This review was sponsored by Meerkat, however, all opinions are our own.
Do you ever wish you could go back to the days when making friends was as easy as walking up to someone on the playground and complimenting their new shoes? Making friends as an adult is hard! Luckily, there is a new app that can help all of us mamas out. It’s called Meerkat and it is a must-have if you are looking to build a community of “parent friends”.
Here’s What It’s All About
They weren’t joking when they said it takes a village. It is so important to have a community that you can share the highs and lows of parenthood with; we call these people our “parent friends”.
Oftentimes, the friends we grew up with or went to college with are not in the same phase as us when it comes to parenthood. This leaves a lot of new moms and dads with a lack of people who can truly relate to the stage they are in. Meerkat is an app that helps you connect with other parents so that you can build your group of parent friends.
It kind of works like a dating app and is actually pretty simple to set up. We tried it out so that we could tell you exactly how it works!
How Does Meerkat Work?
Once you download the app, it will walk you through how to set up your account. It only took me about 5 minutes to get my whole profile completed. First, it will collect the basics from you like you and your partner’s name and how many children you have.
Then you will fill out exactly what you are looking for; family outings, playdates for the kids, parent meetups (with no kids), or all of the above. The app will also give you some fun prompts to answer that will help the other family get to know you better. A few of my favorites were “We promise not to judge you if…” and “Biggest Baby Fail…” because I feel like these questions would definitely let another family know what we’re all about!
Once you have filled everything out for your profile and uploaded a few photos, it is time to start searching for new friends. You will probably want to keep your search local so that you can find other parents to meet up with for double date nights with your partner or set up a playdate for your little one, but there is the option to set the search to “everywhere” also.
Here is a glimpse of what my profile looked like when it was completed!
To begin looking for friends, you will click on the Meerkat Icon. If a family looks like a good match to potentially become friends with you will swipe right, and if they don’t match what you are looking for you will swipe left.
Meerkat uses a dual-matching system to ensure safety. This means people will only be able to connect with you if it’s a match and you both have said yes. Once you have a match, you will be able to message each other and get to know one another better. Then, hopefully, you will see the potential for an in-person friendship and eventually meet up with each other’s families!
Here’s What the Rookie Mom Squad Thinks
I am all for anything that helps new parents grow their support system and this app is great for that! Parenthood can feel isolating, but trust me you are not alone. Meerkat will help you find other parents who can completely relate to where you are at. If people can find their soulmates on an app, then you can certainly find friends this way, too!
My favorite thing about Meerkat is how well designed it is for parents. Setting up your profile is quick and easy, which is a must since I think we can all agree that having little ones means we don’t have a lot of extra time on our hands.
I also love the funny prompts that are provided for you to fill out because they make starting a conversation easy! My biggest piece of advice for using the app is to not be afraid to put yourself out there by reaching out to your matches. I won’t lie, it might feel a little awkward, but the opportunity to make new friends really is worth it.
So, should you download Meerkat? My answer is a resounding yes! You can find it in the app store on your phone, click here to get started.
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