With how transient most families are these days, finding a community as a mother is more important than ever. What’s been especially helpful for me is to think about community in three categories: one, my lifelong girlfriends from all different stages of life, two, my local, neighborhood community, and three, my online community that is brought together by common interests or life experience.
The lifelong friends are so important because they keep me in check, I can talk about the deep stuff and the little stuff and we don’t have to have the logistics of life get in the way.
My local community makes life happen. The carpools, meals when you have a new baby, park days, and the life experience of all different kinds of people that may live around you. It’s so important in the development of children and actually gives us as adults a huge sense of belonging as well, whether we recognize that or not.
The last category of community, the online community, can be the most enriching for what can be a sometimes isolating experience as a mom. When blogs were really in the spotlight ten years ago when I had my first, it was like a whole new world opened up to me. Solly Baby never would have happened had I not felt the energy behind the internet.
Now that we have so many platforms for connection for moms, it can sometimes feel overwhelming. As an entrepreneur, I am especially grateful for more segmented groups (heymama is my favorite!) that can really help me feel connected with other moms in the creative and business space. Especially since, with four kids, I don’t go out as much as I used to.”
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