I can't believe my maternity leave is over soon and I haven't really made any new mom friends (just the ones I already knew), what is wrong with me? I feel like there are these clicks in playgroups or other mom and baby groups, and that I feel like sometimes I am not part of these clicks? Am I intimidating to approach?
I also didn't join as many mom and baby groups as I would of liked but I also only had the car when it wasn't my husband's turn to drive to work (carpool). Was I a bad mom for not reaching out more, should I have done it so that I had a bigger support group? I feel like a lot of mothers are way better than me, when it comes to talking about their child in these groups, and then it leads to a friendship between the mothers, so why don't I have that instinct.
In my twenties I use to go out and have a million friends and make new ones all the time, but now that my "going out" is non existent, so is my socializing, weird hey?
I don't mind even making contacts for work when the opportunities come up, but for some reason, moms are so intimidating to me. I especially don't like the moms who talk like they have perfected motherhood, like they have something to prove and want to say they know everything, my blood boils.
I need to think, that just because I am going back to work, doesn't mean I can't still be in the mom loop and I can continue to find opportunities to socialize with other mothers. I also think I really have to put myself out there (oh god it sounds like I am dating all over again) because I think it will make my networking skills better for work and for life. So mother's take on the challenge of practicing networking with just other mother's, because I think you will find it rewarding. I am even going to look for resources for learning networking skills and even online social media for networking for life and for your business and report back everything I find.
Reading this I felt both guilty that I never put Max into any baby groups (although he's the most sociable kid I know so I guess it didn't hurt him any) and glad that I'm not the only mother that doesn't like other mothers ! I'm very sociable, don't have have problems with most any other setting, but other mothers with children mines age that I could so easily compare myself to (and usually unfavourably)... no thank you ! I have enough ways of finding things to feel guilty about thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteaahhh... that feels better.
Laura
Thanks Laura, we "non group mother socialize-rs" need to stick together in a unified front about the right to not be a group socializing mom and not feel guilty for it. :)
ReplyDelete