babies

I often write about motherhood, because that is the season of my life right now. As a stay-at-home mom (SAHM), my days are mostly consumed with taking care of my son and keeping him occupied. About four months into my motherhood journey, I found a wonderful organization called MOMS Club. As a new mother, I was feeling extra lonely and needed a group of mom friends with kids my son’s age.

One evening, I was looking at posts from a local mom’s group on Facebook, and I saw that someone had mentioned a group called MOMS Club. I immediately went to their website, but I didn’t live in that specific zip code. I then looked up the international organization and saw that there was, in fact, a MOMS Club in my city.

I was overjoyed. “This is for me,” I thought. As I looked at the website, I found myself crying. I could tell that I needed something to help fill the void inside of me. And, maybe MOMS Club would be it. Right then, I filled out the “contact us” form through their website. To my surprise, a mom got back with me that very evening. She sounded so welcoming and helpful, giving me more information about the club and encouraged me to come to one of their events if I was still interested.

My first event was a play date at one of the mom’s houses. There was a big turnout, and I got to know several other moms and their children. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. I signed up to join the club shortly after the event, and it was one of the best things I could do for myself and my son as a mother.

My once mostly blank calendar was now filled with fun events for moms and their children. I got to know the other moms and their kids and made some strong friendships through the club. I joined a playgroup, which met weekly at members’ homes or local parks. While at playgroup or a MOMS Club event, the moms were always willing to lend out a baby wipe or a snack if you didn’t bring enough or even to watch your child for a minute while you went to the restroom.

It was a village of moms and I had finally found them. When I had first joined the MOMS Club my son was a small baby who could not yet sit up by himself. Most of the time, I held him at the events. Now, he’s all toddler, running all around parks and other mom’s houses while I chase after him.

I’m not sure where I would be as a SAHM without MOMS Club. It has brought so many positive additions to my motherhood journey by giving me and my son friendships and something to do during the day. The club allows us both to get out of the house and socialize with our friends while enjoying kid-friendly activities and some mom-centered ones too such as book club.

I often attend a storytime at the library and a music class with my son weekly, but I prefer to attend MOMS club events because I’ll always know a familiar face and it just feels like home. Other types of MOMS club events we attend are playgroups, monthly meetings, park days, field trips, socials, lunches, community service projects, holiday parties and more.

I love the fact that I can bring my son to all of the daytime events, and we also have a mom’s night out (MNO) event each month. At MNO, I can leave him at home with my husband and enjoy some kid-free adult conversation. There are leadership opportunities through the club and we also have a yearly event the whole family can attend.

We have a Facebook group for our MOMS Club, and often a mom will post something like, “We’re going to the park this afternoon if anyone wants to join.” I have always felt welcome at any MOMS club event I’ve been to and I’ve never regretted attending one. (Even if my son was getting into everything he shouldn’t and I had to spend the whole event chasing after him!)

MOMS Club is a support system for SAHMs and it has helped me tremendously. I’m so thankful I joined this amazing group of moms. It truly has been a lifesaver for me.

MOMS Club is an international nonprofit organization providing daytime support for at-home mothers. For more information, or to find a MOMS club near you, visit https://momsclub.org/.

I got the idea for this blog post while rushing to get ready during my son’s morning nap. After all, you never know how long a child will nap for. I started thinking about how I’ve changed as a mom and things I do now that I never did prior to having my son. Some of these things are funny, some are serious, but I came up with this list in hopes that other moms could relate to it. And, also for a good laugh! Some of these facts relate to all moms, just stay-at-home-moms, all parents, moms with young babies and some maybe just to me. Here it goes…

You might be a mom if….

You’re a pro at doing things one-handed because you’re carrying a baby in the other.
You make up songs about your baby, mundane tasks, really anything at all because your baby loves it when you sing.
You go to the store with no makeup and unwashed hair, and you’re OK with that.
You need a support group of other moms going through the same thing as you.
You race to get everything done during your child’s nap
You think you can’t possibly have any more baby gear or toys and then you buy the next thing your child “needs.”
You always have spit up or baby food on your clothes, and you stopped caring about it.
You are always doing laundry. Always!
There are usually always dirty dishes by your sink.
You try many different brands of diapers and wipes, and you will find the ones that you like the best.
You didn’t know you could love this way.
You can’t wait for them to reach the next milestone (rolling over, crawling, walking, etc.) and then when they do you are like oh great! Now you have to chase after them!
Your schedule revolves around your child’s naps.
You would rather hang out with other moms versus friends without children, because they know what you are going through.
You have your good days and bad, but even the bad days still manage to have good aspects of them.
You never knew how much you needed your friends until now. Sadly, some of those friendships will fall apart post-kids.
You can’t wait to leave your house, whether it is to go to the grocery store, the park or somewhere that’s actually exciting.
You worry about money more than pre-kids and, if you do splurge, it’s usually on something for your children.
You know all the story times within a 20-minute radius, the best parks in the area and all the fun things to do with your child that is age-appropriate.
You are in at least five Moms groups on social media. In fact, your social media is mostly about parenthood these days.
You rarely get a night away, but if you do get a sitter, you are going to enjoy every minute of it (while spending a good chunk of your time talking about your children).
You know all the kid consignment stores in the area, the best seasonal consignment sales and all the stores with the best deals for baby and kids’ clothes, toys and gear.
Your house will never be clean. There will be toys and baby gear everywhere.
You never thought you could have so many conversations about baby poop.
You will find the best way to get rid of diaper rash that works for your child.
Your body will probably never be the same, but that’s OK. You made a human!
Vacations and weekends are not really breaks or time to get away anymore, but you still can’t wait for them to get here!
You get asked rude questions on your parenting judgment pretty often.
You’ll learn not to care if you get a bodily fluid on you. Little boys sure like to pee on you!
Your pregnancy brain turns into mom brain.
You figure out what works for your child, then something changes and you have to start all over again.
You cry over the littlest things. And sometimes the big things. Like on your child’s first birthday, because your little baby isn’t a baby anymore.
Your kid does something weird and you think, “I hope that doesn’t stick!”
You sometimes wish that your newborn baby didn’t fall asleep on you. And, when they get older you wish they would still fall asleep on you because you realized that you took those sweet baby cuddles for granted. (Cherish them now because they will go away. Babies don’t keep.)
You wouldn’t trade motherhood for the world. It may be hard, but it is sure worth it!