Adventures of getting to Club Mom...

My name is Loretta, mom of 3 boys under 5 and currently pregnant with #4. I’m one of the first people you will see when you come to Club Mom. I will sign you in and make sure you get coffee, food, introductions and a warm welcome.

I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with my first baby when I moved to Sweet Home and prior to moving here to be with family, I looked up the Club Mom group (previously MOPS) and planned to attend. Two years and two children later, I finally made the effort to show up.

That morning I located some of the few non-pajama clothes in my closet that fit, dressed my 2 year old and my 6 month old boys in the cutest outfits they had, found something to bring for the brunch and I was ready to go. I rushed to put the baby in the car seat and ran back through the house to get my purse and when I reached for it I had brown spots on my blue sweater. Yep, the baby had gone through and I had to resort to his 2nd cutest outfit and find something else in my closet that fit on my post-pregnancy body. After all that, I was determined to go even if I was going to be late.

My 2 year old cried and refused to go into his class, so I had to walk in after it all started with my kid in tow. I was frustrated and wishing I’d stayed home in my pajamas. After listening to the great speaker and meeting some of the women, I was very happy I had made the effort and was wondering why I had not done it earlier. I was a little choked up through a lot of it and wondered if it was all the estrogen in one room.

On the 2nd visit to MOPS, the talk was on the importance of friends. I had left some very dear and special girlfriends in New York. God had brought us through a lot together and we were like the Band of Sisters. During the discussion time I was sharing about my friends and realizing I had been missing those types of friendships, I started crying. Not those cute little tears that trickle down, but really crying and I was feeling foolish and was quite certain they all thought I was crazy.

On the 3rd visit, my two year old finally took to his class and loved it and I even manged to arrive on time. Now I looked forward to the 2nd Tuesday of the month and started making some friends. Eventually I was asked to join the leadership team to help with the administration in Club Mom. (I guess they didn’t think I was all that crazy after all.)

Club Mom is an opportunity to have your batteries re-charged, enjoy some girl talk and hear a word from the Lord. On the practical side, it is a HUGE resource for all things children. The women are walking encyclopedias. (Where to take the kids for free, cheap places to shop, best pumpkin patches, best books, pre-school and daycare options, etc.) There is also nothing more reassuring than hearing about how horrible somebody else’s kid acted in the grocery store. lol

I still feel inadequate at times because there are many “Martha Stewart” types and women who live like they are on Little House on the Prairie. I can barely sew a button, didn’t know the difference between an Azalea and a Crocus and usually flunk the craft part of the day. However, the women are loving, gracious, generous, encouraging and I’ve learned so much from all of them. What I've also come to know is that if you do show up in your pajamas, everybody will just look at you with warm eyes of understanding.