Nervous meeting new people.

[zestylemonbel]

I've recently just moved to a new area by myself with my six year old and eight month old. My six year old has taken to it like a duck to water. She's fitted right into her new school, and loves where we are. Which is amazing and I am very proud of her.
So, I now have my days busy juggling school runs, homework, dinners, baths, looking after the baby etc, but today I decided to join a Sure Start Centre so my youngest can start her journey of interacting with children her age, and make positive progress in her development. I did the same with my eldest when she was younger and it didn't even occur to me that I would be sat in a room full of strangers as I was always quite confident and could flow a conversation with anyone, but I am petrified of having to sit in a room full of mums and their babies????? I'm now terrible at small talk and in all honesty find it hard to keep concentration without my mind floating off somewhere else.
I suppose what I'm asking is and it might sound ridiculous.... but how do I make new friends? My baby will be fine, she's a happy little soul, but I have been using her as a block so I don't have to talk to other people and I just concentrate on her. But I need some adult interaction. Catch 22 right.

Remember that friendships are borne of shared experience and can take a long time to come to fruition.

Then remember that people just love talking about themselves so instead of worrying about small talk just ask them a few questions about themselves.

When your elder child begins to get more involved in her friend's lives, she'll get playdate and party invitations and that's your chance to meet other Mums.

Baby group friendships are hard because baby's don't do much...they don't form friendships....so the Mums...various random women, often with nothing in common...feel pressured to like one another!

Your older child's friends Mothers already have something in common with you...in that your kids are mates!

I have two friends who are very close from where I have just moved from. I spent eight years with them and our kids growing up or is having babies etc. And as I said I never had an issue talking to people, but with a bit of growing up and the burning desire for everyone to like me has gone... I just want to make a few local friends maybe to meet for a coffee every once in a while, but I have no idea where to begin. I suffer from being tarnished with the young mother brush, I don't want to relive my past and make friends with people my age who don't share the same mentality of me, but women who I would probably get on with wouldn't look at me twice because I am only 25, so subsequently probably wouldn't be in the groups I have been to?

Which then leads to me feeling really self conscious and I shut down and just don't speak to people or I speak complete nonsense. I'm stuck in a rut?