MOPS

Honestly, I never thought I'd enjoy MOPS. The kids are separate from the moms, so it's not really a "playgroup". You drop your kids off with a babysitter, then you go sit at a table and listen to someone talk to you about being a parent. I have 3 children, the oldest of which is a few weeks away from being 10, I think I've got this toddler/preschooler thing down pat by now.
In my other playgroup, we all sit around with our kids and let them play and talk and have fun. I didn't really relish the thought of dropping Hunter off to get mommy time. Maybe I'm weird. I know that I'm in the minority when I say, I don't need "Mommy Time". Heck, I'm getting it right now. Hunter is watching PBS kids and playing quietly with his toys. I could be cleaning, or reading, or doing just about anything right now. All of my kids have been good about playing by themselves. I just don't crave that time alone like other moms do.
So today, I attended my first MOPS meeting at the urging of my playgroup friends who were going. I got there a half hour late, in true ME fashion. Dropped Hunter off in the 2-year-old room and took the last possible seat in the "Grown-ups" room. My friends were over at another table and I was disappointed that I couldn't go sit by them. Little did I know I'd be stuck at this table for awhile because we will all sit at the same table every week. As I drove home, I had one of those deep thought/epiphany moments. Why sit at a table with my friends, who I already know? Why not sit at a different table and get to know some new friends? Isn't that what this is about?
I did enjoy myself, won a prize for guessing the cartoon character who was taped to my back, and probably made a few new friends. I also found out about the church that this MOPS group meets in and it sounds like what we're looking for. Tomorrow night is Hobby Nite with the MOPS group, and I will definitely go and get some scrapping done. Maybe make another friend while I'm at it.

**I'm updating this because I just had a thought. Yes, really, a thought. And yes, my little light bulb was probably glowing!
When I went to the MOPS meeting today, I left Hunter with the babysitters. Strangers who I never met before. What kind of mom am I? I don't need my own personal background check, but I didn't even stop to look at their name tags or anything. Since I was late, I literally just scooted him in the door and took off. That thought struck me as kinda scary. A million What If's circled my head. I shouldn't let my guard down just because it's in a church, it's a Christian based group, and MOPS is a nation wide club. I should have at least paused long enough to make a note of *who* was watching him.