This is a guest post by Beckie Whitehouse from Be Confident Coaching.
We have just met up with some old friends who no longer live here. It’s great to catch up with them. We first met when our oldest were both under a year at our local toddler group.
Then we used to get together once a week to try and get the boys to do some cooking or a craft together, followed by tea.
It can be so disheartening as a Mum when you get everything out and ready and within ten minutes the kids have had enough and you are left to tidy it all up again. Our boys were so like that.
It was so much easier to have someone to share that with, and to help clear up the mess of both the children and the activity. Honestly, this would take longer than the getting ready in the first place!
Its so much less depressing with someone to have adult conversation and put life back into some kind of normal perspective with.
I have found that invaluable, along with vast numbers of cups of tea and pieces of cake. Without it I may seriously have completely lost my marbles!
One of the most succesful activities we ever did with the boys was pizza making – maybe because they got to eat the results for tea.
Together, also we went through the pregnancies of our second children with our girls being born two weeks apart.
We continued to get together even after the girls were born. They would roll around under the playgym together while we organised the boys.
Sadly, we were all separated by a move abroad for work but those bonds of early motherhood have not been broken and the kids still get on really well and are always really excited to see each other even if we can only manage a couple of hours.
But what I really remember and cherish is that supprt and friendship in what sometimes can be a daunting job with long hours, particularly before the children were at preschool and school. There is an African saying that it takes a village to raise a child.
We mums can build our villages with our friends and families to help and support us in bringing up our children.
Do you find doing activities with family and friends helps? If so, what – and have you got any craft tales to tell too!
Beckie Whitehouse
Beckie is a mum to three kids, and works in the Cambridge area as a coach. Feel free to get in contact for a no obligation discussion.