MOPS

I have been part of this exciting thing lately.  I say exciting because any amount of outside the home activities are considered excitement for me.  A family member mentioned this group called MOPS once, I was like mops?  What is that?  Mothers of Preschoolers she says.  I shrug it off and forget about it.  Then I start seeing a friend post on Facebook all this fun stuff she is doing with her MOPS friends.  Play dates, outings, picnics, meetings, fundraisers, so I start snooping around.  I first googled it and found their website here - http://www.mops.org/.  Then I watched this video:

Wow.  Did you watch that video?  I go to church, I consider myself spiritual, why haven't I heard of this group before?  Now I am a serious introvert, when forced or when I force myself, I can pretend I am an extrovert for a limited time.  So I signed up.  Then I second guessed myself and wondered if I could ask for my money back (rather my mothers money - she thought I should go too).  So as the days passed, I managed to talk myself into it - it will be awesome to be around other mothers, it will be great for my children to socialize with other kids their age.  The children are separated by age group - Moppets!  There is a person in charge of organizing activities for the kiddos and boy do they!  I wondered if my 9 month old who is a bit shy of anyone besides me or my husband, would take to strangers.  She did great!  My 2.5 year old loves it too!  She is very excited to play with the other kiddos.  The childcare people are a GODSEND!  Friendly, warm, loving - I feel very comfortable leaving my children in their capable hands for two hours.  They pay the childcare workers very fairly!

The meeting starts off with announcements and breakfast.  Tasty, homemade, hot breakfast!  Coffee, juice, hot tea.....mmm....hot coffee, without a small child tugging on your sleeve.  Each table takes turns bringing breakfast items.  Speaking of tables, everybody is assigned to a table, like small groups.  I love it, I get to chatter about everyday things with the other ladies and experience the scheduled activities as well.  There is usually a speaker on a topic that can help us better ourselves as mothers, wives, people.  A craft of some sort also accompanies meetings, love that part.  Also, our group has a table for ladies to place unwanted items that another mother might be able to use.  Our group participates in community outreach as well.  We have people in our group that work at the women's shelter in town and at the local pregnancy center.  So we are helping them out whenever possible.  How awesome is that?  I can't wait to help volunteer sometime!!

Already, after a few meetings, I have made some new friends!  Even introverted ones like myself!  Boy, that was an interesting introduction.  We both have children the same age and were the only two mothers waiting together for the childcare worker to show up.  Awkwardly, we avoided eye contact and shared a few words occasionally followed by nervous laughs and long silences while engaging in our children.  Seemed like FOREVVVVVER!  But after a few more exchanges, chatting on facebook, we are looking forward to getting to know each other better and are finding we have quite a few things in common.  I also discovered that two - TWO! - of the MOPS mamas live on my street!!  One lives six doors away!  SCORE!!  

All in all, we have a lot of fun together and the ladies are wonderful ladies, all mothers, all happy to talk to other mothers for awhile.  Sometimes the littles need their mamas and are brought to us during the meetings, which is okay.  There are also a bunch of ladies hanging out nearby ready to take the littlest babies and the littles, so their mamas can enjoy and pay attention at the meeting.  Everyone needs a little break sometimes.  I highly recommend finding a group in your area, you won't regret it.  I admit, it's not for everyone I am sure, but even the most serious introverts like myself can enjoy it.

I implore you to check it out!  And if your children are older, they have groups for that too!  Read more about what to expect here - http://www.mops.org/about