Tack Shop: Dressing Like You’re Taking Your 3-Year-Old to a Playdate With a Cool Mom You’re Trying to Befriend
A parenthood rite of passage.
Welcome to Tack Shop, a shopping column where I (or friends of Clotheshorse) curate a mélange of interesting, fun, delightful things you can invest in.
Someone once told me when my oldest daughter was still quite tiny that the moment she turned 3, she and her sticky friends would assume control of our family’s social calendar. Haha!!! I imagine I chuckled in response, my deranged, frantic voice cracking with worried laughter. That’s SO funny you say that because that’s TOTALLY not going to happen to us!!! We’re too cool!!! We’re from NEW YORK!!!
Anyway, yeah. Toddlers have a way of humbling you extremely efficiently.
The past few weeks alone have entailed a trip to the zoo, a haircut and subsequent pilgrimage to American Girl Place, a cancelled playdate, a birthday party, a stroller walk-and-talk, and several visits to various area parks. But you know what? I think I love it. My kids’ friends’ parents have become my friends and I really do relish the opportunity to spend time with cool new adults while also being able to hang out with my own family. (The mid-30s come at you hard.)
The coolest of all the cool new adults in my orbit are the string of singularly cool new mom friends, around whom my husband has told me I need to “chill out.” This is because there is something so uniquely special about finding authentic female friendship both inclusive and outside of your children. We can text about the bloodshed that is toddler bedtime while simultaneously rehashing Paige and Craig’s breakup. We can use a playdate as an ostensible front to hang out and eat crudités on a patio while our kids douse themselves with the buggy contents of a water table. In this particular era of motherhood, when my children need me soooooo much, having a perfect, easy, nearby mom friend — one you’d naturally jive with, even without children — can feel a bit like having another copilot outside of your spouse or partner. They can be your village.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Which is to say: Yes, I obviously get very stressed out dressing for playdates.
You need to make sure you can repel down a playground ladder at a moment’s notice or sprint after your kid when they inevitably attempt to engage in some activity that will bring them great harm. I like to bring something for the adults (perhaps a bottle of wine) and something for the kids (maybe some sidewalk chalk for outside hangs, weather permitting).
So here’s what I’m thinking:
What do you think? Would you be my mom friend?
xx,
Maura
A note to readers: Clotheshorse may occasionally include affiliate links if I’m recommending a product I love, but I’ll never promote anything I don’t use and/or enjoy myself!
Haha this makes me laugh bc I still think about the chic mom I saw at the Natural History Museum in LA in like 2017 that became an inspiration for me: classic blue jeans, sliiiightly loose v neck cashmere sweater, cute sneakers. It’s timeless.
Solidarity as my toddler totally runs my life and calendar, too, but I kind of love it as well! Btw I would totally be your mom friend, yes, and not just because your style is 10/10!