Playgroup

One piece of advice I would give to a new mom would be to form a playgroup with other new moms.  I was so very fortunate to have stumbled upon several other new moms when S was a few months old and over time we have formed a close-knit group of seven boys all within five months of each other.  Several of the moms I knew beforehand and the others I feel like I have known forever. 

1.  Play dates.  We try to get together about once a week at a house, the park, the children's museum for social (mom and boy) interaction.  We are learning to be gentle, share, not throw at - all things I can't replicate alone at home with S.

2.  Email.  This is our primary means of communication.  We vent, celebrate, vent, plan, joke, vent.

3. "Professional Development."  We have grown professionally as mothers through attending a CPR class and having a book discussion on a popular parenting/discipline book (I may discuss this in another post one day).

4.  MNO (Mom's Night Out).  Self explanatory.

I am so thankful for my playgroup and don't know how I would have survived the first year (and future years) without their support.  I look forward to the day when S is fifteen and says, "We've been friends since we were babies."