NewsTheNow

'Tinder for moms' creates playdate connections and new friends

Peanut app aims to help moms
Posted
and last updated

A new app is designed to make it easier for moms to connect with other moms and arrange play dates, go for coffee, and find ways to make new friends, putting family first.

"Going from moving from all of your friends and you kind of started families with and going to a place where you don't know anyone can be very difficult," Hazley says.

Hazley and her daughters usually play by themselves.

"It is a little isolating," Hazley says.

Because since she moved to this neighborhood, she's struggled to find the right way to connect with other moms.

Hazley says, "You don't want to come off like a creep so you could have to be careful about approaching people and it can get a little strange."

One app is trying to take the strange out of the process. It's called Peanut, marketed as the tinder for mom friends.

"I think an app that is purposefully targeting mothers who want to connect to each other is an awesome idea," Hazley says.

You sign up for Peanut like you would for many dating apps, enter how many kids you have and their ages. 

Instead of swiping left and right like the dating apps, on Peanut you swipe up to wave at another mom, and once connected, moms can start chatting.

The free app even links to your calendar and helps you schedule coffee and playdates.

"Peanut isn't a replacement for meeting in real life it is to help you with me in real life, says Michelle Kennedy who founded Peanut after becoming a mom and working on other dating apps.

"I just felt like women deserve equal part of that related to motherhood other than feeling like it was old fashion or old school," Kennedy says.

It's not exactly how Hazley expected to connect with other moms.

"It is a strange kind of a strange thought," Hazley says. "But I guess it makes sense just the way this world is kind of moving towards more and more socializing on the Internet and through apps."

But she hopes using it will mean next time they go for ice cream, it'll be with new friends.