Friendship helps overcome obstacles

So much is going on with Patrick right now that I have tons of posts to write... I just can't seem to find the time to do it! He recently had his 1 year evaluation with the Early Intervention Services from the Infant and Toddler Connection. He also had his 6 month evaluation with the Developmental Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital. Some were good news and some... not so much. Patrick has also increased his Speech therapies to 3 times a month (things aren't going so well in that regard) and he still has his physical therapies once a month, so he is now receiving weekly services.

I hope my husband finds some free time to help me with the kiddos so that I can write all about that. In the meantime, I want to talk about how friendship has been a life saver to our family. Since I became a stay-at-home mom, I wanted to be able to hang out with other stay-at-home moms, and I was so lucky to find a group of  moms that met less than 2 miles from my house! I want to dedicate this post to give a shout out to the wonderful moms group at St. Louis Catholic Church. Being part of this group is great in so many ways. Here are a few reasons:

• Patrick gets to play with other kids. There are always at least 10 kids, and lots of toys, and a huge space for Patrick to run around. Oh, and there is a nanny on site, too, so that the moms can freely do other stuff!
• We relate. We are not only practicing Catholic women, we share the same life style, for example, I always wanted a big family, like, 4 kids. That's a big family to today's standards, even among Catholics. The moms at St. Louis have 4, 5, 6, 7 kids. And if you are thinking they are some sort of weird people living in the country, no,no no... they live here in the city, they live by my house. 
• We have fun. We have socials once a month, sometimes just for the moms, sometimes for the couples, sometimes the whole family is invited. It's fun. We get to discover new restaurants, or parks, or we throw house parties, or we simply bring food and celebrate at our weekly meetings.
• I learn stuff. Like new recipes for baking cookies, how to make a beautiful floral centerpiece for Thanksgiving, knitting, how to keep the house organized with children around... 
• We talk about the things that matter to us. Like budgeting, parenting, family planning, family vacation ideas, elections, social issues... and sometimes we even have speaker guests that are experts on the matter.
• We help each other. This last one is perhaps the most important one. They sure have helped me. Whether is with the power of prayers, listening, advising... to doing something for you. And by doing something, I mean stuff like cooking for you. 

When Robbie was born, the leader of the group, Theresa, created a sign up list (at the SignUpGenius website) for our family, so that the moms would pick a day to bring us food. Within days of her sending the email to all the moms, I had almost the whole month of January covered with meals. With their own money, they went grocery shopping, they cook for us, and even brought the food to our door. They would bring a whole delicious meal (dessert included!) to last a couple of days. 

I know a couple of them are struggling a bit with money, a couple others are pregnant, and others have 4 or more kids... but nothing stopped them from helping. I knew only half of the moms, I met the other half when they came to drop-off the food. They mentioned that when they delivered their babies, other women in the group brought them food, so they are so grateful for the help that they are now bringing food to other women in need. Remember the movie "Pay it Forward"? That's exactly what we are doing. I can't wait for another mom in the group to deliver, so that I can do my part in this great cycle of friendship and support.

If you, like me, don't live near relatives and close friends, I encourage you to join a group of women in your area. I'm sure there are a lot of women that share the same interests/life style as yours, and who live nearby. Here are some ideas on how to find moms groups:

• Do a search online.
• Check out the listings of international and national mom organizations like MOMSclub.org (click here for USA residents, and here for international locations). If you are the parent of a preschooler, check out MOPS (thank you, Alison, for the tip!)
• Look for mom groups on facebook.
• Talk to other moms at the playgrounds and find out if they belong to any group.
• Check in your Church's bulletins

I'm sure there is a group waiting for you to join. I remember back in the days, when I found out about Patrick's low muscle tone and was looking for information about it online, I came across a website for moms of children with low muscle tone (in some city I can't remember,) and I read these women and children used to get together once a week for play dates. How cool is that?!

Have a great Valentine's day everyone!

Thanks to Tanti, Terry, Natalie, Megan, Leah, Gabriela, Emily, Jennifer, Theresa and Kerry for making our lives so much easier this past month, it really meant a lot to us.