What would you want in a mother's group?

[nova147]

You might consider looking into some childcare. We have a Wed morning Bible study group and in the past have had a college student watch our kids for $10-15 a week. (We’re still looking for one this year - and we start in 2 weeks! ) That way, Moms really get to talk to each other and discuss the reading that we’ve done. We usually use a Bible study book of some sort - usually in the $10-15 range - and go through a chapter or so a week.

A group I was in the in the past had about an hour of adult time (with child care for little ones and other activities for older ones - lead by volunteers - this was an evening group) followed by about an hour of family time. There was always refreshments at family time, sometimes a craft (esp near a holiday), and a lot of kids running around.

I think not having child care can make it difficult to get any study or prayer time. Little ones need so much! Of course, both groups encourage Moms to keep babies with them - can’t be running off to nurse all the time!

As for refreshments, most people are used to the rotating refreshments idea - you bring one time, some one else the next. Keep it simple - no one needs to feel like they have to bake up a storm!

Ok, enough random thoughts - my house isn’t going to clean itself.

MJ

 

[MooCowSteph]

I definitely want to have childcare, but I think it’s going to have to be volunteer based. I’m not going to force any moms to send their kids in the group, but I want it to be available for anyone who chooses to use it.

Martha, to answer your question, I think it would be great if this were a catalyst for a second group for homeschoolers. There are several homeschoolers at my parish, and according to my priest he thinks there are more from surrounding areas who would come for a group.

I’m realizing I’m trying to be all things to all people with this group. I need to decide what direction I want to go in, or at least narrow it down, so I can start planning.

 

[maria29]

I’m actually hoping to add a homeschool theme and get some homeschool families, so I am assuming we’ll have some older ones. I am hoping to have some older homeschool girls to direct the young ones, but as my priest brought up, there are more and more regulations when dealing with young children, so that may not be a possibility.

I’m still trying to decide what to do about money. We’re going to need money for refreshments. We can either take turns, get the church to pay for them, or allow free-will donations. Not sure what to do yet. I’m going to nix the crafts, but there may occasionally be a book or some material to discuss that would need to be purchased, but we can deal with that when it comes up.

I hadn’t thought about having it after Mass. I don’t know if I want to do that, though. I suppose it would be after the 10:30 Mass, the one that’s most populated with families, but I know for me, Sunday’s are family time. **I was thinking more of a mid-morning weekday, targeting stay-at-home moms. Is that unfair to working moms? I guess I figured they are not going to have the free time for something like this anyway. **
Thanks, Martha, for your (name removed by moderator)ut. I always value your opinions.

What are you goals for the mom’s group? Is it spiritual in nature only or are you focusing on all aspects of a moms life? Are you looking at having the events at church or rotate amongst the mom’s houses.

Personally for me, I find it extremely important in a mom’s group that there is some mom’s only time where the children are not involved, whether it be all the moms going out to dinner or having a book study etc, I think this is an important balance.

I know many working moms who create their own schedule and would definitely be able to fit this into a schedule as long as it was a group that was welcoming to WOHM.

 

[Rob_s_Wife]

I definitely want to have childcare, but I think it’s going to have to be volunteer based. I’m not going to force any moms to send their kids in the group, but I want it to be available for anyone who chooses to use it.

Martha, to answer your question, I think it would be great if this were a catalyst for a second group for homeschoolers. There are several homeschoolers at my parish, and according to my priest he thinks there are more from surrounding areas who would come for a group.

I’m realizing I’m trying to be all things to all people with this group. I need to decide what direction I want to go in, or at least narrow it down, so I can start planning.

Okay, I suggest thinking what kind of specific group you are wanting this thing to become then. Write down the top thing you want to develop from this group of ladies.

Homeschool support?
Women (who happen to mothers) devotionals?
A gathering for children to develop friendships?

This would greatly determine how you need to “market” your group.

Do you already have any specific women (or group of women) in mind to join the group you could ask a few questions? Does your priest?

Simply SAHM is a VERY wide catagory! And will rule out a surprising number of hs-ers these days. Our group has at least 5 moms who work at least p/t - f/t and 2 SAH-dads. Also many women wouldn’t go to something for themselves, such a women’s devotional, but they will jump to do something, esp something catholic, for their kids.

 

[KCT]

Getting homeschooled kids to babysit gets old fast. My girls got to a point where they felt like they were just expected to babysit. It was just assumed. They got tired of it after a while. —KCT

 

[kamz]

I am starting a mother’s group at my large parish and I am hoping for some (name removed by moderator)ut while in the planning stages. I am not starting just a playgroup; I want something that’s going to minister to moms. Fellowship, faith formation, crafts and other activities. Probably directed children’s activities lead my a mom.

Tell me about your mother’s group, what you like and don’t like, or what you would like to see in a Catholic mom’s group.

Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut!

makingconnections.org/index.html

this is the group I belong to in our parish, you can down load the guide for free.

It is called M.A.C.H. 1 and it stands for mothers and children. It is an excellent group and the biggest thing is that our group leader doesn’t allow gossip, we keep it on track and that has to be the number one rule… so this is an excellent guide.

Good Luck, since I joined this group two years ago I have made some awesome friends and it has made my life better.

 

[Rob_s_Wife]

Getting homeschooled kids to babysit gets old fast. My girls got to a point where they felt like they were just expected to babysit. It was just assumed. They got tired of it after a while. —KCT

:yup: Yes! I bet. It’s a point of mild contention in our group because the newer moms don’t understand why the moms with older kids don’t do stuff with them very much or “let” their teens babysit for group activities.

---

**Hello! They have homework, housework, extracurriculiars, and they watch their own younger siblings - they aren’t exactly jumping with excitement to spend whatever time is left over watching other people’s kids for nothing or peanuts at best. **

 

[eliza3b]

I am starting a mother’s group at my large parish and I am hoping for some (name removed by moderator)ut while in the planning stages. I am not starting just a playgroup; I want something that’s going to minister to moms. Fellowship, faith formation, crafts and other activities. Probably directed children’s activities lead my a mom.

Tell me about your mother’s group, what you like and don’t like, or what you would like to see in a Catholic mom’s group.

Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut!

My parish has had an active Mother’s Group for the past 15 yrs. It’s called MOTHERS which is an acronym for
Mothers Organized to Help, Educate, Recreate and Support

It offers: playgroups, recipe groups, book groups, couple social event (2 per year/ one Autumn, one Spring)

Spiritual groups/prayer groups/retreats
Annual Mass for members

It also offers MICA - Mothers in Christian Action for parents of older children (5 yrs to 14) for social action (food drives, raking lawns, etc)

At last count, there are over 200 members. It’s a wonderful group and I’ve been involved for 12 yrs now.

Please email me above and I will mail you one of our monthly newsletters. It may help you set up a group of your own.

Good luck!

 

[dkoinzan]

We just started a small Mom’s group for home schooling Moms. We meet once a month without the kids. We take turns coming up with educational events, usually two a month. We have one home school Mass that we prepare music for and the children do the readings, ect… We have an adoration hour every Friday and we schedule one family each week to be the leaders in adoration. We all have eachothers email so we share things over the internet all the time. We also have a couple of meetings where the Dads and Moms come and we leave the kids at home. We have made rules as we have gone and as the group grows we change to the needs of the group. We do have elected possitions, but they really only mean the keeper of minutes, the keeper of the money, keeper of the schedule. Some of us have special interests so we use them to help the group. I have minor in art, so I organize a big art lesson every once and a while. We are in the process of creating a lending library. You have the biggest battle out of the way if the Priest supports you. Ours hates us and that is why our group started. Oh and we all pooled our resouces and started a “Women of Grace” study group. We only meet every other week for that. We don’t always get all the homework done and that is open to anyone in the parish. The Grandmas have really brought the Moms a lot knowledge. Hope that helps.

 

[Jennifer_J]

I may get slammed for this, but try not to make it homeschoolers against non-homeschoolers. That tends to happen around here for some reason. I send my school age children to the parish school but have young children still at home. I’m extremely supportive of homeschoolers and would do it, if I felt called to. Somehow, there’s not a lot of intermingling of the SAHM’s and the homeschoolers. I’m sure there are a variety of good reasons for this, but I think some of it is unneccesary.

A few years ago a few moms got together for family adoration. That lasted one school year and it was nice, but stressful trying to keep the children undercontrol. We have a new priest now, maybe we can try again…

Our Faith Formation director tried to start a preschool program last year. We only ended up with a few families and it wasn’t quite the program she wanted–we needed more participation.

Now I belong to a Catholic woman’s book club that meets once a month in the evening. It’s nice to get out of the house. 2 years ago I also joined our Faith Formation Committee for another night out once a month that I get to talk to adults and do something for the Parish.

God bless you as you get your group started.

Jennifer

 

[MommyZ]

I just started going to a Mom’s group in our area. So far I’ve only met moms with children who are not in school yet. I’m really enjoying it so far. Wednesdays are the meeting days. This summer 2 Wed a month they were meeting at a park in the mornings for a playdate. I think when it gets cold they meet at someone’s house. Then on the off Wed, the moms meet at a house or coffee shop by themselves starting at 9pm after the kids go to bed. It seems to switch btw social, prayer nights, and baby showers since over half of them are pregnant- not all expecting their first child either.

I was beginning to attend another mom’s group in another town before we moved here. It was more Marian focused. I know someone that was still going, but it didn’t seem to provide the social outlet that she needed. It’s nice to have a spiritual focus, but I think that it’s necessary for women to have an outlet where they can feel free to share some feelings of being a mom and wife, whether they’re joys or frustrations. Just make sure you have some sharing time even if the meetings are structured.

My mom has been in a small group for years and they usually have some kind of scripture or book that they’re discussing.

Kimberly Hahn has a new book out based on Proverbs 31 called Chosen and Cherished. It’s the first of a 4 part series on being a wife and mother. I attended her first retreat and it was fantastic. Unfortunately I probably won’t be attending the 2nd part, due to scheduling conflicts. Stacy Mitch also has a bible study series on being a woman of God. So do Michaelann and Curtis Martin.

There are websites out there for more ideas, too. The one that I ran across was catholicmom.com. I just looked up Catholic mom bible study.

 

[KCT]

If you can, see what’s been successful at other parishes in the area. Why start from scratch if you can copy something that already works? —KCT

 

[MooCowSteph]

Thank you all so much for the replies. I was thinking about it a lot last night. What I originally had in mind when I started all this was a group for moms where we could all feel supported, find fellowship, make friends, grow in our faith, and develop a true appreciation for our vocations as wifes and mothers. As great as a scripture study sounds, I think I would prefer a book study using spiritual books like Kim Hahn’s and Holiness for Housewifes. I want to be able to grow in and focus on my vocation rather than just addressing spirituality as a whole. Does that sound interesting?

I am going back and forth now between an evening group w/o childcare so children can be left at home if desired, and a day group providing childcare. I suppose it’s going to depend on whether we can get childcare volunteers.

 

[kamz]

Thank you all so much for the replies. I was thinking about it a lot last night. What I originally had in mind when I started all this was a group for moms where we could all feel supported, find fellowship, make friends, grow in our faith, and develop a true appreciation for our vocations as wifes and mothers. As great as a scripture study sounds, I think I would prefer a book study using spiritual books like Kim Hahn’s and Holiness for Housewifes. I want to be able to grow in and focus on my vocation rather than just addressing spirituality as a whole. Does that sound interesting?

I am going back and forth now between an evening group w/o childcare so children can be left at home if desired, and a day group providing childcare. I suppose it’s going to depend on whether we can get childcare volunteers.

With the group I am in, you pay a small fee each time, it is 2 bucks for just a mom alone and 2 bucks for each child but not to exceed the price of six bucks, we have hired two caregivers and that is one nun and one girl in college, the children are then in a different play room at our church for the two hours that us moms meet each week and the rooms are connected so if we are needed Sister can come get us easily, we all donated toys, books, crayons, etc. for the play room and Sister has the kids to fun art projects etc.
It is soooo nice to have two hours each week without my kids… I need that time and it is just awesome… so if you can find a way to find good caregivers I would recommend it, of course if a mom wants to keep her child with her that is her option but so far only moms with little ones under six months have opted for that.

Also, we pay our caregivers, I think it is 20 dollar each month, thats obviously not much for what they do but we want them to have a little something as they are doing us such a great service.