New age mothers

From the beginning of time mothers have gathered to talk about the challenges they face as parents. Today, more and more mums are finding new support networks and friendships on the internet in on line forums such as the Huggies Forum. Finding it hard to get out of the house with young children can leave a new mum (or even a second time mum) feeling isolated. Having the forum available 24/7 has helped countless mums overcome the isolation and realize that they are not the only one to experience a particular problem or issue.

The modern mothers group allows you to connect with other mums who are similar to you, no matter where you live. You still grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and chat to each other about anything and everything, you just don’t do it face to face.

There are many benefits to being part of a new age mothers group:

• You can show up in your pyjama’s with no make-up.
• Nobody minds if your baby is having a tantrum, they can’t hear it.
• You can chat at 10pm (or any time of the day) when the rest of the family are in bed.
• Your anonymity allows you to be completely honest and open.
• You encounter people from all over the country with vastly different backgrounds.
• You have the opportunity to form friendships with people who are similar to you but live on the other side of country.
• Or you may discover that you have an online buddy who lives just around the corner.

The Huggies Mums Mega Meet Up

Picture the Gold Coast in sunny Queensland. A warm sea breeze blowing gently through your hair as you stroll the beach with sand between your toes; the perfect holiday destination. This is exactly how one group of mums from across Australia and New Zealand dreamt it could be, so they turned the idea into reality and moved away from the computer and their Huggies Forum identities and jumped on planes, trains and automobiles with the bubs in hand and made their way to the Gold Coast for a long weekend of fun.

Although these women knew the most intimate details of each others lives and had supported and laughed with each other through the good and the tough times of being a mum, they had never actually met. They are part of the growing trend of the online mothers group.

A traditional mothers group forms as a result of geographical circumstance, where as these women connected because of what they had in common. These mums met each other here on the Huggies website in our online forum. What did they have in common when they first started to chat you ask, well as a couple of them put it so eloquently, “some of our babies had big heads!”; and so a friendship was formed.

The “Huggies mums mega meet up” was hatched well in advance with the Mums from around Australia and New Zealand planning the travel date and then saving their pennies to make it a weekend to remember. Lauraine, our moderator from the Huggies Forum, had the wonderful opportunity to fly in as a surprise to meet this group of amazing women and their children; and a surprise it was to all of them as she walked onto the beach next to their hotel and introduced herself. Finally they had the chance to put a face and a personality to “The Moderator”, and she wasn’t as mean looking as they thought she might be.

Here’s what a few of the mums had to say after the big weekend:

“Our Gold Coast break was the last chance Maya and I would get to have a holiday before our twins arrive and bring chaos with them, and what better way to spend that holiday than with very special friends. They were a great support to me a few months ago when I needed it. Maya loved hanging out with the other gorgeous kiddies, and we exhausted ourselves doing all the touristy things. The highlight ofthe holidaywas getting to meet all of the lovely ladies who have offered support, advice, laughs and tears over the past two years. I can’t express enough how grateful I am, and we all are, to Huggies, for not only for giving us the opportunity to meet each other online, but for helping make our dream real-life meet up into a reality!” Emmy-Lou

“I found HPE (the Huggies forum) whilst pregnant with Bennett (now 26 mths) I still chat regularly to those girls and to meet them face to face all in one group was amazing. All up I spent about $500 and I did so completely guilt free. I financed the trip significantly with funds I earned by doing market research and mystery shopping and guess where I got onto both of those!! HPE of course LOL?- _Stephanie _

“I had an awesome time at our meet on the Gold Coast. It was great meeting everyone and putting a voice to the face and photo. Saturday was definitely a highlight for me, the news crew and photographer made us SAHMs feel special. Although Saturday night started out badly thanks to a rude restaurateur it ended up being a great night with many silly stories and ‘party tricks’ performed. I loved meeting Lauraine too and she’s more down to earth in person than I could have imagined. I can’t wait for the next one in 2008.” – Kristy (chukkas)

“the weekend was more of a personal challenge for me. I am usually fairly shy person and don’t tend to venture out to far, so that weekend was huge for me. I left my family behind and jumped on a bus alone and to meet up with a bunch of women had never met before.
I am so amazed I didn’t back out at the last minute like I normally would have. It was great to finally be able to meet the women who I have been able to get advice & support from.” – Jodi (dingbat)

This amazing group of mums has shown all of us here at Huggies the power that mother’s have to support, care and laugh with each other as they journey along the parenting path. Every day mums are connecting with each other on Parents Exchange and we’re thrilled to be part of the most exciting, tiring, and joyous time of your lives.

We hope you enjoy taking part in the Huggies community.

Visit The Huggies Forum now!

For more information see Motherhood or Parenting .