Seeking Other Down-to-earth Moms in Pittsburgh

I'm shocked at those who think its so difficult to make friends in Pittsburgh, since I've never had that problem and I only know one person (who's also a very closed/private person) who's not raved about the ease of making friends. Maybe its the South Hills location (??)(I'm out by the airport), but that's a shame and makes me sad.

Anyway - I'm part of a group on Meetup (its for moms who had babies later in life 35yo+). We have a ton of get togethers as a group or on our own (two of us met the other day for lunch). Some of those moms belong to other Meetup groups (based on religion, lifestyle, location, etc). My experience with Meetup has been the same as my experience with Pittsburgh in general - folks love meeting folks and welcome newcomers with open arms.

I've been part of two MOPS groups and have mixed experiences/reviews - one of them had some in-fighting with the 'board members' and how the money was handled, causing gossip and bad feelings; the other seemed to take advantage of the moms who volunteered, they never got a break and ended up dropping out.

We also have friends met randomly at parks - we were at a park last week, there was a Meetup group that was there as well - while at the playground, we started talking and having fun with the kids and now we have new friends. We have friends from being part of a tour of downtown. We have friends from being in the peed's waiting room, while our sons acted like they were long lost brothers. We have friends from playing at the fountains at SouthSide Works, while my son and her son swapped dump trucks.

Good friends are a MUST, so I wish you (and others) all the luck!!!!!

I highly recommend Mothers and More. We meet in Mt Lebanon the 1st Monday of each month at 7:15 PM. Here's a link to our website. http://mandm164.tripod.com/ Feel free to check out a meeting or two before joining. That way you can see what we're all about with no committment.

This month's meeting is being held offsite because our usual rented space does not have air conditioning. If you're interested in visiting just call ###-###-#### for details.

Hi! There are a lot of groups in the area. Go to www.meetup.com and search "mom" with a Pittsburgh location. Some of the groups are specific to a particular suburb of Pittsburgh, but a lot are not.

I also live in the south hills area of pittsburgh. Brentwood to be specific. I started attending our local library for baby story time with my daughter before she was even one. It was there that I met a lot of my mom-friends. It didn't happen immediately, but over time. There is also a program called PALS here in Brentwood, where moms and their kids get together at the Civic center and chat and play every wednesday. It is out for the summer, but starts up again in September.

I will second the advice for MOPS. My neighbor moved here from out of town and made a ton of friends through this organization.

FYI:Pittsburgh can be a tough town to meet people I have found. Many people that live here grew up here and are still best friends with their high school gang and have a ton of family here. They aren't always receptive to new close relationships. They are friendly acuaintances but thats about it.

Hi! I feel the same way--moved here from Philly last year when my daughter was a week old and I MISS the social interaction. I have a few friends, but feel like it's not the same as home. I live in Brookline, which is close to the South Hills. Feel free to email me!

Kath

Where do you live in Pittsburgh?

I know exactly what you mean! Pittsburgh is a tough place to move to. I've been here almost 10 years and still feel 'new'. I find that people here are friendly, but not necessarily interesting in making new friends.

That said... The MOPS groups are probably great, and your community center may sponsor playgroups - Mine does, I live in Ross. If you work full time, those don't really work as well.

I found a great group of women in the local babywearer's group (you can find them on yahoo groups under Pittsburgh babywearers). I also have gotten to know some people just by going to the playground in the evening and striking up conversations with people when our kids are playing together. Enrolling your child in activities also helps with this - again, we go through the township to find activities or through CCAC's community program.

I'm curious to see what other responses you get, because I'd love to know more ideas too!

Find a Mothers of Preschoolers group at mops.org.