The More We Get Together
We all know how the song goes, right? The more we get together, the happier we'll be. We teach this idea to our children – and we surround them with social opportunities, play dates, and fun activities - but it is so important for us moms too. Motherhood. Is. So. Hard. We need to find our people, our tribe of mom friends, and we need to get together as much as we can. We need it for our sanity. We need it for our souls. We need it to swap poop stories, tantrum stories, sickness stories, and the funny-things-our-kids-say stories.
Last week a group of moms from school got together to bake challahs for the holidays. The challah part was fun, but it wasn’t really about that. It was about being together, without kids. It was about talking to each other in full sentences without being interrupted. It was about having a full thought and expressing that thought, without a small person needing your constant attention and care. It was about standing with people that know the struggle, the monotony, the hilarity, and the all-consuming love of motherhood. It was about us.
There's something so powerful and restoring about walking into a room full of women – it feels like strength. It feels like recognition for all that work we do that often goes unrecognized. For that short time, we took care of each other. We took care of ourselves. We fed our souls, and we fed our stomachs. It was exactly what I needed, and I didn't even know that I needed it.
We all needed it.
In a life where our children's needs and happiness come before our own, we aren't left with much time for ourselves. I often run myself ragged before I realize I need to take a step away. Before I realize I need a breath of fresh air. Before I realize I'm living on the brink of burnout.
Our children spend most of their days together. They have become fast friends, growing and experiencing life together. They have created family-like bonds, and they are the anchors that pull us all together. So, let's let those little hands keep pulling us. Drawing us closer to each other. Pushing us into new friendships and helping us to find the people that just know.
Let's continue to get together. Let's carve out the time and make it happen.
Because the more we get together, the happier we'll be.
