The Best Advice You'll Ever Get
So, you are a new mom and overloaded with advice? Veteran moms tell you to breastfeed, bottle feed, sleep with your baby, don't sleep with your baby, use a pacifier, don't use a pacifier and we could go on and on. Well, new moms, listen up for just one more piece of advice and it's gong to be the best one that you've ever heard.
Start a monthly girls group! Yes, you heard me right, a mandatory once a month girls night out (or in)! Let me tell you, those friends that you went to college with or grew up with will soon become hard to keep up with. Phone calls will become few and far between. The phone calls that you do have with them will end with 'we'll have to get together', but you may never find the time to do it. Pretty soon, you'll run into Sally (or wait, is her name Susie?) that you used to be so close with and you won't even recognize her. And you'll end that conversation with saying 'We should get together!' But you know that you won't. Y'all know what I'm talking about!
Why do you need to talk to your girlfriends so often? Because they get you. Oh, your husband may be your best friend, but does he roll his eyes when you want to over analyze Meredith and Derek's relationship from Grey's Anatomy? He can be a dear and will listen to you when you tell him how bad your cramps hurt, but does he truly have an idea of what you are talking about? Your mother is great to go shopping with, but can you let go and tell her the nitty gritty problems of your sex life?
Your girlfriends keep your secrets and tell you how life really is. They celebrate with you when you have a baby and mourn with you when you lose a parent. They will always tell you how great you look and share their secrets on how they look so great. They love you unconditionally.
About six years ago one of my smartest friends had the most genius idea to begin a monthly card group. To this day, eight of us get together once a month at someone's house. We leave our kids, husbands and worries behind. We fall off of our diets, eating snacks, appetizers, dinner and a lot of desserts. We drink our favorite wine, beer or drink of the night.
But the best part of our girls nights is the conversation. We talk about our kids, our husbands or our neighbors. We talk about whomever didn't show up that night. We talk about tv shows, current events and a lot of topics that would not be appropriate for a little Blog such as this.
We come from all different sides of towns and don't complain about the long drive. If it weren't for this group, I don't know that I would even see any of these girls. Our joke in our girls group is that someone is always pregnant or nursing. And that trend still continues to this day.
Oh, and I should mention that we play cards too. Euchre, Texas Hold'em or Bunco, depending on how many of us could make it. There is a small pot for the winner and a small prize for the loser. Just enough to make it interesting.
And trust me, if you want to be the best mother that you can be, a girls night out may be just what you need. It is something that you can't get from a book, a class or hear on tv. That's why I love girlfriends.

The Bigger The Better

I'm not sure what happens to us after we have children. Suddenly, size does matter. We want it as big as it can be! Now, get your head out of the gutter because you've got it all wrong!
Our fascination with size all begins while shopping in that ginormous baby store searching for the perfect stroller for our pint size baby. We spot that tiny stroller in the corner that would effortlessly fit into a normal sized doorway. Nope, that won't do. Next we look at that medium sized one with just a little storage. No thanks. Where would we put all of our stuff? But that extra large one that is almost as big as a Volkswagen Bug. We'll take it! That stroller has a cup holder, a key holder, a big storage compartment on bottom for bags, purses and any other random items we feel the need to carry. Not to mention plenty of room for our baby. In the biggest stroller our baby will be able to lay down, sit up, side straddle, stand up, criss cross applesauce and even perform Cirque de Soleil moves!
While we're shopping let's head over to the diaper bags. Before children we carried purses so tiny that we could barely fit a cell phone and credit card in them. These post-baby bags have got to be as big as Texas! Because they're called diaper bags we have to put in diapers and wipes. But that is not all our babies need. They also need bottles, sippy cups, toys, snacks, a change of clothing, diaper rash ointment, books, pacifiers and a partridge in a pear tree!
Next on our list is our vehicle. Just try to fit one car seat into a two door car and you'll know why. Those gas guzzling full size SUVs and Minivans that you always made fun of now seem very appealing. And they can't just seat seven. There at least needs to be an option to seat eight people. Never mind that we only have one child and they don't even have any friends yet. Mucho amount of storage is a must too. The seats have to hide in the bottom or be taken out to allow for even more storage. You never know when you might want to haul a refrigerator.
While we're at it, who can resist an extra-large television? It's got to be at least 30 inches and take up every last inch of the entertainment center. And that's just the one we keep in the bedroom! The t.v. in the family room has to be as wide as we are tall. No, wait it has to be bigger than that. Let's make it wider than the Jones's. By a foot. We want to watch those important reality shows and feel like we are right in the middle of all of that bickering.
Last but certainly not least is our pride and joy. Our home. Before children we were content with our three bedroom, one and a half bath ranch. You could clean that entire house in one afternoon. Ah, the good old days! So, why did we move again? Well, everyone needs their own room and then a guest room is a must for visits from grandparents. You now need a basement to keep all of your toys. The grown-up toys that is. And the kids need a playroom, a walk-in closet, their own bathroom, a play set and a gps tracker so you can track them down in such a massive castle. The garage even has to have places to park three cars to allow room for those big vehicles.
So, the next time that you are shopping for an item, see if you are drawn to the larger option. I bet you will be. And for some strange reason you'll just have to buy it. Because we like it big now.