Being a mom can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also feel really lonely and isolating too. It takes a village to raise a child, but not all of us have that village naturally. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t find that village and community you need, and it’s not just beneficial for you, but for your child too. In this article, we go over some of our top tips on finding community locally as a mom here in Tifton and the surrounding area.
Meet up with moms at local events.
One of the best ways you can find community is by meeting up with other moms locally, and you don’t always have to make this happen yourself. Story time or another program at the local library, Moms & Mugs at Hive & Home Homestead and Apiary, the moms walking group at Northside Baptist, strolling at the Farmer’s Market—these are all great opportunities for you to make connections with other moms who are in the same place at the same time. If you are toddler mom or homeschool mom in particular, there are a lot of local happenings to connect you with other moms in the same boat. If your child is in school though, you can meet with other moms and parents at different school events and joining the PTA.
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Don’t be afraid to make the first move.
Whether you’re at story time, a homeschool group, or just playing with your kids at the park, you have the chance to interact with other moms. You just have to get out of your comfort zone and be okay with making the first move. Strike up a conversation about your kids, how much you like the park, what brought you there, how much you like their outfit, or whatever it might be. You just need to get the conversation started, and a relationship can grow from there. In that same vein, you also don’t need to be afraid to ask to exchange numbers and try to meet up with them more if you really hit it off. They’re not going to think you’re weird—they’re probably looking for connection and relationship as much as you are.
Join a local church.
This suggestion might not be for everyone, but if you are religious and feel like you might want to join a church, it can be a great way to meet people. Not only can you meet other parents (and your kids meet other kids), but you also typically have even more of an extended community and that “village” so many of us are looking for. Seeing roughly the same group of people every week gives you plenty of opportunities to get to know them. After having a new baby and a death in our family, our church showed up with meals and support in a way we wouldn’t have had before we started going to that church.
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Get to know your neighbors.
Many of us are not connected our neighbors in the same way our mothers or grandmothers would have been a generation or two ago, but this is a great place to start in getting to know other moms, especially if you have a lot of young families in your neighborhood. While it can be fun to host some of your neighbors or make a homemade treat to deliver to them, those can be big asks and hard to accomplish. Getting to know your neighbors can be as simple as asking another mom if she wants to walk around the block with you, striking up a conversation with someone while they’re at the mailbox, or sharing something you might have too much of (local produce, flowers from your yard, etc.). It doesn’t have to be overly complicated, especially when you’re just trying to start.
Join a local Facebook group.
Another great way to make local connections is through some of our local Facebook groups like Let’s Talk Tifton, Moms of Tifton, Mama & Me Walking Group, Homeschoolers of Tifton/Tift Co, and any others that you might know of.
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Create your own.
Not all of us are able to go to programs at the library or other mom meetups. We might not live near a lot of people or not near young families. We might not know of any local churches we feel comfortable at. These can all be valid excuses that make it harder to find community as a mom, but if you’re still craving that connection, try to create your own. You’re already doing this just by striking up a conversation with another mom at the park and exchanging numbers or talking to that mom walking her baby around your block, but you can take this a step farther too. Get a group of moms you know together for a monthly dinner or weekly Bible study, kids in tow. Invite some young families you’d like to get to know better over for a potluck dinner or for a picnic lunch at the park one weekend. Our society is not set up for easy connections in the way that it was even a couple generations ago. We don’t know our neighbors, and we don’t have to. We’re not as active in civic clubs or churches, yet we still crave that connection and community. We need it! And if that’s true for you, you might need to put in some work and effort to create that community you need, especially if you struggle to find it elsewhere.
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Tifton Moms is a resource dedicated to the moms and families of Tifton, Georgia and beyond to help them find the information they need about events in Tifton and Southwest Georgia, resources in Tifton and beyond, educational tips, and so much more. We are passionate about all things parenting and our community, and we want to connect you to relevant resources, local businesses, can’t-miss events, and each other! Find more helpful articles at https://tiftonmoms.com/blog/.
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