Mummies' catch up!

I've been a mummy for nearly 8years now and I hardly ever had a time and opportunity  to just sit down, have a coffee with other moms and talk about parenthood. I'm the only ones of my close friend who has kids so all I could share is how the kids are doing, invite them to birthday parties and that's just about where it ends. My colleagues' kids are much older than mine so no luck there either although we love comparing how parenting changed in some ways.

With Laksha as a student, I never had time to take Lucky to playgroups. Thankfully, my childminder did all that while I was at lectures. When it was study leave or the big holidays, I used to take to playgroups by felt uncomfortable. Not only was I the youngest so I got the weird glances and the forced smiles,  the other mum's already made their own intimate circle and avoided those groups. If went to one baby massage class and couldn't wait till it finished. I hated all the talking down from other mums because I was a young mum. So avoided all places where groups of mum's will gather. And that continued when I had Mahi. At weighing in clinic, I quickly weighed in Mahi and just finished it as soon as I can. Although on the inside, I so wanted to talk with other mums to hear they thought and share tips and advice, I just couldn't face the pity look and how I threw away my life so young without knowing my story. Going through parenthood with no family support is hard but to not have someone to talk about all the little things (apart from your husband) is painful. Don't get me wrong,  I am so lucky to have the friends I have. They don't have kids but the support they gave me and still give me is great! But I still can't fully open up about my full journey as a mother.

But this weekend changed things. As I was picking up Mahi from one of his best friend's tea party, I was invited to come and sit down with the other mums. I knew the moms already as we arranged play dates but with play dates , you never get the proper opportunity to catch up, relax and chat. So this was eye opening. Again, I was he youngest there but age didn't matter. There were 5 of us sharing the  ups and downs of parenthood! It was a place where you could say anything and not be judged. We were all from different cultures and had such immense respect for the different parenting styles we had. As a young mum, people are quick to 'criticise' your parenting skills and their unwanted advice. But here, I felt empowered to talk about my parenting skills and no one telling me this was bad or giving me tips on how to rise MY kids.  We loved sharing tips to help each other on some areas where we struggle as the only mom with an 'older' child, the mum's didn't have any inihibitions on asking me (ME!young mum who was always the outside mum who 'didn't know what she was doing with her life' as other mothers I met complained) about advice on primary schools, sleepovers and education! I felt so comfortable and couldn't stop talking! Before you knew it, 2hrs went by! I felt so empowered knowing that just because you have a kid young doesn't mean you are not a good parent. Parenting is different in every household and that as long as we raise good kids, age of when you had your child doesn't matter at all! I now can't wait for my next mummy meet up!