My word of the week this week, is friends, because I am incredibly grateful for the wonderful friends have in my life and honestly don’t know how I would cope without them!
Last Friday night my closest Mummy friends and I got together for a much needed catch up and meal out. We all worked together pre-children and since having our little munchkins we have gotten so close. We share the ups and the downs and though we really are all quite different, we support each other and are 100% there for each other. As one of my friends put it the other night, we are so lucky we found each other. It had been far too long since our last catch up without children and I hope we don’t leave it so long next time. We got things off our chests, shared the highs and lows of life lately and gave each other a good talking to where needed. Love my girls and I felt so happy and chilled afterwards.
I’ve also had some lovely time with some newer mummy friends this week and play dates with their little ones. Since Monkey started our local preschool I have gotten to know a few of the local mums. I am a bit of an introvert so find the playground mums thing really awkward but there are a couple of mums I really get on with. One in particular introduced me to someone as the first mummy friend she had met who she would have been friends with pre-children, which I was really touched by. She and I really click which is lovely as her eldest will be in Monkey’s class at primary school, so I think we have many years of friendship ahead of us! Some of the other mummies I chat to on the playgroup run are equally lovely and sometimes just those few mins chatting at the beginning and end of the day, sharing trials and tribulations really can make so much difference to how I feel at the end of the day.
I have also felt incredibly grateful for the friendship and support I get online as a result of my blog and social media this week. Parenting can be so hard, and after sharing a particularly low morning on Instagram and Facebook, the support and encouragement I got from cyber friends was incredible. Many are women I have never met but thanks to the internet we are able to reach out and support each other through this motherhood journey, and I am so grateful for that.
My blog has connected me to so many wonderful people, and as I can be a bit introverted as I mentioned above, I don’t always make the most of this. I shy away from blog conferences and meeting fellow bloggers purely out of shyness and a lack of confidence in myself. But this week I have finally arranged to meet up with a blogger I have admired for some time. I am nervous but we get on so well in typing that I hope we will get on as well in person!
My blog has also reconnected me with people I have lost touch with over the years. A lovely lady I met travelling 9 years ago got in touch this week and told me how much my blog helps her through her motherhood journey, and well wow, what an awesome thing. Helping anyone with my ramblings is amazing and reconnecting with a friend from my past is always lovely. There are other lovely blogging mummies that I worked with in a previous life, and I’ve mentioned before how Sarah from Run, Jump, Scrap and I have become much closer through blogging. Our husbands have been friends since childhood so it really is great when we all get together. We have arranged to meet next weekend and I am so looking forward to that! The friendship side was just something I really never expected when I started writing my little blog but it is a fantastic bonus.
The final reason that my word of the week this week is friends, is because Saturday is my birthday, and we are having a bbq in the afternoon (fingers crossed for kind weather!) with lots of family and friends over. Once again I am so grateful for having so many lovely people in my life who are coming to celebrate with me, please cross your fingers for good weather for me, otherwise we may have a slightly crowded house!
How has your week been?
Aww thanks for the mention 🙂 you too Hun. It’s so lovely you have so many great friends and they are so supportive in trying times! Also when you just need a good old glass of wine!! Xx #worw
Friends are so important. Glad you had a chance to catch up with some lovely friends and it’s great that blogging has brought friendship and support too.
Happy birthday for saturday, hope you have lovely day. x
What a lovely post. I don’t have many friends but those I do have I cherish, we don’t meet up a lot but when we do it’s always lovely. I think blogging is a great way of making new friends too. Happy birthday for Saturday, I really hope the weather holds out for your bbq.
I don’t have many friends as I have always been a shy person as well. The few I do have are very special. I find it hard to make friends and hate the whole clicky mummy thing. I have recently become a mum for the first time and dread the mummy/baby groups hence why I haven’t been to any yet. I did meet up with my bestie this week for a chat. We have known each other since we were 11 years old. xx
#wotw
A lovely post and reflection on friendships. They do keep us going, don’t they? Sounds like you’ve a lovely network around you, both in person and online. I hope your meet up goes well with your blogging friend and that you have a fabulous birthday x Thanks for sharing with #WotW
Aww! How lovely! It sounds like you have some wonderful friends.
Happy Birthday for tomorrow! Have a great day x
What a lovely post. It can be so hard to find good friends. I have two close friends – we used to work together- and we only manage to meet up two or three times a year, but when we do it’s as if we’d never been apart.
Hope you have a fantastic birthday! Xxx #Wotw
I have been hearing so much hate online but luckily like you I have friends. I dont know what I’ll do without their support!
This is such a lovely read and I am sure your friends will love you more after reading this =)
#wotw
Friends are so very important and I think it’s so important to take time out to reconnect with new and old friends. Sounds like you’ve really managed to build yourself a great friend-network and I’m sure they’ll be super proud to read this post
Hope you have a gorgeous birthday
xx
#WoTW
Friends are so very important. My mummy doesn’t have that many friends anymore since she had me. A lot of her pre-baby friends have vanished sadly. You are very lucky to have a great support network around you xx #TwinklyTuesday
I can understand, having kids really does change things and I’ve lost a lot of friends over the past few years too. The ones I have now though are the best as they stuck around and supported me xx
Having a few friends that you can actually rely on in a time of need is a thing to cherish. I think that having children and taking different paths from other friends can sometimes limit friendships. Great that you have some close friends, and I hope you had a fab birthday 🙂 #TwinklyTuesday
A fascinating read. You are lucky to have so many friends that can help you out in your journey as a parent. If you’ll forgive the link drop, here is a post and vlog I recently produced about my experiences as a stay at home father. I fear they couldn’t be more different! http://dadbloguk.com/social-isolation-dad-thing/ #truthabout
Thanks for sharing this lovely post. I’m glad the linky brought me here. It is so encouraging and I agree, friends are so important. I think for women in particular, we need those ‘Kindred Spirits’ who connect with us. Just when I think I can’t possibly meet any more lovely people, I am blessed with a few more wonderful friends…Some I have met through shared hobbies and interests (like my creative writing) and some through blogging. They are a support, an ear to listen, an encouragement. You can laugh with them and cry with them…Most importantly, many will have walked a mile in your moccasins and will really ‘get’ you and can empathise. #thetruthabout
I quite agree, friends are golden! I don’t know where I’d be without my crew of mum and dad friends. They have literally seen me through thick and thin over the last 10 years. I’m glad you have some lovely friends around you, everyone needs that. x #thetruthabout
It’s been snowing here in Hove so fingers crossed the weather is good for your BBQ – and happy birthday! #twinklytuesday
I’m intrigued to know who you’re meeting up with this week! I still intend to descend on you some time, small boys in tow 🙂 . It’s blooming hard work nurturing friendships when you’ve got kids but I think we all appreciate each other so much more too, both for the solidarity and, with child-free friends, the reminder of who we once were. Hope your birthday was lovely too! Thanks for linking up to #thetruthabout Xx
Friendship is very important, isn’t it? This is a great post, looking at so many types of friendsship. Like you, I have a new mummy friend who I think I would have got on brilliantly with pre-children too.
#thetruthabout
That’s a lovely post and so glad that you have enjoyed some time out with friends and what a lovely thing for your mummy friend to say. I do love the community side of blogging – I really feel like I have made a lot of online friendships in the two years I have been blogging and it is so lovely when I get to meet people in real life too 🙂