I know finding time to simply eat lunch as a mom is hard, especially with kids at home. So the thought of taking time to have lunch with friends is like a luxury you only dream of having. I am here to tell you that having lunch with friends, sans kids needs to be added to your priority list, it’s not a luxury it is a necessity.
First, let’s talk about the health benefits both mental and physical. 
- Lift you up emotionally
- Help you cope with life’s difficulties
- Provide a sounding board for decisions and/or choices
- Can help in keeping you on track for a healthier lifestyle
These are just a few of the powerful benefits.
I’m going to just tell you my experiences and why I consider it a necessity. Taking time to have lunch with friends without your kids in tow is a recharge for your battery, a deposit into a low or empty account.
You stay on top of keeping the battery on your phone charged and if you don’t you panic about what you will do or make sure you have enough in your account before spending. Staying in touch with friends, new or old is better in person. Yes, social media has made it easy to “be up to date” on their lives, but meeting in person, lowers the barriers and opens up the conversations and makes for better and deeper connections. This is very important – those deeper connections make for better relationships and benefit you both mentally.
Even a quick lunch with friends can give your soul a boost. Me and two very close friends get together for a girls weekend once a year and then meet for lunch a couple times throughout the year. We have been doing this for MANY YEARS and I mean many. We’ve known each other before weddings and children yet we lived closer then, and two of us were roommates for a time, and we worked together. I do not live as close to them now, so we meet in Malad, kind of the halfway point for each of us.
We plan for a day, seriously, we usually start at 11:30 and go into the evening, 8-hour lunches are our norm, and it’s just like the memes on social media, we pick up where we left off. We discuss everything and anything going on in our lives. Two of us are moms moving into our empty nest years, one is single yet the favorite aunt for all. We can discuss anything and everything and laugh and cry about it all. We have a lot in common and while each of us is very different and bring so much to our friendship.
All of those things I listed above for benefits I get in spades with each lunch, and it lasts. I feel like I have a new perspective on things and feel so much better about myself. Seriously, it’s like having a large deposit put into my account. I am ready for what comes my way and better as a wife and mother. In simple terms, I am a better person overall. So next time you get an invite for lunch, make it happen, your account is getting close to being in the negative! Don’t have someone to meet for lunch message me and we will do lunch!
