Girlfriends

During the four years that Amy was in high school marching band, there were several other moms that I got friendly with. I got to know some of them better by sitting with them in the stands for hours on end, some by standing side by side as we served food to 120 kids, some by the selling of various products for fundraisers, and some of them by a combination of ALL of those things! Most of the ladies that I got to know the best had kids that were either in my daughter's class or the class right ahead of hers. We were all going through the same struggles and triumphs with our kids; who had so-and-so for a teacher, who was dating who, what colleges did they apply to?

Two of the moms and I are becoming fast friends. We have gone to the movies and out to dinner, and I see one of them almost every day now that we have coordinated our gym time to ride the monotonous stationary bikes at the same time (it's amazing how much faster the time goes when you can just chat with a friend). But I wanted to make sure that I would somehow keep in touch with these other women. They mean something to me and so do their kids, many of whom I have known since grade school.

I had a feeling that all of us were going to be needing other moms to talk to soon as all of us had moved our kids in to various colleges within the last two weeks. So I invited 15 of these ladies over for a night of bunco and all but three of them were able to come. Guys? We had a blast!

We started off having some appetizers (way too many!) and some sangria and just talking about our experiences with our girls (and boy) and how they were adjusting to college life. It was so awesome to hear the stories and know that each and every one of them are going through the same sorts of things that my daughter is going through. I think every one of us was so grateful to hear that other kids were having some of the same struggles that our own kids are facing. And the conversation has changed a little bit from when the kids were in high school, but as I listened in on the stories, we all were asking the same questions. How is the roommate situation? Are the classes hard? Are they making new friends or hanging out with kids from high school? It was so good to not feel alone.

And then we played bunco! Some of us (like me!) had never played before and some had played a time or two and were able to help out with the first couple of rounds. We had such a good time talking, laughing, zinging each other in friendly competition. And drinking sangria. Lots of sangria.

I think everyone said that they would definitely want to get together on a monthly basis and play! So we are all set for September already and I am so looking forward to hearing from everyone again and finding out if M got a new roommate, if H is still feeling sad, if H2 is making more friends, if they have all escaped the H1N1 flu. And I look forward to hearing how we, as moms, are adjusting. Are WE feeling more confident, are WE adjusting to buying fewer groceries and doing more of our own chores around the house? And most of all, I look forward to laughing with my friends over three dice. And drinking sangria.