How to Make Mom Friends When You Move to a New City

We recently moved from NYC to Ohio and I’ve been on a quest to make some real friendships. Here’s how I found my mom friends when we moved to a new city.

In June, we will have been in our new home for two years, which is crazy for me to even think about. Living in New York City and having a group of friends that were mostly bloggers that I met up with regularly at events, it was important to me to make new friends in our new city that were outside my industry where our common bond wasn’t work. I guess you could say that I was searching for relationships that reminded me of the ones that I had in high school and college, minus the crazy partying.

Don’t get me wrong: I love my blogging besties. However, NYC was just a different beast when it came to friendships. I love to entertain at home, pop over to a friend’s house with a bottle of wine (and vise versa), and not have only work in common. That’s just me, though, and was one of my goals when we moved. 

I knew that I wanted to write this post as soon as we moved in because I think that moms struggle (me included) to make real, lasting friendships in this day in age of social media. Add Covid-19 to the mix and the challenge gets even more complicated. It was important to me to pay attention to how I was forming friendships so that I could share that all with you guys. 

How to Make Mom Friends When You Move to a New City

I remember being told and watching my mom and my aunts growing up making great mom friends with all of their kid’s preschool parents. We never sent Branden to preschool whenever we lived in the city, so I missed out on that there. Now that we are in Ohio and Blake is in preschool, part of me thought that this would be a great place to start. But then COVID happened and preschool drop off and pick up is basically a socially distanced shit show and I can’t even smile at the other parents because I’m wearing a mask. 

Thanks, COVID-19 for ruling out that experience for so many mamas. 

So here’s how I’ve made mom friends in my new city, and I hope that it helps you, too:

1. First, open yourself up to the opportunity of meeting new people and being chatty. 

I feel like this is the first and most important step. Coming from NYC where I had my phone attached to me at all times, it was easy to get lost scrolling everywhere I went. As soon as we moved, I tried my best to put the phone down, put a smile on my face and be open to meeting new mamas wherever we went. This includes, but isn’t limited to: waiting rooms, kids’ activities, etc. Don’t be afraid to start a new conversation! I chat with almost everyone I meet and I’ve found that people out this way like that and it has resulted in a few new friends. 

2. Sign your kids up for new activities and/or take them to free events. 

There is SO much to do that’s free around us, you just have to be open to doing a little searching. We have the kids both enrolled in activities (Branden does jujitsu 3 days per week and Blake does gymnastics one day a week) outside of school, but beyond that, there’s a lot going on at the library, local museums, and more that is worth looking into. Other mamas will be there with their kids, so it’s a great place to start chatting.

3. Online (haha)

One of the first friends that I met in our new city was made because she saw me posting an Instagram story about the new fall decor that arrived at our local Michaels store. Seriously though, some of the best friends that I have in my life were made online, and then we eventually met in person. It’s sort of like online dating for the people who were already married before Tinder was created. 

4. Lean on your partner. 

Three of my closest friends in Ohio were met through Chris (thanks, babe!) and I don’t know what I would do without them. They are the kinds of friends who would do anything for us, like drop anything (and have) and be there if we need something. Meeting the wives of people that Chris has made friends with through work is a double win because we can all hang out as couples and it’s the greatest. 

5. Talk to your neighbors, like REALLY talk to them. 

I take every opportunity to chat with our neighbors and we have a few that we are SUPER close with, like so close that we now spend Christmas Eve with one family. One family also has teenage daughters that watch Blake over the summer months. It’s been wonderful getting acquainted with them. My best advice is to talk to everyone. An easy way for us is to stop and chat with everyone walking their dog because we know we already have that in common. Around the holidays we also bring cookies and dog treats to our neighbors and that’s a great way to get to know people, too. 

6. Meet friends of friends. 

I’ve made a handful of friends in Ohio through my couple of friends that I first met here, and this has been a great way to expand my circle because then you can all hang out together. This has even resulted in a small group of us hosting girl’s nights at our houses every other month, so it’s something fun to look forward to. 

Looking for more real mom life? You’ll love these posts:

• Why We Should Put More Effort Into Lifting Each Other Up
• 7 Things To Remind Yourself on Hard Motherhood Days
• How to Start a Business in 2021 (Even When You’re a Busy Mom)
• 15 Things to Remind Yourself When You Feel Mom Guilt
• How to Celebrate Your Gal Pals in 2021
• The Self Love Checklist All Moms Need

Got any more tips that I overlooked? I would love to add them in if you do – leave a comment below!

XOXO,

Allison