Friends Mom ❲WORKING · TUTORIAL❳

When you’re young, you assume your friends' parents were always old. Now, when I look at Diane, I don't just see Mark’s mom. I see the girl from Oregon. I see the young wife. I see the exhausted mother of a toddler. It makes the gray hairs look less like aging and more like earned wisdom.

Your own mom knows how to push your buttons because she installed them. But a friend’s mom offers advice without the baggage. When I told Diane I was thinking of quitting my stable job to freelance, she didn't panic like my mom did. She just said, "You’re smart enough to land on your feet. The safety net is ugly anyway."

There is something validating about being liked by the matriarch of the group. She has seen you cry over a breakup, celebrate a promotion, and eat an entire tray of nachos. She knows you. And when she tells you she’s proud of you, it feels like a bonus parent stamp of approval. friends mom

There’s a unique kind of relationship that doesn’t get talked about enough: the one you have with your best friend’s mom.

I spent last Saturday afternoon at my friend Mark’s parents’ house. Mark was running late (classic Mark), so I sat on the back porch with his mom, Diane. Fifteen years ago, I would have been awkwardly scrolling through my phone. This time, we talked. When you’re young, you assume your friends' parents

On the drive home, I realized that the "village" we hear so much about isn't just for raising kids. It’s for living life. Diane isn't my mom. But she is part of my foundation.

The Quiet Wisdom of My Friend’s Mom

It hit me that I had never asked her about her life. Not really.