Recently, in an interview with Momlogic.com, Hillary Clinton offered insights on how she forged through difficult familial issues with the help of good girlfriends.
The problems surrounding MY family (food allergies, a high chaos level, our cat’s incontinence) are, obviously, vastly different than those Clinton deals with (a cheating husband, Whitewater, presidential candidacy), but I count on my grrrls just the same.
When my five-year-old was first born, I joined a PEPS (Program for Early Parenting Support) Group. I was terrified (and still in pain) that first day as I entered the living room of our facilitator’s Wallingford home.
I set down my son’s infant car seat and requested a (big, puffy) pillow on which to sit. Then twelve women, including me, proceeded to divulge deeply personal details involving birth stories parenting, marriage and everything in between.
Seven of us are still together, meeting weekly, relying on each other for sanity fixes in the form of company and commiseration. I can’t convey emphatically enough how much these women have meant to me these last several years–the most intense of my life.
So, here’s to girlfriends and all the richness they add to our lives. Girlfriends who certainly make more time for us than Hillary could. What have girlfriends meant to you during your early, mid, or late parenting years?
