Did you just move to Atlanta? Me, too! (Technically, we moved back after 5 years away. But I left as a newly-married, just-started-my-career woman and came back as a SAHM. Atlanta is not the same city I left.)
On top of the “just moved back” challenge, I also have only one local SAHM friend. Who lives on the other side of the perimeter. (When it comes to toddler schedules and Atlanta traffic, she might as well be in another state).
I went for walks. Lots of walks, looking for someone, anyone with a stroller. I rehearsed several ways to casually ask for said stroller-pusher’s phone number. I learned that, when it’s very hot or very cold, the people who go for walks tend to have dogs. The people with kids stay inside.
So I searched the internet for “things to do with one-year-olds” and found the Atlanta Area Moms Blog and Candence’s post from a year ago. (Go read it. She speaks my heart.) To my fellow moms who just moved here, moms who are the first of their friends, moms who find themselves feeling lonely–here’s what I learned:
You are not alone.
I did eventually meet a neighbor with two little girls. While we were talking, another woman pulled over in her mini-van and said, “You have a stroller and a little one. I think our kids might be the same age.” (I checked my local Atlanta Area Moms Blog Neighborhood Group (now called The Village) and there were 5 posts from moms who just moved here.)
Be fearless.
It takes a brave mama to go on a blind date looking for friends, but six other brave mamas showed up. It takes a brave mama to pull over her car and say, “Hi. You have a stroller, too,” but we exchanged numbers. Go ahead, be brave.
Make it easy to say “yes.”
And be ready to say “yes” yourself. Instead of agreeing to “get together sometime,” go ahead and plan the “sometime.” Pick a park and meet there. Meet up for a walk around the neighborhood tomorrow. (And make the drive to the other side of the perimeter. It’s worth it.)
I’m going to be brave today–let’s be friends!
