Somewhere in Connecticut, totally unbeknownst to us, a pregnant Jessica Rich started looking for some peers and pals having babies around the same time and created the first ever Rookie Moms Meetup. By the time she had her baby, she had gathered 18 moms to be her tribe.
These new mamas got together for strollercize, playground playdates, and other rookie-mom challenges that Jessica set out for the group. How awesome is that? And why didn’t we think of it? A group of rookie moms using our book as a springboard for their new mama adventures?! We couldn’t be more thrilled.
To create your own group:
- Use meetup.com (like Jessica) to find local, like-minded mamas that live in your vicinity.
- Pitch out ideas for activities with locations and dates (not everyone can do everything, but try to get and keep dates on the calendar).
- Go with the vibe of the group. More coffee, less park? Vice versa? That’s cool.
Sometimes it can be hard to be a ringleader for a group of sleep-deprived and busy women trying to keep to nap schedules. We’ve both tried it. For years. With mixed levels of success. Our 52-weekly challenges for Rookie Moms start at Week One of your new baby’s life. Feel free to follow along.
I asked Jessica all about their group and how it was going and she told me:
I honestly don’t remember where I heard about your book, but I remember thinking “I need a copy of this!” and went out to Barnes and Noble that day and picked one up.
When I got pregnant, I started looking around for a mom’s group. I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t find anything right here. All the groups were in Rhode Island or the southeastern part of Connecticut.
The northeastern part of Connecticut is kind of sparsely populated and there are not a lot of mom’s groups in the area. To be honest, there’s not a lot of anything in our area.
I wanted something in my backyard, so I started a group. I really didn’t have the faintest idea what I was doing (still don’t, to be honest). I was surprised and excited when someone joined my group (nobody wants to be that kid in school that’s all by themselves on the playground, especially since I really was that kid…I didn’t want to be her all over again as an adult). Now there are more than a dozen of us, which is saying something given how small the overall population is here.
Obviously, necessity is the mother of invention. Whitney and I created this website as our means to cope with boredom and loneliness and to reach the goal of having something fun to do with our babies every day. Jessica and her friends found their own forum. You go girls!
If any other readers are in rookie moms meet-up groups, we’d be happy to feature you on rookiemoms.com, drop us a note.
PS Congratulations to Jessica, who just had another baby! And thanks to the Internets for bringing us together.
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