(credit: stlouis.momslikeme.com)
Parents need social interaction just as much as their children do. Parental support networks are important, as they can provide parents with a sounding board when they are facing difficult times. A great network of parent friends can also be there for each other to celebrate during the happier times in life. The best places to make friends with new parents in St. Louis offer residents convenient options to mix and mingle with local parents and children at a number of locations about town. – Danielle Eickenhorst
(credit: stlouis.momslikeme.com)
St. Louis MomsLikeMe.com
St. Louis MomsLikeMe.com is a Web site dedicated to St. Louis mothers. It provides a forum for St. Louis moms to debate parenting issues, share advice and make friends. MomsLikeMe.com promotes local events and also allows moms to coordinate meet-ups, play dates and local happenings. The site also provides members with access to local psychology and health experts online, who can answer questions parents might pose about particular parenting situations.
St. Louis County Public Library
1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63131
(314) 994-3300
www.slcl.org
The St. Louis County Library has more then 20 locations throughout the St. Louis area, with its headquarters on Lindbergh Boulevard. The library provides cultural, family, child-focused and adult-oriented activities on a daily basis at each of its branches. Activities include morning story time, evening pajama story time, board games for children and adults, improvisational acting groups, movie nights, fitness classes and more. The library even offers classes in foreign language, English as a second language, GED certification, computers and IT that are available to both kids and adults. Many of these resources are free or provided at a very low cost.
Reading Habitat
6035 Telegraph Rd.
Oakville, MO 63129
(314) 401-4809
www.readinghabitat.com
Reading Habitat in South St. Louis offers story times for kids of all ages most Saturdays and on the third Thursday of every month. Parents of older children can purchase Starbucks coffee and socialize or browse the bookstore ,while their children enjoy the story. Toddler classes are available on Saturdays at 10 a.m., throughout the year, and provide an introduction to story time and are interspersed with motor activities for children who might not be old enough to sit through a traditional story-telling on its own. Toddler classes are geared toward younger children and their parents and provide an opportunity for parents to meet and befriend other local parents. These classes cost $5 per session, or you can purchase six for $25 on the Reading Habitat punch card. Story time schedules and events are updated on the Reading Habitat Web site monthly.
MOMS Club of St. Louis City
MOMS Club of St. Louis City is a non-profit group that primarily caters to stay-at-home parents with social play date events during the day and one evening event per month. This group provides a forum for discussion about specific parenting issues, and encourages activities that help members grow in their own right as parents and women. Exercise classes, field trips and discussion groups are common throughout the month, activities that have the potential to be among the best places to make friends with new parents in St. Louis. A babysitting co-op is available to members where they earn and spend “points” for babysitting, rather than actual money.
