Ever had trouble making friends? “Women Are Scary” – um, could there be a better title for a book about friendship between women? Women ARE scary…okay, not all of us, and not all the time, but tricky female friendships start young, believe me, I have a girl in Kindergarten, and it continues through our lives. Our TCMB team is full of women who are excited about community, about building friendships and we still sometimes find it intimidating. When I asked our team for some words to describe making new mom friends, they came up with the following: It’s fun, Embrace realness, awkward, intimidating and wine helps.
We actually asked you on Facebook and you said similarly: intimidating, daunting, blind date, difficult but essential, terrifying, hard, challenging, blind date and scary. Scary! We agree and you may want to take a peek at this book, just as a handful of those of us on our team were able to do.
I think, often, as moms, we need our alone time so much that we often forget to spend time with our friends. It takes intentionality and when all of your energy goes into your kids and family, it can be so hard to channel even more energy into intentional friendships.
This book is well worth the read if you’ve ever found friendships to be anything buy easy-peasy, and I think pretty much all of us have been there. And if you have any doubts about the writer, she’s terrified of Pinterest, so this is not a book that will tell you to plan a picture-perfect playdate and, voila!, friendship! Read what some of our team members had to say about the book:
Women are Scary provides a humorous analogy of finding and keeping friends in the mommy world. It is fun, witty and an easy read that every woman and mom can likely relate to. Dale keeps it mostly light, but throws in a few teary stories when discussing her infertility and the sometimes inevitable mommy breakups. Everyone could get something out of it, maybe a laugh, or maybe help in making mommy friendships instead of mommy wars. However, if you are a pinterest-loving-clean-house-farts-gross-you-out kind of mom (like me), you may need to skip a few chapters! – Nichole
I found Melanie Dale’s book, “Women Are Scary ,” so refreshing . The humor in it was beautifully paired with brutal honesty about us women and our struggles to find true , authentic and meaningful friendships . Being at the stage of life where I know just how important and valuable deep friendships are , I found this book to be encouraging as I brave new bases and pursue these relationships! I couldn’t have loved it more! A must read for all women . – Cari
Melanie Dale is clearly well-versed on charting the often choppy waters of making mommy friends…Dale has a lot of good things to say and reminds us that other moms are just as nervous, dorky and needy for a friend as we are. And that’s no small thing. Add in some great ideas like playdates for a cause and a handy list of excuses for when your kiddos are acting insane and this book suddenly becomes a pretty great read. – Kristin
It took a clear and honest approach like Women Are Scary to realize that I was being that “judgey” mom as I read about the world-changing group mommy dates Melanie and her friends have together… They do that, seriously?! What overachievers. I could never do that. Oh, but I can, and this book proves why and how. It takes time, effort, full frontal hugs and sometimes an abundance of annoying text messages to build relationships with women. It’s not going to easy, it’s going to interrupt your netflix marathons, but in the end there are going to be a lot more women enjoying life a little more. Dale says it perfectly, “when mamas get together.. We can make a difference in the world.” – Leah
Women Are Scary made me want to place a classified ad for mom friends in hopes that Melanie Dale would respond. She had me at “watching Fletch together,” and by the time she quoted Better Off Dead, I’d decided we should be best friends. I may not have the gumption to try out many of her suggestions but she convinced that there are other moms out there worth trying to befriend and perhaps even some strange enough to love me back. – Airika
