and informal.

Beyond these three, there is also your local library where you can attend story times geared towards infants through preschoolers.  Another good resource is your local Parks and Recreation Department which should offer some community classes such as Mommy and Me Yoga or Kindermusik. There is also the La Leche League where breastfeeding moms can find support.

Whichever types of connections you attempt to make, there are a few things you might want to consider.  I urge you to keep an open mind. You are going to come into contact with all sorts of different women (and perhaps some men).  The thing to remember is that you’re all moms trying to do the best you can for your kids.  You don’t have to agree with every parenting choice another mom makes in order to forge a friendship.  On the other hand, you simply may not click with some people and that’s OK too.

It is especially helpful if you can connect with a few moms who have children close in age to yours.  This will be an especially good way to bond.  That’s not to say that you should limit your interactions because moms with, say older kids, can be great to have in your back pocket for some perspective that only experience can lend.

Most importantly, if you are feeling lonely or isolated, I hope you will seek out some means of support and connection.  It will help both you and your children to get out, socialize, and have some fun!

JENNIFER HALL is a SAHM of a daughter and a son, married to a diabetic on dialysis. She enjoys knitting, scrapbooking, reading, and TV. She’s visually impaired and describes herself as anxious, traumatized, dorky, funny, real, and says her “life is a roller coaster and I’m blogging my way through it all!” As an only child, her Girlfriends are like sisters to her. She believes in learning, growing, living, loving, and laughing. She is grateful.

So, Moms – do you feel like you have enough friends? How/where do you meet your friends? Share your girlfriend advice and help other women!

Jennifer is one of our gorgeous, great Girlfriend Gurus – which means she shares her girlfriend insights and inspiration here on Girlfriendology every month. Want to join her and the dozens of other Girlfriend Gurus who we love to feature on Girlfriendology? (Visit Girlfriend Gurus.) Here’s another great blog post by Jennifer: Make time for YOU, Plan a GNO / Girl’s Night Out!

Other friendship girlfriend advice:

• Are your social media girlfriends real friends?
• Girlfriend advice for Step-Moms
• It takes a village – women supporting women

Tags: girlfriend, girlfriend advice, jennifer hall, Kindermusik, La Leche League, making new friends, mom, mom friends, parenting tips, raising kids, sahm

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 13th, 2011 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Be a Better FRIEND, FAMILY Life - relationships, mom advice, Girlfriend Gurus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.