mommy groupLike every mom, Denise Richards has a lot going on (well, maybe not like every mom). So I wasn't surprised to hear that Richards is part of a celeb mommy group including Alison Sweeney, Ali Landry, Brooke Burke and Lisa Rinna that meets up regularly to share a potluck supper, and more importantly, parenting tips. There's nothing like a mommy support system to get you through the trenches: Potty-training, starting pre-school, naptime battles, the list goes on. I know I wouldn't have made it through my kids' early years without a little help from my friends.

There's just something about the kind of advice/empathy you get from another mom that can't be found in books or online -- especially online, as any mom who's made the horrible mistake of Googling some seemingly minor symptom like "toddler rash" can tell you. (My kid could have what?!) A perfect example of this is what I think of as "The Red Pee Incident." My daughter was about two, and a little boy in her playgroup went to the potty. His mom came running out of the bathroom in a panic: "His pee is red! Oh my god!" Had this poor woman typed "toddler red urine" into a search engine, god only knows what horror stories would have popped up. Luckily, another mother in our playgroup knew just the right question to ask: "What did he eat last night?" Turns out the little boy (who shall remain nameless, to spare him torment from classmates) had wolfed down a big bowl of steamed beets for dinner, which (who knew?) can give pee a reddish tint. Phew!

Even if your fellow moms can't give you any answers, they can at least give you a comfortable shoulder to cry on ... one that won't judge you like your own mother would or assume you're overreacting like your husband could.

Do you have a circle of moms you couldn't live without?

 

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