If only our baby's first year could be spent entirely in warm, sunny weather. Our days would be filled with nothing but walks in the stroller, days at the park and suppertime picnics with friends and family. Right? This idealistic (OK, delusional) image of how our first year at home with our babies "should" be can easily haunt us when we're faced with the harsh reality of getting through the first winter with an infant.

But instead of giving in to the winter blues, use the following hints and your own creativity and willpower to make these months not only bearable, but an action-packed period of personal growth, budding friendships and precious bonding with your baby.

New motherhood can be either an extremely isolating experience or a golden opportunity to forge lifelong friendships – the difference comes from the energy you put into it. Finding other new mothers in the winter takes a bit more creativity than in the summer (when you can simply follow the parade of strollers to the nearest park), but it can be done.

Form a weekly playgroup with anyone you can find with a baby close in age to yours. Contacts made through childbirth or newborn classes are a great place to start, but don't stop there. Anyone pushing a stroller in your neighborhood or the grocery store will probably love to be included in an opportunity to meet other mothers. Also, don't be afraid to take the initiative in calling up people you have not spoken to in a while now that you both have children. Motherhood is a powerful bond among women, and acquaintances with whom you previously had little in common can become immediate and lifelong friends when your babies bring you together.

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