Online Community/Forum for SAHM?

[Geila]

I have a new friend who is a SAHM with 3 kids and she's feeling pretty isolated, lonely and bored without adult interaction during the day. She asked if I knew of any online forums specifically for SAHM, and I don't. I thought maybe someone here might.

One of the issues for her, as I'm sure for many SAHMs, is that childcare is so expensive. Getting out for a coffee/lunch date or even a walk with other adults is a pretty expensive endeavor. So an online community would really be helpful in filling that void. And I can imagine that being able to vent and commiserate with other SAHMs would be a huge bonus.

Any help would be appreciated!

[mamalatte]

I enjoy this one. http://www.mothering.com/forum/index.php It kind of tends toward the earthy/crunchy side, so not sure if that is a good match for your friend or not. EDITED TO ADD: (Also, it is not exclusively for stay-at-home moms).

The trick is to meet other stay-at-home moms (or dads) so you can go out together and bring the kids. Homeschooling groups can be good for this because they're always planning fun outings which usually you don't have to be a full-fledged member of the group to go to, but again, some tend to have an ideology that goes along with them so it has to be a good fit.

[Geila]

Thanks mamalatte! I'll pass this along.

My friend is young mid-late 20's and she seems to be into liberal politics/civic engagement. Around here most of the homeschooling is done for religious reasons so I don't think it would be a good fit for her. But I'll mention it anyway.

With 3 young kids, she says that going out to do stuff with other kids/parents is a lot of work. Lots of stuff to prep/haul/keep track of, and then watching to make sure that everyone is okay. Her youngest is 2 yo.

I thought about offering to babysit for her so she can have some free time but I don't think I can handle 3 little ones! I'm sure that soon it will get better, maybe when the youngest gets to around 3 or so. She just has to hang in there. Part of the difficulty is that she doesn't have any family locally so I think that makes a big difference. Luckily she's young and has lots of energy.

[KayLR]

Don't underestimate your value to this young mom, Geila. I'm not sure how old you are, but I had several older women in my circle of friends when I was a young mom and I so appreciated their friendship and encouragement. One was a real confidante.

[Float On]

I use to hang out on this board a lot. Not sure if it is still as active or not because most of us chat on facebook now but it was such a great resource when I was young and at home with kids. I've actually gone out of my way to meet up with some of the moms and when they've passed through this area on vacation I've made time to go meet them. http://www.frugal-families.com/