I often say to myself and others
"I cannot believe that I spent the first 18 months with Ruby alone". Sure I had my family close by and an adoring husband. But I was alone. Without any friends who were moms, and without any playdates or nights out with moms that I could relate to. I simply cannot believe it.
Since Ruby was born, and before, I have worked full time. I work for my self and own a
PR firm as well as the
DailyStroll, so I have a zillion friends online (
not the shady kind who you aren't sure if they are an 80 year old man emailing you), but real legitimate friends who are fellow mom entreprenurs like me. See for a living I launch and manage the PR campaigns for designers of baby, maternity, and toddler goods. I also discover these designers and showcase them on the DailyStroll to thousands of parents everyday around the world. So moms are my business and I am surrounded by them.
My clients are from all over the United States and Canada and I work on and off during the day from about 8am to 11pm and also on weekends. In the beginning before my blackberry, Ruby and I barely left the house. I am very close with some of these women because we share so much in common, we chat often, and it's almost like it is not even work. I love it, but at a point when Ruby (now 5) was about 18 months and we moved within the Capital District to a new house, it hit me. I have no other friends who are moms. My
husband and I were sort of pioneers in that respect. He is a rock star and so are most of his/our friends. They were living it up on tour buses and we were home with a baby. This was great, but we were on a different path now.
In our new town of Niskayuna/Schenectady I found a local moms group and managed to make some playdates and nights out here and there. But for me, a working mom, I was still on a different path than a lot of the other moms I met, and I couldn't always make the morning playdates because in order to get work done Ruby had to go to daycare. Things have shifted a lot in the last few years. Elkë was born and as Ruby got older and involved in more things like preschool and going to the park, I met more moms and formed more bonds. When we moved from Niskayuna last summer, I really missed my local friends. Niskayuna is not that far away, but when you just need someone to meet you at a park for a half hour to fill up some time instead of staying home and ripping your hair out, it is just too far away.
I had made so many friends online and still cherish those relationships, but I also made a friend through the DailyStroll who would be the answer to what I needed and what she and I knew so many moms in my new area would need. We needed Saratoga Mama. Elizabeth was and is a loyal fan of the DailyStroll and we chatted a lot via email for months. Her husband was convinced that
she was chatting with an 80 year old man and that I didn't exist. Luckily for the both of us we were legit. We joked last spring that we should start a "Shoot the Shit" club. Because I found myself to be a failure at my mom's group Book Club, and other mainstream mom's group things that were going on in the former organization that I had belonged to. Finally in the fall of 2008, we said, no really- let's do it.
Why not a "mainstream moms group"? Well- I felt stressed at the community aspect of a moms group and I think Elizabeth did too. Plus, Saratoga already has several. While I enjoyed having new friends, I always felt like the group organizers needed something from me. Fees, bi-law voting, etc. I would have been very happy to cook meals for moms who just came home from the hospital with a bundle of joy, or to open the community center every Thursday, but I couldn't make those commitments. I have a full time job plus 2 small kids at home.
We wanted to organize and launch a moms group that breaks the mold. I think that I can speak for the both of us when I say that we are so excited, honored, and lucky to have found all of the Saratoga Mama members so far. We had high hopes that the group would be one that would fill a void for moms all over Saratoga County who needed exactly what we are providing. We provide information to our moms, but all we ask in return is that you join us at meet-ups and night's out events. No bi-laws, no forum, no responsiblities. We figure, you are adults, you run households, have jobs, have great kids, when you are out at one of our events, you can make friends with you who like, and we will all become a close community. We will rally around a member who just gave birth and needs some meals, we will naturally divide off and have our own book club if we choose to. But no stress. A laid back group of moms who know that it is important to leave the house and meet-up for playdates, and it is important to take time for yourself and have a night out.
We also came up with the concept of the
s.m. Token because we are both savvy entreprenurs and we know that it is important to shop locally, and that we live in an amazing area to do it in. The merchants and the moms who have the token are giddy when they talk about it and that makes us giddy too! So giddy up Saratoga Mama's and thanks for being a part of our organization. No mama should have to endure the joys and trials of motherhood alone.
{lizzie}
