Did you ever think we would be in a place of having virtual hangouts? It’s funny, for years our oldest has played video games online with his friends. I would laughingly say “oh are you playing with your friends in there.” Now we’ve come to a point where we either hang out with our “friends in there” or risk removing social interaction all together.
When I first created our Mommy Mixer group I did it as a way for moms to meet IN REAL LIFE. There are countless mommy Facebook groups. Some are moms looking for advice or inspiration. Others the moms share a common due date or just share funny things. The majority of these moms will never meet in person. These groups are great and definitely fill a void and serve a purpose. However, this was not what Mommy Mixer was about.
Mommy Mixer was more to bring local moms together so they could make mommy friends. If they hit it off maybe they would have play-dates together or double date or take an exercise class together. Watching this group evolve has been such a heart-warming thing. These moms have been to each other’s children’s birthday parties, they laughed, shared secrets and even cried together.
Many of our regular attendees plan their spouse’s travel, their vacations and their work events around Mommy Mixer. It’s always the second Tuesday of the month. I’ve heard some of our mommies say, “I was invited to another event but it’s Mommy Mixer night so I can’t do that!” Often times by Thursday I’m hearing, “that was the best mommy mixer yet” or “I already can’t wait for next month!”
Obviously as I was watching the quarantine unfold my heart began to get a little heavy. I was thinking to myself, are we really not going to be able to have Mommy Mixer. And I was truly sad. I am a healthcare provider and the definition of health is a state of physical, mental and SOCIAL well-being not merely the absence of sickness and infirmity. I started thinking now more then ever our moms need the social component so they can thrive.
The secret to survival is the ability to adapt! So, guess what, we adapted!! Rather than miss our monthly evening filled with laughs, stories and fun, we took it digital. We got to reconnect with our mommy friends we so miss seeing in person while also meeting some new ones!
Instead of being sad we took our lemons and made lemonade! I couldn’t provide wine and healthy snacks but I could still provide fun. Last week was our first virtual Mommy Mixer and you know what? It was still a blast. Hopefully life will return back to normal very soon and I will be able to give all my mommy friends big fat hugs in real life. But for now, I’m grateful to still be able to have these virtual hangouts.
I am grateful that we have the technology available to us to be able to adapt and continue building meaningful relationships. People you know you can count on for a listening ear, a fun night out or maybe just a genuine smile.
If you are a Seacoast area mommy looking to make new mommy friends, plan to join us Tuesday May 12th. We may be live or we may have another of our virtual hangouts, who knows? For now all I know is we will get together and we will have fun!
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