Thursday 28 February 2013

Girls' Night

Last weekend I was invited to a:



The invitation read:

No trying to fit into some hot pair of non-mom jeans,
no sweaty 19-year-old dudes, no cover charge, and NO KIDS!
Just a bunch of ladies, calories, and uninterrupted
conversations. Plus, maybe you will leave with a
new outfit or two for you and your kiddos!


Like most parents, I don't get out much.  Especially just to hang out with friends.  So, although I often shy away from social situations, especially ones in which I don't know everyone there really well, I was excited to accept the invitation and have the chance to hang out with some other moms and women.

The evening wasn't anything exceptionally exciting.  We stayed in.  Drank wine.  Ate sweet treats.  Played board games. Swapped clothing.  And talked. 

It was a really good evening.  I laughed, I enjoyed myself, and I appreciated the opportunity to listen and share.
 
In fact, the evening really reminded me how important it is to get out of the house, away from our husbands and kids and maternal roles.  Time to be yourself, by yourself, with your peers.  No children to distract us from talking about stuff.  Stuff that really mattered to us.  And stuff that doesn't really matter at all.

It was reassuring to talk things out with other like-minded moms and women.  We talked about children sleeping in our beds, trying to fit into pre-parenthood clothes, trash-y television shows, vacations with kids, toiletting experiences in exotic countries, how our tempers have worsened with children, what we remember from our own childhoods, what we hope our children don't remember from theirs, crazy stories about things our kids have done, and how things do seem to get a little easier with time.

The experience actually reminded me a little of the pre-natal classes and mom's groups that I was part of way back when... before the little lives and routines of our children got a little too complicated to fit in women-only social activities. 

Just as before, it was such a comfort to talk things through with other women.  To hear that we're not alone in some of the challenges we face every day.

1 comment:

  1. I am glad you came! It is soooo nice to spend time with other ladies, especially without the little munchkins interrupting us every two seconds! I think as women we need to remember to carve out time like that with other women; it is so important. No matter how great our husbands are, they could never provide the insight and camaraderie that other women can.

    ReplyDelete