Sahar, on Kinship. Sling Diaries, Vol VII.
The Sling Diaries, Volume VII. A photo-documentary chronicling the art of baby wearing in the lives of families around the world. Over the course of six months, Sling Diarists will create their own Sling Diary though a series of diary entries interpreting a unique theme given to them each month.
Meet all of our Sling Diarists here.
ON KINSHIPI remember feeling nervous. More nervous than my first date with my husband. More nervous than the first day of graduate school. What if they didn't like me, or, even worse, what if their kids didn't like my kid. It was my first time attending a local playgroup at a store close to my house and the friend I was supposed to go with had canceled at the last minute. I was already in the car and debated turning around and going home, but I was so desperate to be around adults and to be out of the house, so I decided to just go head and go. James was just shy of 6 months old and I hadn't found a group of "mom friends" yet.
I felt lonely, like I was missing a crucial part of the motherhood experience. A few of my close friends had kids or were expecting, but I didn't have a steady group of friends with kids around the same age as mine to get together with on a regular basis -- you know, Mom Friends. Off to the group I went and I felt SO AWKWARD. Do I introduce myself? Do I just hang out with my babe and hope someone says hi? Do I leave? Before I could drive myself crazy with questions, James had scooted/rolled over to a group of babies and all of a sudden we were sitting with a group of mamas and their babies, chatting about introducing solids, breastfeeding, teething, and our favorite toys. It felt natural and so good to talk with other mamas. The playgroup ended, and what was supposed to be an hour of playtime turned into 2 more hours of sitting and chatting with these women that embraced me at a time when I needed it most. We were strangers but in that moment we found a thread that bound us together. Two years later, we're all still in touch, we've added 3 new babies, and our once little babes are well into toddlerhood.


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Photos by Brenda Winburn. Follow along with Sahar over on Instagram, @themamanest, and The Sling Diaries on Pinterest.