Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Mission Mom-Friends? ... Kicking My Butt! Literally!





We all know I've been on the quest for mom friends. Remember this post? The one where I described some friendly "mom-e-tition" at Gymboree? Well, two months later, I'm excited to announce that I've finally found some mommy friends. And it feels fan-freaking-tastic. And no, I didn't find them at "my-baby-is-sleeping-better-than-your-baby-oree."

How did I do it? I ventured out of my comfort zone. My little ball of cozies right here in my house. I threw that ball by the wayside. I busted outta those comfies. Why? I suddenly realized that if I didn't continue to put myself out there, then there was no way on god's green earth that I was going to make any friends. I mean, isn't that what they teach you in Kindergarten or something? Mommy friends certainly weren't walking up my driveway banging down my front door to hang out with me, so I knew I had to keep truckin'.

It all started with storytime at the local library. Carter and I love storytime. No, really. We love it. So much that I want to marry it. We're talking that kind of luuuuurve. It's full of old school nursery rhymes and Wee-Sing songs. The "teacher" reads a variety of children's books each week and leads the class in interactive songs. There's also unstructured "free play" at the end of the class where babies and mommies get  the chance to mingle. That's where I met my first mom-friend. Her name is B and her son, B is just one month older than Carter. We knew they would be the best of friends when, at the end of the first class, B reached out to Carter and gave him a big ol' squishy hug. Score 1 for mom-friends!

B lovingly took me in and added me to her mom's group email list and it's been rainbows and lollipops and botox ever since. Storytime meets every Tuesday for forty-five minutes and we're pretty much signed up to attend through February. Oh, and did I mention it's free? It's The Husband's favorite activity, too. Obviously.

Once we fell into our snazzy little Tuesday routine, I knew it was time to add another activity to the list. I researched high and low to find the perfect mom-friend venue. Gulp. I found it. In the form of some serious butt-kicking working-out-ness.

Stroller Strides.

Mommies, if you're looking for a great workout and an even better bonding opportunity for both you and your baby, this is it. Luckily, I found a fantabulous group of Mommies at the local Stroller Strides group for our county.

We meet three times per week at the local mall, early in the morning before it even opens, and we get in a serious workout. I mean, this isn't for sissies. I had anticipated a group of out of shape mommies, much like myself, huffing and puffing their way through some Richard Simmons. Boy, was I wrong!

With the use of strength bands and various objects throughout the mall, we're a bunch of singing, working out fools. Yes, I said singing. While doing tri's and bi's with our bands, we're singing The Wheels on The Bus to adorable gaggle of on-lookers in strollers. While doing high-knees and butt-kicks, we're singing Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush to our biggest fans.

We run, we plank, we push-up, we Zumba. We crunch, we jump. We do it all. And it's freaking awesome.

Errrm. Yeah. Have you ever tried singing while your heartrate is creeping closer and closer to 190? Let's just say it's not easy and I end up mouthing more words than singing them!

Once it warms up, we'll move out little workout group to the great outdoors and continue to run, plank, push-up and pretty much become serious MILF's. A girl can dream, right?

So, we meet 3x per week. At the ungodly hour of 9am. Granted, the group tends to change a bit, depending on the day. Depending on who's older kids are in school and who's working part-time this day or that. Who's hungover or who's sleeping in. Who's darling little one slept like a monster the night before and refused to cooperate before leaving the house.

We pretty much maintain a constant 5-8 mommies per class. These mommies rock. We hold each other accountable and encourage each other as we're running lap number 4 up and down the mall stairs. Needless to say I'll never look at the inside of the mall the same ever again. I will admit, however, it's great motivation.

As you're running your extra baby-weight saggies around the mall and you're passing Victoria Secret and it's scantily clad models in the window, you're thinking to yourself, "Hey, there's hope!" Granted, I will never be the next postpartum Heidi Klum, but I can at least say I tried.

Score 2 for mom-friends.

So, the moral of the story? Get out there, mommies. Be bold. Ask that new mommy if she'd like to grab a coffee. Exercise with her. Even if you haven't run in over 10 years. And you're a huffing, puffing hot mess. And you spend more time laughing at yourselves than actually running and planking and pushing up. Nine times out of ten, she's hoping to ask you the same thing...

Mission Mom-Friends? Completed.


Happy Wednesday! Wee One Wednesday will be up later this evening. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter if you haven't followed me already! You can tweet me at LvdMoreThnCrrts! Thanks for the warm welcome to Twitterville. Twitterland. Twittermania. You know.



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14 comments :

  1. That sounds like tons of fun! I'm not a stay-at-home-mom, but if I were I can imagine that it would be hard to find activities to keep my social life going! Sounds like you've found a couple of wonderful groups!

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  2. LOVE this post! You are such a trooper, and I am SO happy you found mommy friends (real-time mommy friends), unlike me over here who is still in struggle mode... but now that my baby is 2 months old, I have started back to work, and getting back into the swing of things, I may venture out and find something like you have. You have inspired me! haha!

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  3. I'm not a mom yet but that sounds like so much fun! I hope I'm fortunate to find some mommy friends when I get to be one because it's fun to have people that can relate to you. Have a great day!

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  4. I absolutely love this post! GO YOU!!!!

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  5. Dude, this is awesome! First of all, it just sounds like a great workout - and it also sounds like a lot of fun with a great group of mommies. I'm so happy you found this!

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  6. I have heard of stroller strides. Once again, living in the middle of nowhere Illinois (aka the vortex), we don't have fun things like that. Luckily, we are three blocks from the library. I can't wait to walk there this summer with Connor and tear that place apart! I can also see a park from our back window. Double score! Congrats on finding accepting mommies. They do exist!

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  7. Thanks for the tops finding mom friends! I will need it this summer!

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  8. I'm so proud of you! Will you remind me of this after I have this little one and the freezingness of winter is behind us...and I'm stuck inside the house whining about how I don't have adult interaction? Thanks!

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  9. I seriously need to do something like this! I'm just not one to throw myself out there....time to put on my big girl panties!

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  10. Good for you, momma!! I'm quite jealous that you have the guts to do things like this! I seriously need to get out of my comfort zone & make some mommy friends.

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  11. Way to go! I'm so glad you've found some good mommy friends! I need some stroller strides in my life - for my butt's sake, that is!

    I'm on twitter now too - jumpingjacktay. I have no idea how it works, but I'll be tweeting you if I ever figure it all out!

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  12. Good for you for putting yourself out there! I'm still on a mission for mom friends. The sucky part is I have yet to find a mommy group that caters to working moms. And I'm totally jealous that being somewhere by 9:00am is early to you....sigh.

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  13. I want a stroller stride class/friend! what a great idea! lose weight and have a friend! whet more could a mom want?!

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  14. Sign me up - for all of it.

    Really though....way to go getting out of your comfort zone! That's my biggest fear - that I'll be at home all by myself ALL of the time since we don't have any close friends that live here (and Houston is huge - so it's not like I can make a quick trip to the north side to see a good friend....that's an hour & a half!).

    I have a feeling I'm going to be re-reading all of your blog posts very soon! Teach me your ways!

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