Baby And You*
When my oldest was born in March of 2002, I was the first of my friends to have a baby. This was a period of a lot of change for me -- I stopped working in my government job, I began my career as a stay-at-home mom and I tried to adapt to life with a baby. This is where I'm brutally honest and admit how scary I found my baby. He wasn't terribly engaging -- being more of a round-the-clock-nurser, cat napper, aloof baby -- and I had little to no experience with babies at this point in my life. Living far from family and lacking an experienced social network, I reached out in the only way I knew how and found a local "moms" mailing list. Through that list I made many friends -- some of which developed into lasting friendships -- and found an invaluable resource to help me get over my insecurities and find my sea legs as a new mom.
This was years before Facebook became the norm for online socializing -- now I connect with my mom friends there to get and give advice, share stories and frustrations, and find new tips and tricks to employ on my three boys. Loblaws Companies has created a community within the Facebook community dedicated to sharing the info and experiences we all have as parents -- check it out at https://www.facebook.com/Baby.n.you.
It's a great place to find deals and savings at their various stores, but it's also a fantastic place to connect with other parents. If there was one thing that made a huge difference for me with my first child, it was understanding that I was not alone and finding a community of like-minded parents with whom I could share my journey. Loblaws Companies wants all parents to have this same opportunity! What are you waiting for? ;)
*Disclosure – I am participating in the Baby and You program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Loblaw Companies. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.