Something weird happens when you have a baby.
After spending years going about your life, ignoring everyone who walks past you, sits near you on the bus/train, or is drinking a latte at the next table in Starbucks, everything changes.
You suddenly find other mums talk to you. They strike up a conversation, and not just in a ‘Is that your £1 on the floor?’ way or an ‘Are you in the queue?’ way. They talk to you because they’re genuinely interested in you and your baby. Admittedly, a lot of this is down to that sheer craving for adult conversation you feel when you have a newborn. But now, eight months down the line, I think nothing of chatting to a mum while we wait for a lift (oh God, how I miss jumping on an escalator!).
A couple of months ago, I got talking to a mum with a very young baby in Mothercare. She looked tired, harrassed and on the edge – I could feel her pain. She mentioned she was going to look for some nursing tops next, and I just mentioned a tip I’d read in a magazine – to buy cheap vests from Primark, cut a horizontal slit along the front and just wear them under any normal top. Well. She looked like she wanted to kiss me. “You have made my DAY!” she said, as we left the store. I felt so chuffed that we’d got talking and that my tip seemed to cheer her so much.
Today, I was waiting at a crossing in Bromley when another mum with a buggy commented on my baby’s cute hair. We got into conversation and it turns out she lives in the next street to me and her baby is two months younger than mine. But, get this – we swapped numbers! How bizarre-yet-amazing is that?
Like I said, when you have a baby, something weird happens.
Where I made my new friend
So true! Not only did I notice other moms talk to me, but me (a very introverted person) can now easily strike up conversations with others. Maybe it’s the work that goes into being a mom that bonds us together – we sympathize and empathize with each other and rejoice together in all the blessings of being a mom.
Another good thing about talking to moms, is you get good tips like the one you gave about nursing tops (thank you for that by the way!). I wanted to pass this along – the Mom’s Guide to Caring for Little Teeth (http://www.1dental.com/moms-guide/). It has practical information for newborns to teenagers. I wish I had it with my first.
I agree! In fact, it’s not just other mums who talk to me in the street now, it’s the old dears in the park and the local butcher. Goodness. Everyone talks to me except children of school age – I am clearly just another frazzled, frumpy old mum!