Questions for couples married with one or more children…
How often do you see your friends? Is it once a week, twice a week etc. ?
Do you hang out only with families (couples with kids) or do you see your own friends separately (i.e. wife goes a girl’s night out or hubby does a boys night out) or do you do a bit of both?
Did you find that you are seeing your friends less after having kids?
What about your “single” friends…has your relationship stayed the same with them or do you find there is less in common now that you are married with a kid(s)?
The social life goes out the window for 2-3 years, I guess it depends. If you have extended family in the area who can help take care of the child(ren) then sure, I guess you can go out and see friends. We didn't have that luxury so we were pretty much just the three of us for a long time. I think this has made us a very strong family, living and breathing each other and only each other for so long, makes you very close.
In almost 5 years, we've gotten a baby sitter and gone out for an evening maybe a dozen times. We DO however make sure to take some time out for ourselves. She goes running/swimming/biking 3-4 times a week while I stay home with the little lady and I go boating in the summers, camping in the fall, and skiing in the winter 1-2 times a week. It helps keep you sane.
When I got married, I prefered going to places or visiting friends with husband. There were very few times when I went on my own. Most of our friends are married in a wide age group, with and without children.
Life used to be good before the kid arrived. We used to go out and travel to places, dine out at fine places, couples used to visit us for meals, she is a good cook and used to make wonderful meals, we had more time for each other and romance, however now all that has gone out of the window with just one hyperactive kid. We cannot even go out to a restaurant now, because he cannot sit quietly for even 1 full minute as he likes to runaround in the restaurant or wants to break the plates.
I am less in contact in with my friends after my daughter. And my relationship with single friends is not the same because lives are different on both sides.
I get time to meet my friends but now I prefer family friends because we have a lot to share.:)
i think it depends a lot on your other circumstances as well. I went from working to being a SAHM. We used to eat out regularly after work, and tho there was nothing really stopping us from doing that, we just did it less because there was less opportunity for doing it spontaneously. Plus I worked with a lot of close friends who I ended up not seeing as regularly, and I no longer had all the post-work social outings that were part of my routine.
I think we ended up seeing close family more, and they became more a part of our daily lives.
Most of my closest friends don't have kids, but I don't think a ton has changed in my interactions with them. I do think I feel more of a desire to befriend more people with kids.
Social life is overrated IMHO. What you need is kids-free time for yourself everyday...(may be an hour). But again, depends on your need of talking and meeting to other women.