Neighborhood Mom Groups

Remember back when you were a mom for the first time...and on maternity leave, bonding and spending precious time with your baby?  I am sure you could relate to wanting to be around other moms who had babies the same age as yours.  For me, most of my friends either had kids a few years older, or even just a year older, and some still had not had gone down that road yet.

So for me, finding other moms with babies just a few months within my sweet girl's birth was important to me.  I went to lots of fun mommy and me activities, but it really wasn't until a friend told me to join my neighborhood early childhood PTA that I met the most amazing group of mom friends.

But.... at first I was a little skeptical about joining a PTA when my child was a mere 3 months old.  I thought, uhm, 'isn't a PTA just for a local school, with just wanting to fundraise and get into school politics?' No thanks.  Little did I know it was the BEST decision I ever made to become a part of my group!

I first joined our PTA by going with one of my neighbors to the PTA Kick-Off party one Saturday, and we went by ourselves with our kids thinking it was a mommy and child event.  But once we got there realized how huge and family oriented the organization was, with just as many dads there playing with their kids in the bounce houses and carnival activities.

Annddd, the best thing we learned about our PTA? That they offered playgroups for each age starting at 0 up to age 6.  I went to our first playdate when my baby was 5 months old.  Pretty young huh? What does a 5 month old who isn't even sitting up do at a playdate? Well, it was more for the moms than the kids I soon learned.  A place for moms to chat about parenting issues, breastfeeding problems, sleeping through the night and how to get our pre pregnancy bodies back :)

Our little age group developed into the best mom support group ever!! I could never have imagined that an Early Childhood PTA would foster such a great group of moms and kids friendships.  We have all gotten to know each other well.  Over the years we have gone out on moms nights outs, help support each other with our next baby and pregnancies, and gotten through teething woes, potty training, sicknesses and crazy mom times.  We text each other daily for support and mommy questions, "what do I do when my child will potty everywhere, BUT the potty?"  We meet up weekly for playdates, and last minute playdates, "my child is refusing to nap, who wants to go get some yogurt?"

And here I am 3 years later, wondering where I would be without this great group of mommies.  So I wanted to spread the love and let you know where to find this great group in your area.  Just go to www.pta.org and enter your area, then look for area "Early Childhood" or "Preschool" in the name.

PTA's also offer awesome Adult Interest groups like Dinner Club and Wine and Design (where we mostly just go to a friend's house, drink wine and talk about design tips, but mostly it's wine and women time).  We also have weekly meetings with great speakers, and we have things for working and stay at home moms too.

If you live in the Dallas, TX area, here is some info on area PTA's:

Early Childhood PTAs offer something for everyone: age-related playgroups, book clubs, moms' nights out, couples parties, family outings, community outreach and monthly general meetings with informative speakers.

Join us:

North Dallas Early Childhood PTA

If you have a child, age newborn through six years, join your local early childhood PTA to connect with other moms, give back to your community, and enjoy educational and social activities for you and your child - including much-deserved nights out.  For more information, go to:

www.ndecpta.com

Lake Highlands Area Early Childhood PTA kick-off membership party

An Alice in Wonderland Adventure with bounce houses, train rides and more

Saturday, Sept. 14 from 10am-12pm

Highlands Christian Church, 9949 McCree Rd., Dallas, TX 75238

www.lhaecpta.org