MOMS Club of Marina Del Rey and Mar Vista

If you've read any of my posts from when M was an infant you know that I had my struggles adjusting to parenthood and staying at home.  Really, what new mom doesn't?  One of the best things I did to help me get through that period, and actually every new phase of parenting since then, was to join my local MOMS Club chapter.  I tried out a few different classes, playgroups and meet-ups, but the moms I really ended up clicking with were those in the MOMS Club.  The families I met through the club are now our close friends-- the ones we vacation with, the ones who I count on to watch the boys in a pinch and the ones I call when M doesn't get into that charter school we were hoping for.  And the club now has a web site -- The MOMS Club of Marina Del Rey and Mar Vista.  So check them out!  If you live in the neighborhood consider joining.  And either way,  I really encourage any stay at home parents out there to find a group to be a part of.  Staying home with children can be wonderful, but it can also be frustrating, exhausting and lonely.  We all need people we can count on who can understand what we're going through.

Magic Friend Maker

Since childhood I've always had a hard time making friends. I'm quiet and shy and usually feel like I have nothing interesting to say (which seems to be the case, given the number of regular readers this blog has). I grew up in a military town and every year I would have one best friend and every year her family would move away by the end of the summer. You always hear about the problems military kids have making friends, but you never hear about those of us who were left behind and had to start over each year without the benefit of being the intriguing new kid. To help me deal with this problem my mother bought me a book that I still have to this day called The Magic Friend Maker about a girl who uses a special rock to make a friend after her friend moves away.

Anyway, all the months I was pregnant I was convinced that the baby would be my “magic friend maker.” He would help me find other women that I had something in common with and provide endless fodder for conversation. And I was right! There are tons of organizations out there to help new moms meet each other-- MOMS Club, Mommy & Me Classes, support groups at the Pump Station, etc, etc. In fact Baby M and I just had our first play date this week. It is so much easier to meet other women now that I'm a “mom”. When I was just “married lady whose friends all moved away because they couldn't afford to buy a home in Los Angeles” it seemed impossible to meet anyone. Now I feel like there is this whole new community that I am automatically accepted into. People often talk about how isolating motherhood is, but I felt much lonlier before baby M came along.