Two things I've missed are Mothers' Group and MOPS http://mops.org.au/. MOPS in particular - what's MOPS? you ask. Yeah, I asked the same thing - it's not a well known entity, and it darn well should be.
MOPS stands for 'Mothers of Pre-Schoolers' - which doesn't mean your child has to be in preschool, it just means your child isn't in school yet. So you can start as soon as you're ready - even before your first child is born, I believe. You can advertise your status at the meetings by sporting one of the cute little badges provided as you enter and pay a nominal fee - there's 'Baby On Board' for us pregnant goddesses - and on your name tag, there are pink and blue markers and numbers. For example, I have one daughter, so I ticked pink and the number one! It's a good conversation starter, and the other Mums don't have to skirt around the issue of you being pregnant because they don't want to insult someone who might just be on the larger side and not in fact pregnant!
MOPS is a rare and beautiful concept, and such an empowering one to women and mothers - 'cause unlike play group or Mother's Group, you can leave your child in the care of an amazing volunteer while you go and enjoy the company of other Mums. You can take your child with you to the Mums' part of the proceedings if you don't yet feel comfortable, or if your little darling is pining for you, or vice versa; it's up to you. But if you do leave your child with a carer in a bright cheery room filled with other children their age and a plethora of amazing toys, you can rest assured knowing that your little tyke is pretty much just in the next room if you do decide you need to check in with each other! I don't think there's anything else out there quite like it.
I've only been to MOPS the once - work got in the way of it when I upscaled to three days a week - yet I'm totally sold. When we attended, Sienna only took a few minutes to realise that the toys and kids were more fun than me, so I walked a few steps away to join in with the other delightful Mums.
To break it down, the two-hour plus session we attended involved cake, coffee, laughter, Celebrity Head, a visiting GP who did a talk about kids' illnesses, craft and Discussion Groups. Everyone was really enthused, genuine, friendly, chatty - they seemed happy, nay, excited - to be there, and were able to discuss not just their children and parenting, but also themselves and their work, passions and weekends. We even had a bit of a sesh talking about which musicals we'd seen and one of the Mums swore by Xanadu The Musical. It's not very often you meet a fellow Xanadu fan, let alone a fellow Xanadu fan who's a fellow Mum. These Mums have charisma. They're honest about their parenting experiences - they share their joys and revel in all there is to be grateful for, but they're not afraid to admit that mothering can be bloody hard work too.
The website summarises it better than I do though: 'Once the children are settled, the MOPS mum joins a program tailor-made to meet their own needs. They can grab a cuppa and something to eat and not have to share it, actually finish sentences and use words with more than two syllables!'
At the end of the session Sienna didn't want to go home and neither did I. And they let us continue to skulk around and chat! No getting kicked out until it's imperative - that's nice! Sienna tried to sneak into the bigger kids' play area and did her best to look like she was supposed to be there. We had to drag ourselves away, really.
Just to give you another example of how fabulous it is, we missed out big time around Mother's Day, as apparently MOPS, (at no extra cost), organised manicures, facials and massages for the Mums, along with little gifts. It's unheard of, I tells ya! The volunteers are amazing people, is all I can say.
So, needless to say, we'll be scooting back to MOPS ASAP. I've already told all my Mummy and Mummy-To-Be friends that it's a must-do mission. I just wish we'd started attending earlier. Hopefully I have enough energy to attend for as long as possible, seeing as I'm 33 weeks' pregnant right now! I don't know how easy it'll be to get there once the new baby arrives. I imagine we'll be recluses for some time. Then again, we may have to get out of the house to prevent Sienna going nuts and burning the house down.
FYI, MOPS is trying to raise funds to set up more MOPS groups around Australia.
I was surprised to hear that one of the Mums from my Mother's Group who moved to Melbourne doesn't even have one in her area - it's wrong!
To begin to rectify this problem, MOPS Australia organised a 'Mothers On The March' walkathon of sorts to raise funds and publicity (Check out http://mops.org.au/archives/897) Unfortunately I felt too pregnant and weak to take part, but I'm so going to get on board for it next year! I notice that Ballarat had the highest rate of participation too - 'Go Ballarat!'
Anyway. I'll speak for my daughter when I say that we're looking forward to being a part of it all, and hopefully even helping in some capacity each Wednesday fortnight, rather than sitting at work, fielding calls from irate taxpayers.
Wish me luck on my remaining three days of work!
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