New to Castle Rock (Aurora: house, neighborhood, movies)

[cfspartan]

Well, we're not actually new to Castle Rock, but we may as well be. My wife and I moved here in February 08 and haven't met many people with whom we've connected. I worked on the road for about 8 months and my wife's a stay-at-home mom. I now work out of the house exclusively.

Any advice on ways to meet new people? We're late 20s, like outdoorsy stuff (like everyone else around here), movies, music, the usual stuff. We have a new baby - about 4 months old.

Any advice would be very helpful!

[maciesmom]

Church, Mom's Day out programs, neighbors, community events. All of these are ways to meet people. What do you do when you are not working? Do you live in an apt or house? Meeting people takes effort on your part. No one is going to knock on your door saying they saw you at the King Soopers and thought you looked like a nice couple to get to know! Put a priority on going places where you have a good chance to meet people your age with similar interests and then be the first one to stick your hand out and get to know them. It will get easier as your little one gets older but that should get you started in the meantime....Good luck.

[reginhild]

Stay-at-home mom, new baby, and working on the road make meeting new local friends more difficult!

Best thing is probably to do as mentioned above and make an effort to get involved in groups with similar interests. Newborn swimming lessons could be one way. I usually recommend trying to find groups that have similar age kids when they are infant/toddler/gradeschool age - the other parents will have the same difficulties you are dealing with and the kids will have an opportunity to be playmates and possible long term friends.

[treedonkey]

I can imagine how tough it can be to find a core of really good friends in those circumstances. I agree that activity groups might be a good place to start - hiking, biking, ham radio (inside joke), whatever you're into...

My wife and I have been strongly supported and closely befriended by our congregation, which we consider a real blessing, but I would never suggest going to church just to make friends. We're Jehovah's Witnesses, so it's a whole different lifestyle for us, as you can imagine, and the friends and spiritual 'family' have always just sort of come with the territory. I wasn't raised as such, so I can really appreciate how hard it is to meet people that you really connect with after high school and college. Especially if you're working out of the house all the time (as am I). Even at church, back in the day, it seemed like people were more into doing their own thing, and usually weren't all that friendly, which is maybe one of the reasons I was so turned off by 'church'.

I hope it goes well with you. It seems like folks are plenty friendly around here, so maybe it's just a matter of getting active with the right group.

[dpjebolts]

In my experiences in being a stay at home mom and being new in 2 places that i have lived with little ones is....Get involved, Church, moms groups, a walk in the neighborhood and saying hi to another mom playing outside with their kids. I have grown alot myself to step out of my comfort zone and make the effort to put myself out there and introduce myself to a stranger.

Now being established i encounter people who are in your shoes and the one common thread is that they have a hard time reaching out. They are shy or think people are clicky and don't want to get to know them. You just have to take a leap of faith and put yourself out there and not fear rejection. I have found some of the greatest friends by just saying hi, my name is, where are you from, where do you live...then asking them over for coffee. Sometimes you click with that person, sometimes you don't if not you may meet someone else through them.

It was definately harder when i was a young mom. Believe me it gets easier the older you get and/or the more you do it.

[the3Ds]

I found myself in the same situation after working for years and having an automatic social life.

While it's true that you meet people in unusual places (mailbox, neighborhood parks), sometimes you have to go out there and make a concentrated effort.

I found a fantastic, and I mean fantastic mom's group on meetup.com. It's specifically for SE Aurora/Centennial. You can also search the threads on babycenter.com and look specifically in Colorado, then look in your area. My meetup group has nearly every day filled up with stuff, from playdates to zoo trips to mojito and burrito parties to mom's day out for lunch and a movie. We work outside the home, we are SAHMs, we are highly educated, some finished high school, some are wealthy, others aren't, some are liberal (gasp!) others conservative (horror!) some older, some young...you get the idea. You will find your niche...you just have to treat it like a job search. The internet allows you to meet people who you may never run into in real life. I think you'll find what you're looking for on meetup or on the babycenter threads.