STARTING A MOMMY GROUP
How "More Than Just a Mama" came to be
After having my first child in winter 2016, it was difficult to locate a moms group where I could meet other moms for socializing and other children for my daughter to play with. When my daughter was about 4 months old I think I had googled "mommy and me groups near me" and came up with FIT4MOM. Fit4mom is an amazing program that has stroller-exercise classes a couple times a week (depending where you live) where you go out into the community and work out with your stroller/baby. The class is called stroller strides and when I first joined them I fell in love immediately. We lived in Howard County at the time and I made all of my closest & still best mom-friends from this amazing group. There is a Fit4mom out here in Harford County, and I highly recommenced you check it out if you haven't yet. Each county has their branch of FIT4MOM stroller strides & I did try the Harford County program when we moved here, but their class times conflict with our precious nap time, so sadly we are not members out here anymore. But it is a fabulous way to meet new mom friends and work out at the same time. They are a wonderful village to have on your side as a new mom!
Anyhow, when we moved out to Harford County I was really struggling for a while of not having that group that I had back home to fall back on. I tried a bunch of different mommy and me classes in the area to see if there was anyone I clicked with but wasnt having the best of luck finding new friensd. I started to get in a really bad "Funk" and my husband told me that if I wanted to see a change in myself I needed to make one. So here I am! I decided to start my own mommy and me group to help other moms like me who are struggling with the new task of motherhood and dont have people to fall back on. THAT is the key to motherhood. You need a village and other mamas who just GET IT! Yes, my other friends are fabulous and I love them ,but they dont have children and they just dont understand the struggles or joys that come with being a mom. So, WELCOME MAMA! We hope you love our village and hope to see your beautiful faces at our meet ups soon! My idea was to create a group where moms (or dads) and their little ones can gather for socializing and to try various activities for the children. I am a stay-at-home mom myself so I wanted to start a group with fun activities while not having to spend a lot of money (because being a parent to being with is expensive enough on its own).
Becoming a parent is such a wonderful gift. Welcoming your baby into the world, seeing his first smile, hearing his first laugh, watching him take his first steps, hearing his first word – it’s all such a miracle and I feel so blessed to be a mom. Becoming a parent for the first time can also leave you with a lot of questions: How do I know if my baby is sleeping too much? Should I wake him to feed him? How do I know if he’s not sleeping enough? Is he eating enough? Is baby poop supposed to be this color? Well, you get the idea.
There are so many questions every new parent has and it’s an important time to have support from family and friends. What if you are new to your city and haven’t met any new friends yet? What if you don’t live near family? We’ve all heard the saying “It takes a village to raise a child”. Before I had my daughter, I didn’t fully understand that saying. As soon as I became pregnant I started to realize even more how lucky I am to live within walking distance to my parents house and my best friend’s house (before we moved an hour away). I’ve always known how lucky I am to have such great family and friends in my life but once I had my daughter I began to see it even more. Unfortunately we all aren’t so lucky to have family & friends close by for support. This is where a moms group can become a lifesaver! There are so many babies born each day and so many women who turn into mothers. There are probably a lot living very close to you. Starting a moms group is a great way to bring these new parents and children together!
I thought this moms group would be a great opportunity for parents to meet other parents in the city to develop new friendships and support. Being a new parent is certainly rewarding but it can be challenging at times and it is always good to have a group where you can learn from other parents, ask experts questions you may have, develop friendships with other stay at home parents, plus share in the joy of raising children. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me on our facebook page which is linked to this site above!