I debated not going back to work and staying home with my kids. I'm glad I didn't because day care gave me my group of friends.

• I almost didn't go back to work and send my kids to day care, but now I'm glad I did.
• I've met most of my friends through my kids, and our tight-knit group feels more like family.
• Eight years later, we still show up for each other.

Making friends in a new town isn't easy, especially when working from home and being a married mom of two under 2.

But when I sent my kids to day care, I found a few friends along the way who have become like family.

Finding common bonds with strangers

I crossed paths with many of the same faces during day care drop-off and pick-up each day. I learned to treasure those micro conversations when checking our children in and out, grabbing car seats, and watching the teachers bring out their cute little fingerpaintings and art projects to take home. These moments created a bond between us despite us essentially being strangers.

The day care had an indoor play space called The Treehouse, with after-hours events for parents and their kids. It created the perfect opportunity to meet other moms while helping my children (then ages 1 and 3) grow their social skills.

Tuesday nights were our favorite. The theme was "Work It Out," and $5 per kid covered two supervised hours of kid-play in The Treehouse while the moms got a full-body workout.

It became a weekly tradition for my crew and two other moms, Meredith and Christin, whose kids were the same ages as mine.

This was the start of new friendships for me and what has now become lifelong friendships for my children. My kids don't remember a time when they weren't friends with the other Treehouse kids.

Sharing the good, bad, and insanity of motherhood, and more

When The Treehouse ended its after-hours events, our trio continued the Tuesday tradition, hosting Work It Out at each other's houses.

Those Tuesdays evolved into lunch dates, park trips, weekend play dates, birthday celebrations, and a three-way text thread. We socialized often, with and without our kids.

Meredith and I surprised our kids by meeting up at Dollywood one summer day and again at Six Flags several years later. We have a long-standing tradition of going river tubing each summer right before the new school year starts. We gave Christin a baby shower and a meal train to welcome her second daughter. She's my go-to when I need help with school transportation. And since our older boys' birthdays are just three days apart, we plan their parties around each other.

Christin keeps an eye on my house when I'm out of town, feeds my pets, and gives me a voice of reason. She's lived in our town much longer than I have and knows everyone and everything that happens, which is why she's the first person I go to when I have questions. She's been a voice of reason for me more times than I can count.

The more time we spent together, the easier it was for me to befriend other moms. Lauren, Aundrea, and Quintina became familiar faces at birthday parties, park dates, and play dates.

Our children have formed inseparable bonds because they see each other often in and out of daycare. Even though they've made new friends over the years, they're still closest to the ones from their pre-school days.

Family is also the people you choose

The text thread is now an eight-person collaboration, and it grows ever longer. And to think I almost didn't choose day care.

We're long removed from Tuesdays, The Treehouse, and day care, and life has gotten busy for all of us. Most of our kids play sports or take lessons of some sort. One of our friends moved a couple of hours away. Another is going through cancer.

But distance, schedules, and life's unexpected surprises can't divide us. We still trick-or-treat together, do craft nights, celebrate birthdays (and know when each kid's birthday is coming up), discuss school and sports, and plan outings.

Our kids brought us together, but we chose to become friends. Now, more than eight years later, we continue to choose friendship despite the different roads we've traveled. We might go longer between visits or texts, but we always know where to turn when one of us needs help, advice, an answer, or just a friend.