With all you have to do for your kids (plus everything else!), it's no wonder friends fall by the wayside. But if you can stay close, you'll be happier -- and show your kids how important friendship is.

"My kids enjoy hearing us talk about when we were kids," says Tami Berman, a mom of three in Newburgh, New York, who's still close to her two best friends from grade school. "And they've made a vow with my friends' kids to stay close, too. It gives them a sense of stability."

Keeping up is hardest when children are small -- but that's exactly when you need friends the most. Set up a bimonthly dinner (families invited, too), then grab a drink afterward.