Making Friends with Fellow Stay-at-Home Parents

Tips to Form Friendships with other at-home Mums and Dads

Apr 3, 2009 Wei Yin Wong

Being a stay-at-home parent can be very lonely at times. Meet and make friends with other stay-at-home parents to beat isolation and loneliness.

Loneliness, boredom and isolation are big issues faced by many stay-at-home parents. One of the best ways for stay-at-home parents to overcome isolation is by forming friendships with other at-home mums and dads. Here are some useful tips to meet and make friends with fellow stay-at-home parents.

Join a Playgroup

Many stay-at-home parents are members of playgroups, parent’s groups or mother’s groups – all designed to help parents and young children connect and socialize. These groups are found everywhere. Just check through the local newspaper, library notice boards, community centers, churches or even schools to see the options available. Attend a few sessions to see what groups benefit both parent and child. Stick to one or two where you feel most comfortable.

Meet Other Parents Online

There are many parenting websites in which members can join forums, blogs and community boards to share ideas and help one another. Parenting websites such as Netmums in the UK, Hearts at Home in the US and Kidspot in Australia all have excellent parenting resources as well as huge online parenting communities.

Befriend Other Parents at School

Once your child starts attending kindergarten, preschool or primary school, there will be lots of opportunities to befriend other parents. As stay-at-home parents have more flexible hours, they tend to hang around the school compound and chat with other parents. Join in the conversations.

Parents who feel awkward or a little shy should look out for other parents who are alone and seem a bit awkward as well. A smile, a simple hello and asking the other parent about her child will often be a good start. If the kids of both parents are in the same class or grade, there will be even more things to talk about. Meet up a few more times under the oak tree in the school yard and you’ll have other things to talk about besides the kids!

Invite Other Parents to Tea

Kids love visiting each other’s homes. So the next time your child asks for permission to invite a friend home to play with after school, extend the invitation to the friend’s mum too. If she’s free, she can have a cup of tea and chat with you while the kids play. Likewise, accept invitation to tea from other parents too. Conversations over tea can sometimes lead to long-lasting friendships!

Be an Involved Parent at School

Many stay-at-home parents are very involved in their children’s school life, readily volunteering their time to help out in the classroom, during field trips and excursions or in the school canteen. Some parents also regularly attend parent-teacher meetings. These activities give them more avenues to meet other parents with similar interests, allowing easy friendships to form.

The friendship and support that stay-at-home parents give one another is crucial. After all, these parents understand one another’s frustration, loneliness and isolation very well. To form new friendships with other stay-at-home parents, join a playgroup, meet other parents online, befriend other parents at school, invite other parents to tea and be an involved parent.

The copyright of the article Making Friends with Fellow Stay-at-Home Parents in Stay-at-Home Parents is owned by Wei Yin Wong. Permission to republish Making Friends with Fellow Stay-at-Home Parents in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Befriend Other at-home Parents to Beat Loneliness