My Online Sisterhood

The concept of “meeting people online” is not new to me.  I loved getting those AOL discs in high school and waiting for my parents to clear up the phone line so I could get online.  It was a joy to hear “You’ve Got Mail” and totally common to get hit with the “a/s/l” in chat rooms.  You “met” people that loved the same shows as you.  “Found” people that shared similar theories on The Matrix. I found my favorite band on Earth through a message board because I did a search on a television commercial song.  So it’s no surprise that I’ve been part of a wonderful mom’s group online since I got my positive pregnancy test.

It’s been over five years of Hump Day Bump Days.  First…everythings.  Separations.  Losses.  New jobs.  People moving.  People leaving.  New siblings.  Potty Trainings.  Diagnoses.  New spouses.  You name it.  We’ve gone through lots together.

But there’s only so much you can do with an online friendship.  Not to discredit them by any means.  You can really get to know people through the computer.  In 2001, a coworker told me that she met her husband through an online forum.  It’s totally common now.  There’s apps for that.  However, friendships can be a little different.

So a few of my online friends and I decided that we would start a sisterhood.  No, there’s no way a pair of Levi’s would fit all of us.  And we’re all too spread out to plan a solid meet up.  But we have USPS and a few minutes here and there to read a book.  Remember in middle school when you and your best friend{s} would keep a notebook and just pass it around in between classes?  Well, we combined all those elements to become…

The Sh*tty Moms.

Someone bought the book Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us and decided we would take notes and mail it to the next mom.  Which is perfect because there’s no expiration date on this!  There’s no rush to get it done and read before the book club meetup.  You do it on your own time and you mail it to the next house..,eventually.  We started June 2013.  It’s November 2015, and there’s still two more moms to pass it to after me.

And here are some gems I’ve found…

Section Three ::  Stop Not Taking The Easy Way Out.  Chapter 10.  It Only Takes a Partial Village If You Just Have One Kid.

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Section Four :: Other People Are Horrible.  Chapter 17. Someone Stole Your Baby Name! aka Ballad of the First Aidan Mom.

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Section Seven ::  NOMS {Non-Moms}.  Chapter 30.  How To Stay Friends With NOMS You Used To Party With.

online sisterhood

But the best thing is that it’s a tangible part of a 95% online friendship.  I know these moms and their kids, and I’ve mailed off gifts and Tyrone gets slightly concerned about all the people that I’ve never met that have my home address.  But so many people that I don’t have to know physcally care enough to send something my way.  I’m completely okay with that.

And so I’ll continue to go to blog gatherings and Tweetups and whatever else comes in the future.  But I’m forever thankful for my Sisterhood of the Sh*tty Moms.

Have you met any incredible friends online that you could sisterhood with?  Have you done anything similar before? Do tell!

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Breonna B
Breonna was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She is recently married to Tyrone, a graphic designer. They currently reside on the West Side of this great city. A big fan of movies, books, photography, and Starbucks, she currently finds herself knee-deep in the throes of being a mommy to Addy {Feb 2011}. Breonna spends the typical 9-5 doing yadda yadda yadda at her job {yes, it’s that nondescript and uninteresting}. She started blogging as a way to do movie reviews, but that gave way to pregnancy blogging. She eventually landed her own space of the internet on BreWrites as well as on Twitter and Instagram {@brewrites} where she talks about everything from the sassiness of her child, to the most recent concert tickets she got her hands on, to the occasional piece of short fiction.

1 COMMENT

  1. Omg I love this!!! I’m the same way; I have several great friendships online that we’ve never met bc we’re all in different states. But it seems so normal these days to have those types of friendships.

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