New Friends

The one thing I have struggled with a lot over the last few months, and which I knew would be the hardest part of this move, is making friends.  I've been away from Australia for so long that the people I know are a different sort of friend now.  We are no longer "pop down for a coffee" or "go out for a drink and dinner" kind of friends. It's too hard to do that when you live on the oppposite side of the world!  So instead I have a half dozen friends that are "email and annual visit" friends. And they are spread all over Sydney!  Most of them work too so I have quickly come to the realisation that I've gotta get new friends! Not to replace the old, but to supplement them :)  I have quietly been going mad with only a 6 month old baby to talk to during the day.  Or maybe not so quietly. Turns out that I get quite bitchy sometimes when I'm not happy.  So for Fritz's sake I am currently conducting Operation "New Friends"!

So I went online to find out about a local mother's group or something similar.  I found a website with a message board that had a few messages posted in the last few months of other ladies in the same boat as me.  Long story short, we caught up for a coffee yesterday and it was great!  Sara has a little girl in kindergarten and a little boy who is 2 months older than Mr. Baby.  Kelly is a Brit and she has a little girl who is 4 months older than Mr. Baby - she's married to an Australian so we are in a similar situation.  They are both really friendly and it was just so nice to chat to a couple of lovely people. So next week we are going to have lunch.  I'm really looking forward to it. 

In addition, next week on Monday Mr. Baby will be spending one whole hour at an occasional care place.  It's basically a childcare center that you pay by the hour (as the name suggests really....).  Mr. Baby doesn't get to see many people during the week so I think it will be really good for him to have a few hours a week  away from his mummy.  It will be a really stimulating environment for him with all the other kids and the carers around and I think it's a good idea for him to learn how to be ok with a babysitter :)  I am quite excited to have a whole hour to myself to go and have a cup of coffee. I plan to get a magazine and sit down with a coffee in the shops and not think about the baby for that whole time!   We'll try to build him up to a few hours and each week he'll have a chance to see other people and I will get a little bit of time to do some stuff too!

Now I am well aware that these things sound really quite minor (and 7 months ago I'd be thinking "coffee with some people and a babysitter - big deal!") but they represent a big change for me (not to mention the baby) and will make a huge difference to me feeling like I am more than just a 24/7 nanny.  Not that I don't love taking care of Mr. Baby, but I need to do more than that and have just a few hours a week when I'm just me, not the mummy. It's the toughest part of the job I now have - you are never off the clock!  And I thought my old job had long hours...

So that is what is happening in my world for now!