You know the drill. Moms are busy people. Between work (in or out of the home), raising tiny people to be normal adults, making breakfast, making lunch, making dinner, laundry, keeping a *somewhat* clean house, being a full-time child Uber driver (still waiting for someone to copyright this idea), PTO, sports, class parties, trying to be an attentive wife and failing miserably (sorry, honey), hanging out with family, keeping up with holiday traditions, exercise, grocery shopping, the list could really go on and on. By the time 8:30 pm rolls around, I am D-O-N-E. Sometimes I’m fast asleep before my children, thanks to a husband who’s pretty good at the bedtime routine.
There are days when I forget who I am. I forget that I actually had a life before family life chaos set in. That I was actually a pretty fun person. I enjoyed going out with my friends; attending a fun concert or social gathering was something that I looked forward to and needed in my life. Then we had our first child and my time was slowly more focused on her, then child number two came around and that adjustment just about put our lives into a tailspin (she had a middle child personality before she was a middle child), and finally number three, and my time was no longer my own. I was mom all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and I love my children, but there was a part of me that was missing, and I could feel the void the lack of girlfriend time had on my wellbeing. I wanted desperately to have the time, energy and will power to organize a social event, a girls’ night out, or a fun night at a concert, but with three littles at home, it felt nearly impossible. And the truth of the matter is I had friends that were in the exact same boat. We were in the trenches of motherhood survival. Our kids are little and needy, and we were tired. Mom fun was put on the back burner. As my kids are growing up (a little) and I’m experiencing a little more time for myself, I realize now that was a season of life and I wasn’t the best friend during that time, but lucky for me I have amazing girlfriends who understand about #momlife.
I can’t even begin to explain the gratitude that I feel for these women that I get to call friends. These women that make up my mom tribe are all so very different, and yet we’re all the same. I am thankful for the mom friends who inspire me on a daily basis. My mom friends work a million hours and still do it all with a positive attitude and hilarious meme on our group text. Mom friends who are slow to judge and quick to listen. Moms who my kids call “aunt” because they are so close they are like family. Moms who never forget a birthday or special date in my life and who constantly call or organize a night out at just the right time. They raise me up and help me to be a better mom to my girls, and I’m not sure they realize the positive effect they have on my life.
I’m thankful for friendships that literally pick right back up where they left off like no time has passed. I’m thankful for friends that I can call when my day is crazy and I need some soccer carpool help at the last minute and there’s a good chance I won’t be able to return the favor. These ladies are my people. They are understanding when I just have to say, no, I can’t have one more thing on my plate right now. But mostly I’m thankful for the fact that they get it. They know when months pass by with radio silence that it’s not personal; it’s just a crazy busy season of life. And when someone decides to organize a girls’ trip to the winery or a girls’ night out at a concert, we’ll all gather and pick right back up like no time has passed at all.
