MOPS: Because Mothering Matters
By Heather B
It’s early on Wednesday morning, and I’m jostled from sleep by the persistent thump-thumping of a stuffed Curious George doll dancing across my head.
“Mom,” three year-old Joey whispers. “Moooom.” I open one eye and smile. “Mom, I want a snack.”
So begins my morning as I hit the ground running: Potty, dress, feed (a healthy breakfast disguised as a “snack” ), turn on Diego cartoons, upstairs to diaper, change, feed, dress, and gurgle at 10-month-old Hannah, then back downstairs to pour more Cheerios, refill sipee cup, put on my own clothes (stain free for the moment), start a load of laundry, wipe a nose, brush two sets of teeth, empty the dishwasher, one more attempt at the potty, grab shoes, diaper bag, and backpack and dash out the door.
Darn. I forgot to take something out of the freezer for dinner.
Traffic, Sesame Street tunes, gas station, and cell phone. A few minutes later I arrive at Grace Community Church and can practically smell the coffee brewing as I cross the parking lot to settle my kids in their classrooms and go upstairs to my Wednesday morning oasis: MOPS. I step through the door and, thank heaven, there is fresh coffee waiting and a table laden with breakfast foods that I didn’t have to cook. I sink into a chair, eager to participate in a craft (with sharp scissors) and eat a meal where the only food I cut up is my own. More importantly, I am surrounded by friends – Moms who are just like me, who face the same things I do every day, and are gracious enough to tell me that not only am I not crazy, but what I am doing for my children every day will mean more to them than I can ever know, because mothering matters.
MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers, a program led by moms themselves and designed for women with children ages birth to 5. The moms who attend meet twice per month from September-May, and have a shared desire to be the best moms they can be. Meetings consist of breakfast, a creative activity or demonstration, discussion groups, and hearing a speaker talk about issues such as women’s health, raising children, budgeting, and relationships. MOPS International exists to meet the needs of every mom – urban, suburban and rural moms, stay-at-home and working moms, teen, single and married moms – moms with different lifestyles who all share a similar desire to be the very best moms they can be!
Life happens, every day, and hardly ever the way that I planned. MOPS reassures me that I’m a good mom . . . and I’m not the only one with crayon marks on my sweater.
For more information on this Greensboro MOPS group, visit www.mopsatgrace.com, or to find a MOPS group in other areas of the Triad, visit www.mops.org.
Are you a MOPS member? Let us know more about your group and how it helps you!
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