You’re hanging with your baby, and you’re totally blissed out with mummy fun! That is until it’s the 134th day in a row, and you seriously need to talk to someone who can talk back.
That’s what two mums from the UK were thinking when they created a genius Tinder-like app for finding new friends. Katie Massie-Taylor and Sarah Hesz are the co-creators of Mush, an app that lets mums find other mums who are nearby.
The app is much more than a social networking site. Instead of connecting with potentially far away mums (like you might on Facebook or Instagram), Mush lets their users find local mums who have similar interests. Let’s say you’re in your early 30s and have an 18-month-old. The app looks for other women who are in a similar age range with a similar number of children who are also of similar ages.
Along with connecting to like-minded mums, Mush has a “let’s mush” feature that allows mums to see who is out and about—and ready to meet up. Imagine this—you’re stuck inside, and on the fourth hour of singing “The Wheels on the Bus” (or some other mind-numbing children’s song). Your tot is crying, the only other humans you’ve seen all day have been the ones in giant dinosaur suits that happen to populate your kiddo’s favourite show and you’re about ready to burst. Seriously.
You need some adult-to-adult time right now. Or, at the very least, a conversation with someone over the age of 23-months. And, wouldn’t it be absolutely fab if you had loads and loads of mum friends around? But, that’s not always the case. Maybe you don’t have any mummy friends—not yet anyway. Or, maybe your current friends have kids of totally different ages than yours. Sure, you can all get together. But, when your 15-month-old knocks over your BFF’s 6-year-old’s watercolours, no one will be happy.
The brilliance of Mush lets you make new friends, without having to accost other mums at the playground. No really, how hard is it to make new mum friends? You’re at the local playground with your little one and see a group of other probably-the-same-age-as-you women with their kiddos. So, you go up to them and ask them if you can join in? Maybe if you’re feeling extra adventurous. But, in reality, you hang back, sit by yourself and wish as much as you can that at least one of them asks you over. It doesn’t happen.
So, you need Mush. The app’s primary audience is in the UK. That said, there are pockets in the U.S. (mainly NYC) and Melbourne.
Beyond the connection and meet-up factors, the app also provides mums with totally useful guides on raising babies and children. Even if you never meet up with another mum through the app (but, why would you not?) the guides may be worth the download. The app is currently available for iOS and Android. Check it out here.
