By Stacy DeBroff 

MOM-NETWORKING STAPLES

1. The children's section of your local library. It's a magnet for Moms. Check out the library story times for infants, or just take your brood for a weekly trip to pick out some books. This is multi-tasking at its best, you can enrich your children and make new mom friends!

2. On trips to the mall go to the kids' play section. Even with babies, Moms are putting their feet up and looking for some engaging conversation.

3. A leader-run Mom's group is an ideal way to meet new friends. There’s nothing like sharing concerns to build intimacy. Out of 7 women in my first new Mom group, I have become best of friends of two of them, and our friendships are going strong 14 years later. Churches, temples, park and recreation departments, and hospitals often offer facilitated parent groups.

4. Become a joiner. Sign up for a variety of community-sponsored playgroups, and hook up with the Moms' groups in your area.

5. Check out lots of different playgrounds and parks: even if it means going a neighborhood or town over, so you'll meet lots of different Moms. Share a laugh over children's antics and strike up conversations.

6. Find out about what kids activities and groups your town's Parks & Rec Department sponsors.

7. Find a local gym with a high quality childcare facility and meet the other Moms at drop off and pick up.
8. Be proactive: Put up a flyer that you're looking to organize a local Mom's group with others who have kids the same age in local children clothing stores and or your pediatrician office. Remember if you are looking for mom friends, others are also. It is just a matter or connecting.

9. Walk the dog with your baby in the stroller. Other Moms struggling to do both will stop and share a laugh.

10. Invite Moms you meet along the way, such as at the playground, fast food restaurant playground, or grocery store checkout line, to grab a cup of coffee.

11. Sign up for Mommy & Me, tumbling, swimming, and music classes, and see which has Moms you like the most.

12. Check out national groups with local chapters, such as Mothers & More or Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS).

13. Check out Stroller Strides for new Moms to walk with.

14. Enroll in some exercise classes at your gym. You are likely to meet other moms struggling to loose that baby weight, and maybe even find a new workout buddy.

15. Keep your eyes and ears out for moms who have just moved in to your neighborhood. Chances are they are looking to meet local mom friends as well. Don’t be shy about knocking on their doors with a little welcome to the neighborhood gift. They will probably be eager to connect and get the low down on which creepy neighbors to avoid and how quick the town is to plow the streets when it snows.

16. If you are a stay at home mom and your spouse is still in the workforce, ask him if he has any buddies at work with wives and families. A “couples” dinner could turn into a great mom friendship.

17. Use your kids! Have a play date for your child’s favorite classmates and invite their moms over for a little mom-bonding tea party.

User Rating: / 0
PoorBest