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We just moved to pound ridge and I'm really feeling the loneliness. I don't know how to meet people and I'm just desperate to interact and hang out. We have a small baby and moved from the city. It's really tough. Amy suggestions would be great please.
We just moved to pound ridge and I'm really feeling the loneliness. I don't know how to meet people and I'm just desperate to interact and hang out. We have a small baby and moved from the city. It's really tough. Amy suggestions would be great please.
That's quite a jump! PR is a beautiful place but not necessarily easy to penetrate without something to grab a hold of. Most people with kids in school very quickly engage socially through kids/school. With a baby it's harder.
Anyway, a few thoughts...... You could try the newcomers club (I don't have info but a search should do the trick). And get a town pool pass. You'll find the town park packed with other young moms. The library is another great resource. Visit there, see what they have going on. I'm not sure how much they're doing these days (budget cuts) but they used to have a lot activities and it's a great community resource.
Good luck with the transition. Think of moving from NYC the same way you'd think of moving to a foreign country. It will take a while to adjust. In the meantime, focus on the stuff that's good, even if it's lonely for a while. FWIW, I moved to PR with 2 small kids from Tokyo. Although our oldest was in 1st grade and we made lots of friends through school (and then the circle quickly expands), we were happy to decompress from crazy urban life and enjoy the peace and solitude.
I had the same problem when we moved to Westchester. We arrived in Scarsdale in late June and I had a 13 month old. Everybody was in the Hamptons/the Cape/Block Island/Fire Island/Europe/insert fancy destination here, and all kids were at sleep away camp. The village seemed empty. Even come fall it was very hard to meet other moms because everybody seemed to already have a group of friends based on older children in school, or else I met the nannies at the mommy and me classes.
The newcomers club was a saving grace, so definitely research that in PR. And if I were more outgoing I probably would have met people at the pool (because people who weren't away were at the pool). Mommy and me classes are always a good start too (I did meet a couple of moms there).
However, I have to say that this past year my oldest started school and I have made lots of friends just this year through his school. It really is true that it is the best way to meet people. If you can't wait that long you can start looking into preschools. It is tough and it does take a long time, but you WILL meet people. Good luck!
...... if I were more outgoing I probably would have met people at the pool (because people who weren't away were at the pool). Mommy and me classes are always a good start too (I did meet a couple of moms there).
Word. PR is somewhat unusual in that an astonishing number of houses are weekend/summer homes. I've heard consistently heard that it's about 1/3! Pound Ridge pops up repeatedly in articles as an anti-Hamptons. In summer it doesn't empty out, it fills up. [sidebar snarky comment: my wife and I have fun evesdropping on the city tourists at the various antique shows who think they've discovered small town New England.]. Anyway, there are actually MORE people here in summer than any other time.
The point is, lots of those people at the pool are going to be weekenders going to their place in Pound Ridge INSTEAD OF (or maybe in addition to) The Vineyard, etc etc. ALL will be New Yorkers. My guess is that every one of them has wondered what it would be like to be a local. It may be an easy place to strike up a conversation.
Last edited by kletter1mann; 07-03-2013 at 04:54 PM..
Reason: amplification of point
Shortly after we moved up from Brooklyn I became a SAHD with an 18 month old. It was quite the change from brownstone Brooklyn to being in an old farmhouse on 4 acres with no neighbors in sight on a quiet "country" road with no one on it except for the occasional biker or jogger. I'd put the kid in the stroller and push up the hill to go to see the horses down the road or plop him in the backpack carrier and walk in the woods. There were days were I saw no one all day but the kid. But really the experience wasnt much different than my wife's when she was at home with the wee one in Brooklyn. She'd see people on the street but she never actually met any of them. She met people the same ways that I did. I joined three local playgroups (each meeting once a week) and met parents and playdate mates. I took the kid to playgrounds, parks, the pool, coffee houses, libraries, and bookstores--and met people in all of those. After a few months I had developed relationships with a good number of parents I liked and had a regular roster of playdates set up. The two years I was at home with the kid were amazing and I miss them often.
Across the border in CT New Canaan is a town with a great downtown, much more of a community feel than Pound Ridge. Would be an easier transition from city life.
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