Recruiting Parenting Friends

Another Friday night goes by as my husband and I stare at each other, sipping our Blue Moons, listening to music and hanging out with the girls. This is somewhat of a typical Friday night for us and we love it, especially after a long work week but sometimes we want to hang out with other people that are in the same boat as us. Other parents. A funny thing happens when you become parents; you’re not exactly in the party and club scene (not that I really was, at least not all the time) and you haven’t exactly found a lot of other people in your stage of life either. At least for us, we haven’t found out groove in that area. There’s this weird in between phase of “we’re-young-parents-we-still-want-to-hang-out-just-not-necessarily-go-out-all-of-the-time-maybe-we-can-all-get-together-with-our-kids-and-chill? Or no?

I have a girlfriend who lives about 5 minutes away. From time to time her and her husband and their 3-year old daughter come and hang out or we’ll go over to their house. It’s perfect, the girls all play together, and the grown-ups drink (responsibly, of course) while sharing some laughs. We’ve spent nights in stitches, laughing only the way someone you’ve shared a lot of history with can make you laugh. I miss that.

But recently, we haven’t seen each other much. Life has gotten in the way, I guess, not for us but for them. It seems that there’s always an excuse; someone is sick or tired or both. My husband and I are realizing that maybe they’re just not that into us anymore.

So, we’re in the market for new same-stage-in-life-friends. It’s funny and awkward. You’re never too old to make new friends but it’s not easy, especially when you’re checking out the entire family’s compatibility with your family. We’re now those weird people that check out other people in hopes of finding new Friday night companionship. And play dates and BBQ’s and happy hours. All the fun stuff you do with your friends.

Have you looked for new friends since becoming a parent? Do you ever see other families or couples and think to yourself, “we could totally be friends”?