Why you need non-mom friends

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By Katie Kavulla

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Posted: Aug 06, 2012 10:00 PM

Posted in: Home / My life / My loves

You love your time with your other mama friends, and most of the time, it’s those friends who are your day-to-day lifeline, but sometimes a mom needs some time to chat about things where the road doesn’t always lead back to potty training. Read more about why it’s necessary that every mom have a kid-less friend that she can turn to for some mom-free time and conversation.

As much as you love your kids...

... sometimes it's nice to forget that you're a mom. And as much as you love your friends who are also moms (and you're bonded to those gals in a way that you could never be bonded to your friends without kids — diaper blowout stories really bring moms together), it's hard not to revert to mom-mode and kid-talk when you're hanging out with other moms.

Spending time with a friend who isn't a mom is good for remembering exactly who you are — outside of being a mom. Sure, your non-mom friends probably love hearing about the latest antics at your house and the cute new thing your toddler did this week, but when you're with them, you're probably less likely to chat about that stuff, truly giving yourself a break from the land of mommy.

Having mom-free time makes you a better parent

And spending some kid-free time with friends does refresh you and make you appreciate the time that you're with them. Moms need balance in their life too, and although we're the first ones to preach about balance to our children, we're the last ones to find it for ourselves. And if you are feeling the need to get out of the house for some anti-mom time, we're pretty sure that spending an evening out with your non-mom friends will make you ache to get home to your kiddos and tuck them into bed! What is it that they say about true love... absence makes the heart grow fonder? Same goes for the love for your kids.

Setting a good example for your kids

Teaching your children to take care of themselves by taking time out for themselves is a great thing to teach them, even at a young age. Although they might scream and cry when you walk out the door to go spend time with your friends, it's a powerful message that you're sending about the way you treat yourself — that you need to take care of yourself and do things for yourself sometimes so that you can take care of them. It may be a message that's lost on them when they're young, but as they get older, they'll be thankful that they have a mom who has a life outside of the four walls of their home.