Maxwell Designs Blog

What did I do before playdates! (ode to Friends)

(this is only my opinion by the way, but if you agree, somewhat agree or totally disagree I would love to hear from you)

I LOVE my neighbours and friends, and heres why....

Having 2 toddlers and being a SAHM is hard enough on any Mum, (I grew up in England so forgive me for not using the term Mom, its force of habit) but to do it without the help and support of family close by can be very draining on our partners and our relationship we have with them.

We moved to Terrace over 3 years ago not knowing anyone - Terrace for those who don't know is about 2hrs flying time from Vancouver, Canada, near Alaska. Anyway my partner started his new job and I was 4 months pregnant with our first son Maxwell. I started my business to keep busy and then the rest of the time I walked to coffee shops and wrote lots and lots of letters to friends and family, I watched movies, I cleaned the house - anything to keep me busy and not realise how lonely I was.

After Maxwell was born I felt even more isolated as we only had 1 car at the time and we lived quite far from the town centre and didn't know our neighbours - I had no-one around to ask questions or get advice from, or get a break...

Anyway getting back to my original focus, we moved just over a year ago and I now have the BEST NEIGHBOURS! I am quite shy when it comes to meeting new people but I made the effort to get to know Jannine, my neighbour who directly faces our house first. Jannine is a hoot (read very funny), especially when I can see her playing her Wii system in her living room - very amusing for me anyway! About 4 months ago we had a new neighbour move in - Shauna - who had a 3 yr old girl (who is the sweetest little girl you can imagine) and a 7 month old baby boy (adorable!).

Voila! we got to know each other and started having play dates. But oh how its grown!!! there are now 5 of us lovely ladies who get together every week with our collective - 9! yes I said 9 children and its a life saver. Now I know where the term "it takes a village to raise a child" comes from. Just being able to sit down and vent or ask advice is such a relief.



But it seems to have taken a new direction today - Shauna was up until well after 11pm making muffins for the playdate!!! And just to top it off she didnt think they were up to our "standards" so she was up again at 6.30am to bake a fresh batch!!! I have to say that they tasted delicious!!! but the bar is set very high now and I would hate to be the next in line to host the playdate...(can it be at Jannines house next??? :-)
Jannine, Shauna, Chris & Colleen - see you at next weeks playdate :-) Who's bringing the muffins?