Just got back from the first MOPS (moms of preschoolers) get together and holy crap was it overwhelming. It wasn’t the typical first meet as they’re still working out child care, so instead of small groups of 6-8 moms each with kids being watched elsewhere, it was about 60 moms plus 60+ kids at a local park. Egads.
I had hoped for a bit more organization (which would have come if it was a regular meeting) but unfortunately it was just kind of mass chaos with everyone wearing their name tags and just trying to search out people with matching groups (blue stars, pink stripes, orange stars, etc.). And the anal part of me was going insane because it was just written on the tags (“blue stars” or “pink stripes”) instead of actually using, you know, a blue star or pink stripe to make it stand out. So we just walked around staring intently at everyone’s chests. 🙂
The nice thing is the group was very diverse with all sizes and shapes and ages and colors. Most of them are army wives (since it’s based at an army base!) but there are a few marine wives. 🙂 Most of our group was there and we all shared basic getting-to-know-you stories. The mentor mom for our group is only two years older than me (43) but has a 21yo, an 18yo, and a 15yo!
I just hope I get along well with my group because they are going to be a big part of my acquaintances/friends for the rest of the school year (and time here). They were all nice enough, but there was no one that I really hit it off with…yet, I’m hoping. But I know these things take time.
Parenting is hard. Let’s have a drink.
Before it was total chaos:
Katie actually did pretty well. I didn’t hover (I couldn’t if I wanted to actually meet and talk to my group) and she came back to me now and then for a snack break. Or a few times I was able to watch her run around—and hold my breath as I saw her go up a 6′ metal ladder to get to the slide. She has no fear…and survived just fine.