stay at home mom groups or play groups?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-2003
stay at home mom groups or play groups?
5
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 3:03pm
I am a new stay at home mother of a 4 1/2 month old daughter....I want to know if anyone is a member of a stay at home mom group or a member of a play group???? I would like to know how one might join one or even where to begin searching for one in my area. I live in Springfield, Missouri. Thank you in advance for any hints/suggestions!
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 3:28pm
Hi and welcome to the board.
My name is Mel. I am 24 years old and a sahm of two boys ages 5 years old and 9 months old.
If you want to see if IVillage has a board for your area, go to http://www.parentsplace.com/messageboards/.
I also recommend checking for some online. They have tons of sites dedicated to finding you other moms in your area.
Good luck on finidng some.
Again, welcome.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-17-2003
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 8:22am
There are several national support groups that you may want to check out. There is MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), The MOMS Club, and Mothers and More. I did a quick search for you at www.mops.org and found 5 chapters in Springfield - you might want to look into it to see which is closest to you. It's a great group - I was part of a chapter for 4 years. I don't know as much about the other groups, but I have heard good things about them. I'm pretty sure they have Web sites too.

As far as playgroups go, most are very informal groups of women who usually live near each other who get together at someone's house once a week or so. Mine met on a rotating basis each Wednesday morning. The best way to get hooked up with one of those is to meet women who live near you and ask if there already is one going on. Talk to women at the park, in the grocery store, at the gym, etc. I found out about mine at our preschool open house meeting 6 years ago - I was a new SAHM and I asked the woman sitting next to me if she knew how I could find a playgroup. It turns out that she lived about a mile from me, and she invited me to hers. At first I didn't think that I had anything in commmon with the women, but now they are some of my best friends.

If you don't have any luck finding an already-established playgroup, consider starting one yourself in your neighborhood or town. They're not hard to do - the hostess ususally just makes coffee and puts out some bagels or something for the moms and some crackers or goldfish for the kids, and the moms just talk and eat while the kids play. We would usually have 8-10 moms each week.

Other places to meet other moms are storytime hour at the local library, the park, and Gymboree or Kindermusik classes. You also might want to check out local churches to see if they have any mom support groups or book clubs.

At any rate, you MUST get out there and make new friends or you will lose your mind. I had to make a whole new set of friends once I started staying at home - it took a long time, but it's what saved me. Good luck!

Paige

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2004
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 9:01am
I am a member of MOMS CLUB. go to www.momsclub.com and see if they have a chapter in your area. It has helped me make alot of friends in a new place!

Tanya
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2004
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 12:56pm
I have found other moms on Matchingmoms.com. I thought it was kind of hokey since it was almost like a dating service - you enter your profile and go through other moms profiles to see who is a good fit in your situation. I have made a wonderful friend and my dd has a great playmate now! Good luck!

Cari

Cari

Mom to 5 yr old girl and 2 yr old twinadoes!

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-2003
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 3:04pm
thanks to all who replied...i will start looking!

kerri