Do Moms Know About Mops (Mothers of Preschoolers)

I tried Mops, but my dd wasn't willing to stay in the classroom without me, and I felt she was too young to be separated from me yet, even though there was a lot of pressure to do so. I just couldn't relax knowing my dd was crying and unhappy in the other building, so it didn't work out for us. Plus I felt dumb doing crafts by myself, instead I felt I should be doing crafts with my kid!
Instead I joined my local MOMS club (check out www.momsclub.org to find one in your neighborhood) and I enjoyed it much better because the children never have to be separated from you if you don't want, and the kids played right with me while I talk with other moms. Our club has a calendar of events on different days; some are park days and some are crafts at members houses, field trips, etc. I found it worked out great for us!

MOPS is GREAT!!!! I've been going since my son was about 9 months; he's now 2 1/2! Each MOPS runs a little bit differently, but basically here's what happens: You will arrive at the meeting location every other week. On your first meeting one of the leaders will take you to your child’s classroom. Your daughter will stay in her classroom and do some sort of (usually bible based) lesson and craft. You will return to the MOPS meeting room. In YOUR meeting you will do any and/or all of the following- Listen to a guest speaker about subjects such as discipline, marriage, nutrition, or safety (and many other topics), do your own craft, play a game, and (most important to me) TALK TO OTHER MOMS! You will also have a hot meal... and get to eat it while it's still warm, since your daughter is being cared for elsewhere! :O) We take turns being the "Hostess Table" so that each mom only has to bring food for breakfast once.

There is a fee, but it's usually not too much, and often scholarships can be provided for those that can't afford it otherwise. Our group only charges about $90 per semester (7 meetings, but 13 weeks long) and most of this amount goes to paying the childcare staff. Also, on our non-meeting weeks we usually have scheduled play-dates. Most of the PD’s are free like parks or inexpensive like Santa Ana Zoo ($6 per adult). They did have one PD my first semester to go see “Dora the Explorer- Live on Stage!”, but obviously with a 9 month old boy, Dora wasn’t worth the $$$ for me at the time.

BTW- To the best of my knowledge, all MOPS groups are on break right now. Our group meets Thursdays, so our next official meeting will be September 13. You should be able to get info from the location site, or they should at LEAST be able to give your # to the MOPS Coordinator so she can call you back. If you want/need more info, feel free to PM me and I’ll tell you as much as I can. Also- for any other moms that might be intrested- you can find a MOPS group near you at
http://www.mops.org/Groups/group_search.php?srctype=menu&...

Enjoy your MOPS group, They’re AWESOME! ~J.

Good Morning F.~

My name is T. & I just want to encourage you to join a MOPS group. I started when my now 8 y.o. son was just 6 weeks. I have recently graduated, my soon to be 5 y.o. will be entering Kindergarten in the fall. It has been a great 7 years & has helped me through so much. It is such a great support system & I got insight and so much more just being with other moms in my group.

Good luck and know MOPS is great!... both for you and your child!

Joyfully~

Oh and everything Jan A said too!LOL
T.

go 2 the 1 the church u were talking 'bout and the mops @ the same time. Clarissa will have a lot of fun at both. and she will have a good way of making friends like elonise, deigo, emma, ect.
:)