Group Holiday Reunion!

I think the friends you make when you have a baby, especially for the first time, are possibly some of the most important relationships you will ever build; I’ve certainly found that at any rate! I was living in Leytonstone when I had Florence and knew not a soul in my little E11 postcode, you see for me before then, we worked and socialised up in town, where we lived was just a place to rest our heads but babies change things don’t they!

We’d chosen to live in East London not because it’s leafy and vibrant and full of life (it is all of those things, not that we’d discovered that before she was born) but because it had a close proximity to the Central Line and could get us out to work or play easily. As a result I knew not a soul in the place that became, after babies, like a village with some of the best friends I could ever have met. People I could rely on at any time of the day or night and who became my support network while I was so far away from my family. The area I had once barely seen in daylight was suddenly the playground I spent ALL my time in and I am forever grateful to the other women, and their partners, who became more than just pals, and more like a mini family!

We navigated those first days, months and years of parenting together and created a bond never to be broken, even when, as is often the case living in London, our gang began moving away from our little patch and living different lives in different parts of the country. Us included. We weren’t the first to leave and we aren’t the last for there are still a few there, but a good majority of our little 2009 baby gang now no longer live within a 5 minute walk of each other and I cried buckets with every leaver. Even more when it was me myself fleeing the Leytonstone nest! You see, I can do without living in East London thanks very much! Over priced houses and a lack of outside spaces just don’t do it for me anymore, but I really, really don’t like to do without my friends and thankfully, for me, they feel the same!

Twice a year (at least) we organise a meet up and whether it’s just a party or a big trip away, we try to all get together so that we can check in and just be us for a while! I’ve been convincing them that a big trip is on the cards for the summer – we have to start the planning now as it’s often hard to get everyone in the right place at the right time. We’ve been talking about hiring a house or a cottage that’s big enough to fit all 40 of us so I’ve been having a trawl of the internet and found some. We’re looking at a few over at www.partyhouses.co.uk – I think they’ve got some that would be just right, we just have to pick a date and get booking!

A trip away for some concentrated time is just what the Doctor ordered, we’ve done glamping before and I think we need a step up from that – and from our one day visits which have been beach days or hired halls back in Leytonstone! This year is our ten year anniversary of being pals though so it has to be special! We have a meet up panned for the end of this month just for a lunch but I’m going to put it to everyone that we also have this BIG reunion for our second meet up of the year, don’t you think it sounds fun?! I want us to REALLY celebrate our friendship in style, I mean a DECADE!!!! And hiring a place for us all to stay for the weekend sounds JUST up our street! Finding cottages for large groups needn’t be a hard task, in fact I know with partyhouses.co.uk that it won’t be – getting the dates for 40 people on the other hand… So, I’d better start the planning now I reckon!