We moved here to West Des Moines two months ago and I am having a hard time adjusting. My husband is at work and my son is at school, so they have other people to talk to and do things with. Me on the other hand is a different story, I have no one here and I need to get out of the house and do something. You can only go to the mall so much! Do you guys have any suggestions for me?
Have you thought about getting a job? Volunteering somewhere? Being a volunteer at the kiddo's school?
I would rather go to work so I could have some money of my own. I like the idea of having that independence.
Volunteer and/or go back to work. I volunteer at my kids' schools, at my kids' sports, and at my church. I also work fulltime. I cannot even remember the concept of boredom.
have you found a church? You will find lots of women in need of the same thing you are at church!! They also usually have many fun activities too. Good luck!!
I have yet to find a school that doesn't need help. Why not volunteer at your son's school. It is a great way to meet the other moms and they can show you the ropes.
The mall is not the only place to go...
Volunteer at your son's school. They ALWAYS need help.
If you don't want to be at the school, then find a hospital, Senior Center, etc and volunteer there.
Walk in your neighborhood parks and bike trails
Walk in your neighborhood and you'll likely meet other women. As soon as school starts in the am, there are loads of moms out walking in groups in my neighborhood.
Get a part time job during school hours.
Explore your new city so you can later show the features of your city to your son.
Get up and get out.... One step at a time.
Library...
Community Center
Volunteering at school
Retirement center who needs a volunteer
if you want to work part time - start applying for part time work...heck even working at the grocery store will get you talking to people..
meetup.com - type in your zip code and area of interest and see what comes up.
You have excellent ideas already. I've visited Des Moines. Its beautiful country. If you moved north from the deep south, you will have some adjusting to do as winter sets in.
When this happened to my DIL, she went to church and met all kinds of nice people there. When she didn't meet enough people, she went and greeted the people with kids her age and invited them to her home for a play date and lunch.
Since one child is in school, and the other is either graduated or almost graduated, meet class mates parents by volunteering at school for the younger one and at PTA or similar for the older. If the older one is in band, become a band parent and get involved.
You have to make the first move. To have a friend, you have to be a friend. I love to BBQ/smoke. I'm pretty good at it. I got to know my neighbors by starting up my grill and smoking some pork roasts that I gave away to my neighbors. I had to apologize to the Jewish family because of my ignorance, but the next time I smoked a chicken for them. They were very gracious about my mistake and didn't hold it against me.
Good luck to you and yours.
I made most of my current friends by volunteering at my kid's school.
If that's not your thing, take some classes (art, cooking, photography, sewing) or volunteer somewhere else (like at a shelter, or for a political campaign.) If you never finished college, go back, that's what I did!
You could always look for a part time job as well.
Good luck to you! And please tell me the name of your son's elementary, if you don't mind? I was born in Des Moines, and I went to a few different elementary schools before we moved away, but the only name I seem to be able to remember is Crestview, is that still around?
Lots of great suggestions. You could also join a gym. The YMCA is great for the whole family if you have one near you.
You have a lot of great ideas - I work in a nursing home, and we always need people to come read to folks who don't like to leave their rooms (or just visit if the person is still verbal.) If you're interested in finding a church family, it's always good to do that when you've just moved so that can be an opener (hey, I just moved here. What can I do to help or what groups can I join? - so much easier when you're new to town than when you've been there a while!).
I went to the art center a few weeks ago - that's a nice way to spend time. There's a natural history museum downtown, and a science center. Check you're nearest library and see if they have a book group you could join.
Good luck! It's terrible to feel alone in such a busy world!
