September President's Newsletter

Happy September to our MOM Club® of Uwchlan Hills, PA,

With summer vacations completed and school back in session, I think we’re all settling back into a routine. That includes our MOMS Club routines as well. Playgroups have been organized and are setting up their schedules. I have asked that each playgroup has a main point of contact – a playgroup guru J. Thank you to A, S, C, and S for volunteering to head up these positions. To increase attendance at other activities, our activities chair, L, will be asking each playgroup to come up with an activity that they would like to “host.” Each playgroup will be assigned a month to host, and the playgroup will decide on the type of activity, the time, and the location. The guru will then pass the information onto L who will put it on the calendar. We’re hoping that this will help L as she tries to accommodate the interest and availability of our club members.

Our Mom’s Night Out Chair, C, is working hard to put together events that interest you as well. It was suggested that these activities be planned as early as possible so that child care arrangements can be made well in advance. We’ll be working on putting MNO events on the calendar. C is currently putting together a great looking MNO for later this month at Painting with a Twist. It should be a memorable activity, so watch for details.

The party committee is hard at work as well. I’ve asked J and K to organize a Fall Kick Off Party for us. This event will be held outside at a park later this month. This will be a great time to reconnect after the summer, make a first appearance if you are new, and remember names & faces.  Next month is a MOMS Club favorite: the Trunk or Treat, so be looking forward to that.

We wanted to welcome our new members. Our newest members are L and C. L and her husband R have three children: G age 8, R age 4, and W age 3. They are in the S neighborhood. C and her husband C live on N. They have two kids: M age 2 and T age 1. We’re excited to see them at upcoming activities – so reach out and welcome them.

I really enjoy our club – it is fun to get to know so many wonderful people in our community. We all join for the same reasons: to make friends with other adults, to make friends for our kids, and to get to know people in our neighborhoods and communities. As with anything, you will get out of MOMS Club what you put in. So join us when you can and let’s have some fun!             -Stephanie

August President's Letter

Happy August MOMS Club® of Uwchlan Hills, PA,

It’s August! We have one last precious month of summer fun. Families are busy spending time at the shore, attending family reunions, visiting state and national parks, splashing in the pools, enjoying popsicles, grilling on the back patio, oohing over fireworks, and staying up late. Our club has traditionally been nearly non-existent over the summer months, which is a wonderful indication that our Moms are busy with their families having summer fun. We wish you the best for the rest of the summer, and hope that you will jump right in and join us for many fun activities starting in the fall.

Things to look forward to this fall:  MOMS Club kickoff party, playgroups starting up their regular meetings, a club favorite the Trunk or Treat, Moms night outs, and other great events. I encourage you to make a personal goal to attend a new activity or reach out and make a new friend in the club this year. If you don’t feel like anyone is welcoming and talks to you, it’s probably because she feels new, awkward, and is waiting for someone to welcome her as well. So jump in with both feet and let’s make it fun.

In the four years that I’ve been a member of the club, I had never attended a Moms Night Out. I went to my first one last month with CZ, JN, and AJ. I didn’t know exactly what they looked like as I had only met several of them briefly – did I feel awkward looking up their phone numbers and trying to call them while standing in the restaurant lobby. YES! Did it stop me, nope! We had so much fun, and I was glad that I went. I’m looking forward to many fun activites and friendship this year and hope that you are too.  

Happy summer!

-Stephanie

July President's Letter

MOM Club® of Uwchlan Hills, PA
July 2015

I first heard about the MOMS Club® from a friend who described play groups, craft days, MNOs, holiday parties, and as if that wasn’t enough weekly or daily activities with real live adults and kids. I sat in awed disbelief remembering the rows and rows of empty squares on my calendar that equated to me entertaining my two year old M all by myself. We had just moved to Pennsylvania from Utah, and I didn’t know a single soul within a thousand mile radius, plus R had just started a new job that occupied his every thought 12 hours a day. Needless to say I was LONELY and BORED.

Several years later I finally came to terms with our permanence in the East, and I finally joined the MOMS Club®. My first event was a play group for two year-old C. I pulled up and went into a beautifully decorated house, with an amazing spread of organic snacks for kids and adults, everyone seemed put together and knew each other, and I felt about 2 centimeters big. They were all kind, but I was severely tempted to crawl back into my lonely bubble and stay in the warm security of not knowing anyone. But I didn’t. I kept going, and I started to get to know these wonderful women and their lovable kids. I didn’t let my insecurities about lack of decorating talent, my love of pesticide covered food, and sometimes disheveled life stop me from developing friendships.

Let me tell you what I love about the MOMS Club®.  I love having something to do with my kids during the day. I love getting to know people who do everything that I know nothing about. I love that I can go to M and C’s author’s days, field days, or other Uwchlan Hills activities and not feel like an outsider.  And most important, I love that when we had the stomach bug my MOMS Club friends brought us dinner, left bubbles in our mailbox from an activity we missed, and asked how we were.  And when my Dad had emergency open heart surgery two months ago, and I had to drop everything to fly home to Nevada and comfort my Mother – it was my MOMS Club friends who were so gracious and kind and picked up my kids from school, drove them to already-paid-for swimming lessons, and helped in so many ways. That’s what MOMS Club really is.

So please step out of your busy schedule this year and do something for yourself – make a friend and be a friend in the MOMS Club®.

-Stephanie Pace

President Uwchlan Hills Chapter