The importance of support

Little Mr A with some of his toddler group friends

When we made the decision to move away, the thing I found the hardest was leaving all the ‘mummy’ friends I had made at my local Sure Start centre.

When Little Mr A was newborn I hardly went out with him and it was so hard not having anyone to talk to and gain advice from or just generally be able to have a moan to (apart from one close friend who was at that time back at work most of the week!).

After a couple of months a friend started attending a local toddler group and I decided to go along.  Through this group we started to attend the local Sure Start Centre.

After that I started attending the toddler group once a week and various parenting courses that they ran.  Later on a messy play session was started and I took Little Mr A to that too.

I always find it quite difficult to talk to people to start with, however, after forcing myself to keep going I met lots of great people and gained a wealth of advice and support.  This support was invaluable during my year of being a weekday ‘single’ mum.  I don’t think I would have made it if it wasn’t for these groups and the people there!

When we moved to Hull I started working 4 days a week so could only go to a group 1 day a week.  Although we went along to a toddler group a few times it was really hard to speak to anyone.  Most of the people who attended were chldminders and the few parents that were there all knew each other.  With Little Mr A being that bit older I found it really difficult as he would go off to play whilst I sat on my own!  After a few weeks we stopped going.

Now Little Miss A has arrived I have started attending a baby play session at my local Sure Start Centre and am hoping to start baby massage in the new year.  The people are much friendlier and I am hoping that I can build up some new good friendships.

No matter how difficult you find meeting new people and starting that initial interaction I would encourage anyone to persevere with attending your local groups, they are an invaluable source for friendship and support.

To find your local Sure Start Centre click here.

Mums are great!

I love my Mum!  OK so we’ve had our ups and downs over the past few years but I’m glad to say we are back to being incredibly close again and are more like best friends most of the time rather than mother and daughter!

How very 80’s!

Growing up it was great having a young mum.  She was always (well nearly always!) full of energy and enthusiasm.  As I hit teenage years that’s probably the time we fell out most.  I was a moody teenager and we just didn’t really get on!

 

I was devastated when mum moved away to be with her new partner and we didn’t speak for quite some time.  I missed her like crazy, it was horrible not being able to see her and have her there for support and friendship.  Thankfully I finally saw how silly I was being and we got back in touch and haven’t looked back since.

 

As I have got older and had children of my own it has really made me appreciate everything mum did for me and I hope as a result it is making me a better mum.  I don’t think I could have got through our moving away if mum didn’t live close by.  She has been there for me so much this past year, through the good times and the bad and I hope we never lose contact again.  It is fantastic for both Little Mr A and Little Miss A to have their grandma so close by.

Best friends x

Just want to say thanks for everything mum.  I hope me and Little Miss A have such a good relationship as she gets older.  Can’t wait for our next day out together (Pulp next week!).

xxxxxx