Happy February! This year, 2016, is MSMAC’s 10th Birthday! To celebrate, at our board meeting this morning we put together our Top 10 list of Why MSMAC is AWESOME. Without further ado:
10) Opportunity to Develop & Maintain leadership skills as a board member and/or monthly coordinator. If you find you crave feeling important for reasons other than your ability to provide nourishment, comfort & wiping noses, please consider joining our board or taking on a monthly coordinator position! All the other moms will thank you profusely, you’ll find new meaning in your life (OK, that may be taking it a bit far, but still!), and you’ll have something till fill your tiny bit of free time besides mindlessly scrolling through facebook & pinterest. Right now we are looking for volunteers to join the board as our Philanthropy chair and as our President for our next “year” starting in May. Please consider this! No prerequisites required – I was coerced into being president 6 years ago (for my first term – I have NOT been president for 6 years!) after being a MSMAC member for only 3 months. It was the best decision I ever made (after marrying my husband & having kids, of course.)
9) Learning about area events & happenings. I often find out about things in our area I never knew existed from things other moms post on our yahoo loop or our facebook page. And for moms new to the area, I have heard this is an invaluable resource for finding the “cool” places to play, shop, eat, get hair cuts, etc.
8) Food & coffee at other people’s homes. Some days, just getting out of the house and going to someone else’s home, and enjoying their coffee & snacks, even if it is just fruit & goldfish crackers, feels like a real treat since you didn’t have to get it all our yourself. Our play dates, coffee hours, and card swap events can help you out!
7) Discover area parks. Most people don’t realize how many parks and play spaces are available in our little area. MSMAC play dates, monthly Park Days and meeting new mommy friends can help our find all the areas to let your kids get their energy out! For example, one of our coordinators hosted our monthly Park Day today at the Intersection indoor playground, which I first heard about a couple years ago from another MSMAC member – what a great place to tire out your kid on a muddy winter day!
6) You can find support you never even knew you needed. Sometimes you know you need help as a mom – those days you don’t know what to do about your son hitting yet another kid upside the head for no apparent reason, or the days you can’t seem to find time to make dinner, let alone shower. Other times, you don’t realize that you’re missing something until you find it at MSMAC – your new best friend, the Mom whose kid has EXACTLY the same behavior issues as yours and miraculously has found something that works, the Mom whose kid was diagnosed with the same scary sickness or developmental issue as yours, and can help walk you through the steps. We can make motherhood easier and more fun!
5) Attending our yearly banquet. Every May, we have our annual banquet for “Moms Only” usually at an area restaurant. We spend the evening celebrating our members, our board, and all the awesome things we have accomplished that year. And yes, eating and drinking too without feeding small children or breaking up squabbles.
4) A chance to participate in philanthropy projects for the community. Every year our Philanthropy chair woman coordinates Christmas, back-to-school and one other outreach project for us. The additional project has been Easter, baby items, and baby books for the hospital. In addition to giving MSMAC members opportunities to donate specific items, did you know that in the past 3 years MSMAC has donated $612 to our philanthropy projects? This money is raised partly through private donations from our members, but the majority (over 80%) is raised at our usually twice-a-year fundraisers, typically Friendly/s nights or Mr. G’s ice cream days. Keep your eyes open for our next Friendly’s night, which our VP will be setting up soon!
3) Moms Night Out!! (MNO). One of our monthly coordinators makes sure to set up a moms-only event at least once a month to give us a chance to take a small, well-deserved break! There are a variety of things to choose from throughout the year – dinners at a restaurant, a caramel apple bar & conversation at someone’s home, wine tasting and spa afternoons/evenings are just a small list of past events. This month we’ll be joining the adult coloring book craze & swapping desserts at someone’s home. Come join us!!
2) A chance for your kids to socialize & make new friends. Only children can learn about playing with others and all kids need a chance to meet new people and learn new ways to play & interact with the world. What better way that with a group of people you know share some of your parenting values & experiences??
1) Make new friends!! This is by far the most common & most loved reason I hear people love MSMAC. And it is true for me. While I still have a few friends from my “past life” pre-kids, by far my closest friends are those I met & made through MSMAC. They are the ones who understand my frustrations & joys with my kids, helped me survive the days after sleepless nights, helped me navigate the hormones of new motherhood, bring me chocolate on rough days, and understand that some days, yes, driving around the county for hours just to get your kid to nap are exactly what you should do.
I hope you enjoyed the list! And I hope that you enjoy all that & more about MSMAC this year. We are going to try to have a few special “10th birthday” events through out the year, so keep your eyes open! (And don’t forget to volunteer to be on the board!!!)
Katie L.
