Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Tuesday Talk: Making New Friends

Hi friends!!  I want to talk about making NEW friends today.  It something that I've found myself having to do a lot in recent years and it's HARD.  I've found that it can be isolating to be a stay at home mom so you've got to go above and beyond to make friends.  I've never lived in a neighborhood with lots of other SAHM's, but I certainly think that would be a blast.  My hope is that I can find some new mom friends nearby that will have kids that Olive can get to be friends with, too.  That way we are both making friends and interacting with people on our level.

I've had great success making friends through:
Daytime Bible Studies
Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)
MOPS groups
Neighbors
Church
Co-Workers 
Blogging/Blogger Meet Ups

Now that we are in a new city, I am checking out what my city has to offer during the day.  I don't like to commit to things in the evening when my husband is home so I'm really focusing on activities that my daughter and I can go to during the day.  We've tried play dates, visiting the park, our library and meeting our neighbors so far.

I'm hoping to pursue the following areas to make some friends:

getting a membership to the local CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
going to STORY TIMES at the library 
checking into GYMs that offer free childcare
joining a local MOM'S GROUPS
hanging out at the PARK 
finding a CHURCH
attending kid friendly activities in the COMMUNITY

Where have you made 
your best friends as an adult?

I have to remind myself that friends come in all shapes and sizes, all ages and all stages.  They don't have to be just like me or have a daughter or have a toddler to be a great new friends.  I'm keeping an open mind and my eyes peeled for potential friends everywhere I go :)  I think a friendly face and a big smile will go a long way!  Wish me luck :)
 

Time to link up your favorite post with the Tuesday Talk Ladies this week.
Hop around and find some great posts and great bloggers.
We had 111 bloggers link up with us last week!
FYI: Michelle @ Grammie Time is hosting a fun Fall giveaway this week :)

(Starting from the upper left:)
Beth - Our Pretty Little Girls ~ Michelle - Grammie Time
Keri - Living In This Season  ~ Christina - Waltzing In Beauty
Tara - Mrs. Coach Sims ~ Lauren - Simply Free
Jess and Katie - Sweet Little Ones ~ Whitney - Polka Dotty Place
Becky - BYBMG ~ Elizabeth - All Kinds Of Things
Emily - Morning Motivated Mom 
Polka-Dotty Place

11 comments:

  1. Making friends as an adult has been really hard for me! I used to work with a lot of my friends, and my sister lived in town or in my house for about 5 1/2 years. After I left that job and Alli got married, I realized I hadn't done a good job of making friends outside of those two places! I'm still working on finding new friends...I've considered BSF but haven't found one that works with my schedule yet. You inspire me to keep at it! :)

    http://comehomeforcomfort.com

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  2. Making friends as an adult is definitely tough! Especially when you're not working! I went through that struggle big time this past year, but we definitely have a great little group here now. I wish I would have given myself more grace and patience because it does take a bit of time. Having kids would have helped that process I think, I feel like there is so much to do with them, ha!

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  3. I am moving next week and I need to make a whole bunch of new friends and I am so scared. It is so tough putting yourself out there when you are new and I hope my transition to making new friends will be an easy one. It does help that I am moving for school so everyone will be in the same boat, but sometimes I find it hard to get out and socialise so I hope that I can manage that!
    I hope you and Olive find some great friends, it will take time but I am sure the more things you do the more friends you'll make:)

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  4. I wish it were easier to make new friends. I have the same friends since high school and college. Zero of my friends have kids around my age. It can be very lonely. I have work friends but we don't do things outside of work which is okay with me right now since being with Jack is my priority after I get off work. I completely understand needing to make friends for during the day and having friends around Olive's age will be great. Olive looks so social that you will have a full calendar before you know it.

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  5. It is difficult to make new friends as an adult. So, so difficult. I think the last time I made a new friends as an adult it was through a shared love for teaching Natural Family Planning. Before that, it was in grad school - we sat next to each other and became friends. As an introvert with social anxiety, the ONLY place I can muster up the courage to even try to make new friends is Church. I've thought perhaps that I would make friends with the moms at my son's school...but apparently they all made friends last year during Kindergarten and they don't seem interested in making space for a newcomer. C'est la vie, I suppose.

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  6. It's hard to put yourself out there as adult too but the ways you've found new friendships sounds just like my experience. I meet some amazing people through my Moms group which is based on Meetup.

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  7. Making friends is so much harder when you move every few years, haha. Luckily, I've found three fellow Hokie ladies here in Colorado.

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  8. When I look back it was easier to make friends when you have children. They bond you together. As an adult, we get a little too set in our ways and life gets busier. I think the number one thing is people don't reach out. We wait for others to invite us and yet, they are waiting for us to invite them. One just has to take the initiative to get the ball rolling. It has to start somewhere.

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  9. Loved this post. I love the reminder that they can be all ages. I have some neighbors that are absolutely my good friends, and none of them are my age. We are s-l-o-w-l-y connecting at our co-op. I think it just takes time and familiarity. (Seeing the same faces week after week.) I'm just so thankful that my husband is my "bestie." I think there is so much pressure to have a BFF, but my family are my BFFs! :-)

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  10. Well besides my blogging friends (hehe) My best friends have always been made through church. However I did meet "my Anna" through my husband. Our husbands worked together and we both ended up pregnant at the same time. We instantly knew we HAD to meet so we did around 6-7 weeks pregnant. Our youngest kids were due 2 days apart and we have been pretty inseparable ever since. You just never know when or where God is going to bring someone special into your life.

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  11. This is so hard because you don't want to be creepy and say 'you want to hang out?' Haha. We have had some alumni move into the area and gotten together, Dan's first job had a lot of people his age so we hang out with them, and the newest is the mom's at daycare. They all have their first child Olivia's age and its so fun to all get together.

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