Therapy

I probably talk to my very best friend, Stephanie, wayyyyy too much.  I am embarrassed to say that we talk at least once a day and sometimes more.  And we talk about everything (the good, the bad and the ugly).  I think that our husbands probably roll their eyes at the bits of conversations they are privy to as we walk in and out of the room. "I totally don't agree with you.  Dylan from 90210 invented big hair before Rob Pattinson even put it on the map."  "Do you still have that New Kids on the Block shirt I lent you back in 1991?" "If Belle is constripated, a little prune will make you think she had Indian food for lunch."

It makes me remember how good it is to have friends in your life.  I have lots of different friends.  Work friends, college friends, church friends, family, etc.  Each brings something different to the table.  There are a handful of people that I know that I can call in the middle of the night and I know they would be there.  And there are other friends that make me laugh so hard that I pee a little.  And still other friends whose judgement I would trust over any parenting book. But I am so very blessed to have each of these individuals in my life.

For several years after I moved to Dallas I felt like I lived in this little box.  All I did was go to school, and all my spare time was spent with Eric (my #1 best friend). Then I started working and all my friends revolved around work.  I think I hesitated for a really long time to put down real roots, because in the back of my mind, I never knew how long we would be in Texas.  But for the first time since we moved here, I feel....settled.  And maybe part of that comes from having Liam.  Motherhood builds an instant community.  What better way to bond than to discuss problems with someone who is experiencing the exact same thing as you. 

And what made me realize my feeling of being settled was having dinner last Friday night with a group of gals I met the summer after I had Liam.  There are about 9 of us in this bookclub, but the best part of getting together is not necessarily reading the book (although the months I can actually pull it together to read the book and discuss, I have a blast), but the surrounding chit chat.  I am immeasuribly blessed to have met all of these women.  In ways we are all different, but in more ways than one we are the same.  All of them have children older than Liam so I appreciate listening to their experiences and how they approach parenting. 

More than anything, these different friendships in my life, whether it is my childhood best friend, the women in the bookclub, my sister-in-law, my neighbor or my best work friend, all have become part of who I am.  And friendships are way cheaper than therapy.