MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers. I joined a MOPS group through the church where Natalie attends daycare (it's one of those great opportunities I posted about a few days ago), and it has seriously been a Godsend! Natalie's BFF's mom (did ya catch that?) is one of the moms who started this specific group, and she invited me to attend the first meeting back in October. We meet the first Saturday of every month, and I haven't missed one yet. Our meeting this past weekend was great, as they all are. Generally our routine is 1) get a plate full of refreshments, 2) chit chat a little bit and our new members introduce themselves, 3) announcements (this is one of the ways I learn about the opportunities available through the "daycare church"), 4) watch our cirriculum video (this year's curriculum is "Momology"- more on that later), 5) discuss the video and share our own personal stories and bits of advice/struggles (it's great to know I'm not alone in many of the daily stuggles of parenting a toddler), 6) craft time. We cram a lot into two hours, and it would be great if we could meet more often or for a longer period of time, but we are all so busy, and we have free childcare (another advantage of MOPS), so we don't want to take any more of the sweet babysitters' valuable time. We try to have social outings too, in addition to our regular meeting time. We have movie nights, shopping trips, dinner dates (our hubbies are included here), and coffee dates. Childcare is provided 99% of the time during our social outings. Love it!
I've mostly used online forums to interact with moms of kids around Natalie's age for a couple of reasons: 1) I don't know a lot of people with kids Natalie's age around here, and 2) I feel less vulnerable when I ask a potentially stupid question when I'm hiding behind a computer screen and a screen name. Having real-life friends who are going through the same things I am and who aren't judgmental has been great. I encourage every "mother of preschoolers" to attend a MOPS group at least once if there's one nearby. It's totally worth it. Not only have I made friends, but Natalie has as well.
1 comment:
I love knowing you live in Jackson! Where does Natalie go to daycare? I worked and went to college in Cape and loved it! If I didn't miss my family so much we would still be there. My father-in-law and brother-in-law both work for the Bank of Missouri, BIL is at the Jackson branch and FIL is the President of them and works in Cape...Kyle & John Thompson, wonder if ya'll know them?! Where do ya'll work?
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