runlikejoy

Displaced Stay At Home Californian in rural N. Carolina

The Many Faces of Joy

The Many Faces of Joy

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Ode to a Moms Club

I remember someone who moved here from California telling me that 6 months after their move they felt like they missed home more and suffered more from homesickness than when they first got here.  When you first move you are consumed with all the things that go along with moving - unpacking, buying things for your new home, organizing, finding your new favorite grocery store, discovering where the cheapest gas station is, taking the kids to piano lessons and many more important things.  Your social calendar takes a back seat.

I have been dreading this day since the first day we got here and yesterday I got the official email.  September 4 is my renewal date for the Sunnyvale Moms club and if I choose not to renew then I will no longer have access to the Moms Club website but more importantly I will no longer get the newsletter or emails of what the club is doing.

I will be honest - when we first got here those emails were my lifeline.  I loved seeing what everyone was doing back at home and where they were meeting up.  I got over the pangs of everyone having fun without me really quickly.  I am grown up enough to know that people are doing fun stuff and I am not always included.  I wasn't having a lot of fun in those first six months and so reading about cooking club and park playdates and the children's museum made me happy and nostalgic for what those types of events and places were like.  I even joined a Moms club here and tried to reach out but failed miserably.  It was like I had no energy for making new friends and my friendship bucket was full - it was overflowing, but it was on the West Coast, it was misplaced.  Or maybe I was displaced.

Not only that, we have just had the joy of seeing many of our friends and family over the summer.  We have been busy and have travelled.  We have filled up our social calendar to overflowing.  So getting that email was like a kick in the gut.  I'm not sure what I will do at this point.  Maybe I will email the President and beg her to let me stay a member in absentia, after all, who knows what the future brings.  Maybe we will move back?  Or maybe I will become more involved with my current Moms club.  Or maybe I will find more work and become a full time working Mom.  Or maybe I will ask Francoise to forward me all the emails of what everyone is doing. 

Whatever I decide to do, I feel like I'm moving all over again.  And I don't like it.


4 comments:

annamoore said...

My membership ended the same week as the move. But every day I think about renewing just to read the emails. But then part of me doesn't want to see where the playgroups are being held. Thursdays are my hardest days... 2008 meets. Maybe Francoise can forward you the emails and you can forward them to me? :)

teresa said...

My membership will be up soon, too. I think I'm going through the 6 month slump right now. I also tried to reach out to a moms group here, but since I'm working a lot right now I haven't really attended much, and when I have it just has made me miss Sunnyvale even more. I never anticipated how much I would miss everyone, especially my playgroup.

The bonds created in the club are indescribable. I'm going back in a couple weeks and hope to go to all the events while we're there.

Unknown said...

My membership is up for renewal right now so I totally understand what you are talking about. I am not sure I can forward all the emails I receive but I can surely send you some to remind you how great it is here and how missed you are and I am not talking only to Joy. You can ask to receive the newsletter without being a current member to Dominique.

Runlikejoy said...

Oh Goody - thanks Fran, I’m going to request that!