Charlotte: “Sometimes I go into the other room and close the door and just let her scream! Isn’t that awful?”

Miranda: “No! That’s survival! Take a sip!”

Doesn’t it feel good when someone completely relates to you? Well, I’m lucky enough to be part of my own Fab Four. Every few months, I go out for a fancy dinner with Katie, Justine and Liza. We partake in some wine drinking, husband bashing and mommy whining. Basically, we laugh ’til we cry. And, it always feels so good to let loose.

“There’s a hormonal reason you like to go out with your friends,” says Kari Henley, the author of a mom blog and former board member at the Women and Family Life Center in Guilford.

She believes it’s all about oxytocin, a hormone first associated with breast feeding. New research suggests the act of coming together triggers the release of this hormone, which actually reduces stress and improves overall health.

“We’re wired to want to talk about the details of our life without the need for it to go anywhere,” says Henley, who started a “Mother Madness” group while raising four kids. That’s why book clubs and knitting circles are so popular. And, let’s face it, sometimes our other halves just don’t get it.

When the kids are little and there’s dinner to make and laundry to fold, it’s easy to say: “I’m too tired to go out. I’ll cancel my outing with the girls.”

But, Henley says, “make it a priority.” If you don’t, you could risk feeling lonely or isolated. “Make the time to be around other women. It is critical to being a successful mom.” She feels so passionate about the topic that she has lead workshops titled “Why Women Gather.”

I’m so grateful for my fun friends, and now I’m also thankful to have a solid, medical reason to swear a lot and eat gobs of bread pudding.