In 2018, one of my goals was to spend more time with my friends. Our relationships had become more Whatsapp based, maybe the occasional phone call to some and that was it. I decided to change that and introduced the ‘Ladies Hangout’ – quarterly meetups where we were just us. No roles or responsibilities, just food, and games.

During the hangouts, we don’t discuss our issues, this is a rule. There is no need to dwell on time-consuming discussions about issues as this is dedicated time away from ‘life as we know it’. We get to let our hair down and be young and free again (if only for a few hours).

Started off with 8 of my close friends and now we are over 20. It’s interesting how one thinks about being bogged down by life, not knowing others are going through the same thing. Not everyone gets to attend each hangout but it’s a fun time we all look forward to. Almost feels like we are teenagers again. We feed ourselves silly and have a fun time with the games.

This year, it seemed like a struggle to get together. Something always came up – elections, postponement of elections, a wedding…. We eventually agreed to be intentional and meet up, no matter few we were. This is exactly what happened, 5 of us finally met up in May, our 1st hangout this year. It was fun and we were all looking forward to the next one.

We also discussed sharing opportunities to meet up, sharing things that interest us so we can meet up more often, even if it was only a couple of us. We have successfully started the little meetups and had another hangout last weekend.

Hanging out with the ladies is lots of fun. My cousin-friend Dami calls it a cult LOL. What’s important here is that we realise we need time out and we are deliberate about it. How about you? Are you spending time with friends or are you bogged down by your responsibilities? Don’t let work, marriage, motherhood and other roles steal your relationships with the ladies. You need them, you need ‘ME TIME’.

Do you need help setting a hangout up? Let me know, I can help.