How to make mom friends, when small talk is hard.

Small talk is hard for me. So, when my kids started playing sports, it felt like the perfect way to make mom friends. The small talk was mostly centered around the sport and the kids. While I can’t talk much about sports, I can talk about my kid.

I spent 3 years tucking myself into this wonderful group of moms. I loved them and their kids. And I was finally starting to understand soccer. Soccer mom, for life!

Until my son decided he loved another sport.

For a year, we tried to let him play both sports. But, it wasn’t fair to him, or his teammates (on either team). Overlapping practices. Choosing which games to attend. He was stretched too thin. And, so were we.

As parents, we sometimes have to make the decisions that are best for our kids, even though it doesn’t always benefit us. That sounds worse when I type it. But, it’s true.

While, he was sad to lose his soccer teammates, I was more sad to lose the soccer moms I gained when he joined the team. I had a lot invested in that small talk. That shit was hard work and I loved those moms.

But, honestly, it was my own fault. He’d been on this football team for a year and I hadn’t taken the time to get to know any of the football moms. Because small talk is hard!

Last night, I got an email from one of the football moms,

If you didn’t make it to the last get together, the football moms are meeting again to make water bottles for the boys. Let me know who is available to come.

Immediately I text my husband,

The football moms are getting together, I think I’m gonna go, so I can make some new mom friends.

Small talk is hard for me. I don’t know anything about football, but I do know how to talk about my kid. This shouldn’t be too hard, right? Football mom, for life!

Or, until he chooses a different sport.

And, if he does, I’ll lean into the fact that I can always talk about him when meeting new mom friends.