What's Your Season?

Seasons of Life!  We have many and my current season is parenting. Like anyone else, I don't want to do it alone. I'm not talking about needing a husband to help. I've got one of those, and he's good at doing it with me. I mean, the need or desire to surround myself with other moms who understand the ups & downs of this season.

I've been blessed with friends. Don't think that I'm having a pity party for someone to come befriend me. I'm blessed with great friends. However, my best friends & I have each written our own, different stories. We've done our seasons in a different order than each other, not to mention, none of us live within 20 minutes of each other.

So, I'm talking about needing a local circle of people to mommy with. I'm not the first with this need, so go ahead and stop making that face. I just might be one of the few to say it out loud!! What am I gonna do about it though?

I'm going to be intentional, that's what! I'm intentionally being friendlier, putting myself out there, seeking opportunities to make friends with other moms in the same season of life as I.

It's funny. Until #MyBoy was almost two, I didn't realize this need would come. We lived in our own little world as best friends. We did everything together. We slept at the same time, ate together, and even played together.  Then, he needed friends. He wanted to interact with people his own age, and time with mommy wasn't as sufficient.  Now, I probably did have a little pity party about that for a hot minute, but once I understood and got use to the idea of helping him make new friends, I realized this was gonna benefit me too. I'd get a new friend or two out of the deal, if I'm lucky.

Last month, I visited MOPS of Newnan. Guess what? I love it. This Friday, I'll be joining. I'll be a member of Mothers of Pre-Schoolers, a room full of lovely ladies who are in the same season of life as me. I'm excited, but it doesn't mean that I won't have any work ahead of me.

As a matter of fact, we had a great speaker at our last meeting. Melanie Dale. She's the author of "Women Are Scary: The Totally Awkward Adventure of Finding Mom Friends". Now, I'm laughing my way through this well-written, funny dialog of what the next year of my life is probably going to look like. She describes meeting new mom friends as a dating scene, having to go through all four bases again. Of course, these bases are different than when I was dating to find a husband, but they are non-the-less bases that you go through when meeting new friends.

Again, I'm blessed to already have fourth-base-friends, but I'm looking forward to going through these bases with new mom friends who will share parenthood with me in this season of my life. If you have a funny story about mom-dating, I'd love to hear it. If you want to start a dialog about your current season of life, get the conversation started. Share with me by commenting below.

If you want to get your hands on Melanie's book, find her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Actually, I'm sure she will be glad for you to become the proud owner of either one of her books by purchasing them from Unexpected.org. That's right! I did buy both of her books, so when I wrap up her first, I'll dive in to book #2, "It's Not Fair: Learning to Love the Life You Didn't Choose".