Thank you science! Thank you experts! Thank you researchers for shutting parent shamers up. Especially those who think mothers should stop going out and spending time with friends as soon as she becomes a mother.

“You’re a mother now, does your husband approve of you going out with your friends?” Some of them would often ask.

Others would go as far as declaring “When I was a young mom like you I stopped going out because it was inappropriate for a mom to leave her kids with strangers (a baby sitter) just so she could go out with friends”.

A new study published in the Journal Family Process found that maintaining your social support system which includes keeping in touch with your friends will help you maintain good parent-child relationship.

Also read Mothers of Teens Can Benefit From Social Support

Having friends and a network of people you can turn to isn’t just beneficial for new moms, even moms of adolescents will benefit from this too, the study finds. Having social support, or a group of other people she can talk to about her children, helps moms build positive relationships with their children.

Talking about their frustrations with friends especially when it gets overwhelming helps them calm down and return to their children renewed and refreshed.

It’s like having a life line you can depend on when parenting gets too stressful.

So go out there and meet up with your friends every once in awhile. Let your kids spend time with the grannies, and go on a movie date night with your partner and other couple friends.

You need this. You need this for your sanity. You need this for your relationship with your partner. You need this so you can be a good parent to your children.