You're Not Alone In Motherhood | Let’s Talk About Friends The Motherhood Kit

Like motherhood and marriage, friendships are constantly evolving. It can begin to feel impossible to find time to nurture all of the important relationships in your life, while still finding time to decompress alone. On this episode, Yamel is joined by friendship expert and educator Danielle Bayard Jackson to chat about the importance of relationships in motherhood, how to maintain them, and how to form new ones.
Our guest, Danielle Bayard Jackson is a publicist by day and a friendship coach by night. Creator of the Friend Forward podcast, you can find her and connect on Instagram.
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This episode is powered by One Love Doula Services, follow us on Instagram to learn more about our offerings and how you can add a doula to your birth team.For more motherhood resources, join the private Motherhood Kit community.Stay true to yourself and motherhood, but don’t feel guilty about wanting to maintain some of your identity. Whether moments with friends involve the entire family or a “girl’s only”, mommy-getaway; being an example of prioritizing healthy relationships with other women is necessary for the entire household. Modeling the behavior and seasons of friendship for your kids can be a helpful tool when they’re inevitably faced with the task of making friends of their own or handling conflict. Through a mother’s friendships, kids can see what it looks like to be a great friend, reconcile, laugh with, and support others.
Reframe What Friendships Look Like
Friendships may begin to look different as responsibilities grow, and being honest about your capacity and intention to maintain the friendship can go a long way. Try initiating a friendship ritual – something that both friends agree to do regularly like a phone call every Friday morning. A friendship ritual helps to get rid of the mental labor of coordinating the hangout and allows each person to feel more relaxed in the friendship. Plus, every mommy could use one less thing to worry about planning.
No One Has It All Together
Feelings of jealousy or resentment can creep up when we see other women who are taking time for themselves or have a level of ease that feels inaccessible. And this issue may need to be a matter of conversation with your partner, support group, or community if that’s available. But most importantly, this goes back to not having to glamourize every hangout, and allowing oneself to be vulnerable in friendships.
How to Make New Friends
Making new friends is different from meeting new people (which is still a good thing!). New friends involve the art of cultivating something meaningful with another person. And this process doesn’t always have to start from scratch. Look back into the archive of friendships that fell by the wayside or connections that haven’t been fully nurtured in that way.
Taking the space you need to be the best person you can be through friendship connections has a wholesome effect on the entire house. Reflect on some personal relationships in your life, and as a little piece of homework, send a text to one of your mommy friends and share a little love.