Infant Anchors

A number of my closest friends became parents this year. It was the year of the baby and it was also the year I witnessed the disappearance of my social clique. 

I love babies - don't get me wrong - but there is something that happens to your friends when they become parents. Suddenly they forget they have a life outside of the child. Their wee one is their primary focus and their personal life fizzles out to nothing. They gain a bundle of joy and you lose a social companion.

This is totally understandable. Bringing up a child takes a massive amount of time and energy; socializing should be secondary. They are now responsible for a little human's life, so they put their own life on hold.

Without sounding too selfish, it kind of stings to lose your friends to parenthood. You are suddenly without a hiking partner, your weekly dinner date is forgotten and your relationship counselor takes a maternity leave. You are still the best of friends, but it's hard to secure quality time together.

This is the situation I found myself in about six months ago. I was overjoyed by the little ones that were popping up, but at the same time, my weekend activities became non-existent. I developed an undesired affinity with my couch.

So I took some initiative. I joined Events andAdventures and got out of the house. I signed up for an assortment of events and had some wicked times with a wide mix of Vancouver singles. I went tubing, attended a cooking class, had a night out at the theatre, went bowling, laughed my face off at two different comedy nights, worked on my golf swing and skated with some beautiful ladies at the Robson skating rink.

Now I am the envy of my friends. I still make time to hang out with them, but the E&A social club has given me an excuse to celebrate my freedom and create a whole new social network.

I know there will be diapers aplenty in my future, but for now, it's all about having fun with other active singles.