mommy cards by minted

Ethan and I go to the park a lot. We casually chit-chat with lots of really nice people, but there's always that awkwardness that makes mom-to-mom socialization feel like highschool dating. No one wants to make the first move to talk about anything deeper than "oh, how old is he?" and "oh, do you live around here?" Then there are the times when someone makes that move and their number or e-mail address gets lost in the bottom of your bag or saved into your phone as "kid at park in blue shirt" and you know you're never going to call. (And how would you? "Hello, is this Kid At Park In Blue Shirt's mother?") Or there's the always pleasant run-in with a mom that you know you know, but don't know how, or you might recognize the child but not have a shred of an idea what the mother's name is. Like the time I tried to invite one of the little boys in Ethan's My Gym class to a playdate and when I asked the mother for her e-mail address, she replied "it's just my name, all one word, at G-Mail." I mean, ouch? I hadn't the slightest idea what her name was -- first or last -- so that playdate? Yeah, never happened. Or -- because apparently my life is rich with awkward, uncomfortable moments -- the time a woman stopped me while I was having lunch with Ethan and awkwardly introduced herself as a new mother who didn't know a soul in the area and wanted to know if I knew of any local playgroups. I enthusiastically wrote her number down on a napkin, as well as her e-mail address, because (as usual) my phone had died. I promised her I'd send her some numbers and invite her to meet some of our mom friends and then never did because, well, I have no idea what happened to that napkin. Somewhere between the restaurant and our car it had disappeared, undoubtedly being buried somewhere under the diapers and wipes and general toddler-infused chaos that is my car. For days I felt such guilt, imagining this poor mother thinking she was rejected by us, slipped the old "don't call us, we'll call you" only for no calls to ever happen either way. Ouch.

Anyway, when it comes to mom-to-mom socialization, something needed to be done to remedy this problem or make the grounds a little less tense and awkward for the making of new friends. Luckily, Minted heard the prayers of moms everywhere. Enter their mom cards.

The above designs are just some of my favorites, showing the range from simple to elaborate. They're fully customizable and, really, there's a design for everyone's taste. I'm in love with this concept. My husband, on the other hand, was quick to give me the side-eye when I described them to him. (What does he know? Is he the one awkwardly making conversation with a sweet mom at the park who you know you'd just have so much in common with if you had the guts to ask her name, in the least-creepy-way-possible?) Anyway, even he couldn't deny the absolute cuteness of the card that Minted was awesome enough to let me design and try out.

Ready?

It's all of the Awkward Mom Problems solved with one simply adorable little card. The card itself was super easy to design and I got to customize every part of it -- including the little details, like the placement of the stars or what back I wanted the card to have. Naturally, I went with the "Let's Make A Play Date!" back option, but there were several to choose from, including a full-photo option!

Make sure to stop by Minted and check out their mommy cards -- you know, to stop playdate awkwardness, one step at a time!