Issues! 10 Friends Every Mom Needs

The August issue of Parenting: The Early Years rounds up the six friends every mom needs in her life. Sure, writer Patricia Curtis makes some good points. It’s nice to have friends you can relate to or who push you. But not ones that push your buttons, which I’m afraid the glam-mom recommendation does.

Also, she left a few people off the list whom I would be very unhappy to live without. So I added three more friends at the end. Share yours in comments.

The list:

1. Another mom like you. Working moms need other working mom friends. As do SAHMs. Also, breastfeeders and breastfeeders, adoptive moms, vegetarian moms, etc. Basically, someone who makes you feel completely normal.

2. A non-mom. She makes you escape the mom world.

3. The mom with kids older than yours. She’s seen it all and will guide you through.

4. The friend who will do anything for you. She’ll drop everything and come to your rescue.

5. The glam girlfriend. She inspires you to be a fashionable mom. (No, you actually don’t need her.)

6. The brutally honest friend. (I don’t think you need her either. You can always fall back on the judgmental outsider in line at the grocery store.)

Now mine:

7. The politically aligned friend. You need to have someone that you’re politically comfortable around. Also, religiously comfortable. I used to live in a city where that wasn’t always a given. I’m not saying we can’t all get along, but sometimes you just need to blasphemize/praise Jesus without worrying about offending someone.

8. The old and dear friend. She’s seen you throw up gin and tonics. She knows why you stand a certain way in photographs. She was there before, she’ll be there after.

9. The guy friend! He may be your gay husband, a co-worker or just some guy who meets some or all of the criteria above. Mary Elizabeth Williams lays out all the reasons in “Guy Friends Rule.”

10. The friend whose partner your partner likes — and who likes you. Ahhhh, the holy grail of family life: couple friends! Perhaps the hardest type of friend to find and keep.

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Photo: Parenting.com