I live in a small town in a far southwestern suburb of Chicago. (Okay, that's a lie.) Yes, my family and I do live in Plainfield, IL but it is far from a "small town". Twenty or so years ago, when the housing bubble began to grow... my town expanded quite a bit. (From 4,500 people in 1990 to 37,000 in 2007.) We moved here in 2006 when Abbey was 6 months old and Grace was not even 2.
When we moved here, we knew no one. It took a year to become friends with neighbors, and I joined a local Mom's group which introduced me to another few others. But, the friendships didn't really start to bloom until our girls started elementary school.
Many of you know that I'm the leader for Grace's Girl Scout troop. (A neighbor friend sucked me in...) I remember being so nervous to meet parents because I had no idea what I was doing. But now, I consider many of those Mom's friends. A mini Brownie troop of our own, in a weird way.
Today, our troop marched in our very first parade. The girls are definitely at an age where they don't need their Mommy's, so all of the Moms walked behind the girls and chatted the entire way. A few hooted and hollard and tried to pump up the crowd , some handed out candy and others hung back quietly but bobbed from one Mom to the next to say hello. I thought it was quite funny, because yes, being in the parade WAS all about the girls. But the Mom's had their own fun, and were Brownies for a day.
I had no idea the friends that I would make as a Mom. It has, no doubt, been an unexpected benefit for sure.
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