Ever since my daughter turned 6 months or so and began to resemble a real human being, my husband and I have been taking her to the park nearby inside our housing complex every evening.  It has now been a year and in all this time, I have met many other mothers also along with their kid/s of varied ages for an evening outing. I think this is the one time in my life that I have met so many new people – some of whom I have genuinely liked and made friends with – and that’s saying something.

I am hardly the sorts to make friends at all – leave alone easily. I am usually saved by others making friends with me and so I can truthfully say I do have some friends. So far. But now, my whole character has undergone a sea change – when I am actually soliciting advice from new acquaintances, discussing kid problems with almost total strangers, doling out advice to those who ask for it and some who do not :-) – and just chatting with anyone who happens to be there in the park at the same time. The fact that they are most likely to comment on my daughter and then start a conversation helps immensely in getting the socialising thing going.

There is a whole offline (for lack of a better word) support group that exisits in the neighbourhood park which I like to call the Park Moms Inc. And they are a complete revelation. All my pre-conceived ideas are “housewife types”  has been blasted away. I have met highly intelligent and successful career women who have chosen to stay at home to bring up their kids for the time being, moms who have chosen to go back to work because they need to either for financial reasons or not, moms who haven’t worked previously but are fully devoted to looking after their kids, moms who read and follow The Book, moms who think it is total hogwash etc. All in all an eclectic mix of individuals.

You are not explicitly members of this group but anyone is free to join or leave anytime – it doesn’t depend upon a minimum attendance to function, you can join for that one day and not be there the next day – no one really counts on these relationships – but most feel better because they are there. Strong yet loose, these are the strangest relationships that can be formed. And with people you don’t know otherwise. In most cases you neither know their address, nor their phone number or email id – but when you see them at the park you are like the best of friends.

Discussions about how to manage full time working and a child, maid problems, the search for the perfect school, potty training, sleep issues, part time career options, the last book one read, the last milestone our kids reached and so on. There are always more topics than time. And the kids get to interact with each other – if they feel like it or at least snatch each other’s balls or bats and run off.

There are also Park maids and Park grandmoms – two categories I don’t much get on with – though they seem to have a fondness for me – or maybe it is my daughter. And Park Dads are good fun too. Very few make it everyday – but it is heartening to see them come since few dads are so involved with their kids. I am happy and proud to say that the better half is one of them – and not just little p but most kids are happy and comfortable around him - to the extent that the rest of us are fully ignored by them sometimes. 

There’s never a dull moment with the Park Moms Inc.  and I am happy to say that I am one. Which is why I fully enjoy every moment of park time as much as my little p does.