My number one recommendation for a new mom.....

...is to find a mommy group/class in your neighborhood. I can honestly say that if it were not for the Great Beginnings class I took at Isis the past year would have been very, VERY different for me. Isis Parenting homepage states "Babies don't come with instructions". That much is for sure. And neither does motherhood.

 
Hugh was just about a month old when we started the Great Beginnings class. Cassie, our instructor, was really great at giving us the information we needed and answering any questions we had. She was amazing at allowing the conversation going where it needed to regardless of whether it was on the schedule for that day.

What did I really take away from the class though? Friendship, first and foremost. I have probably spent more time with four women I met less than a year ago than anybody else in my life (besides Hugh and maybe my husband!).

To quote one of the greatest movies ever, Old School, there was a "tree of trust" with this group of women when we were in that circle at class for the eight weeks and every coffee/lunch since then. Each of us had our moment in the sun of complete melt down. And it was fine. There was no judgement. Just a shoulder to cry on, advice when it was asked for and silence when it was appropriate.

I am lucky enough to have close friends that had babies around the same time as I did. I have absolutely relied on them for help and support. But there is something to be said to have a group of women who all have babies who are the exact same age as yours, who didn't know you before so have no preconceptions of what kind of mother you should/will be, who have limited connections to the rest of your life, who have all had very different lives themselves. We all learned something from each other. We have all been there for each other.

Why am I thinking about this today? Because birthday party season has begun.  When you take a new mom class chances are all babies were born around the same time so will have birthdays at the same time. Go figure!

So thanks Caroline, Ashley, Kellie and Heather. Here is to many more years of friendship and support.

Now bring on the birthday cake!