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Trying to make new mama friends is a lot like entering the dating
pool again, even down to the pick-up lines. Don’t be surprised if
you find yourself asking another new mama: “Come here often?”
at the playground. It can all seem a bit forced, but having a
new baby, levels the playing fields and more often than not the
new mama you’re trying to pick up will welcome your cheesy
icebreaker with a smile and some sort of complaint about how
her little one kept her up for hours last night.
Use social media to your advantage. If you happen to see that a
friend of a friend on Facebook just had a baby, ask your mutual
friend to introduce you. There are also many new apps for mamas
that will help geographically pair you with like-minded mamas
in your area that are looking for playdates. I used to call these
blind meet-ups ‘mum dates’ and had my fair share of strange
experiences. I once attended a mummy-meet-up of mums who
thought sharing bottles was normal. When one of them asked
if her baby could drink from my son’s bottle before he had a
chance to finish his milk I politely said no and then legged it. Then
there was another mama I had a first date with that didn’t believe
in vaccinating her baby... my string of bad dates became dinner
fodder for my husband every night. However, I did finally meet
a couple of new mamas who were just the right mix of feminist
and sarcastic as I was. One I met in a playgroup and the other I
met through my son’s nursery school. Today, I no longer call them
mama friends, they’re just friends that also happen to be mamas.
How can I meet other expectant
or new mamas in my local area
without seeming like a stalker?