MOPS Calendar

Below is our calendar for the season. Check back periodically to find updates and cancellations. Please email us with anything you might want to add. Thanks!

Welcome from Michelle!

Dear Moppet Mommies,
Welcome to another great year of Mops and Moppets.  We are looking forward to another great year getting to know your child/children.  This year we will be learning about the love of Jesus and hearing wonderful Bible stories as told by our favorite friends of VeggieTales. 

We have a lot of new moms this year so I would like to share a little bit about myself and my background so you can know a little more about me.  I am married to a wonderful husband named Bud and have three teenage daughters who keep me very busy.  They are 18, 16, and 14 years of age.  This year I have a junior and freshman who will keep me busy with band, theater, and sports.  We love going to watch our children in all of their activities and are very proud of them.  I have always loved children but actually went to school and received a business degree with a major in marketing.  I worked as a marketing director until our second child was born and then opened up an in-home daycare for two years.  This was all while living in Lincoln, Nebraska.  In October 1999 God brought us here to Amarillo and we now call this home.  I am starting my 11th year as a Mothers Day Out teacher here at First Baptist and this is my 6th year as Mission Friends Director on Wednesday nights and Moppets Director.  I am proud to say I have been here for Moppets since the beginning with Tanya and love my job. I also teach 2 year old Sunday School here at First Baptist.  If I am not working here at the Church or watching my kids at their activities I am probably babysitting someone elses kids or watching reality tv.  I don't have many hobbies because I don't have time for any. I am looking forward to getting to know each and everyone of you better and know I will love your kids. 

If you have any questions at anytime please feel free to call, text or  e-mail me any time. If you ever need a babysitter feel free to ask and if I am available I will try to help you out. 

There are a few things you can do for me that will make our time run smoothly together.  Please label everything that comes with your child.  If you have babies this includes diapers, bottles, burp rags, pacifiers, or anything else they may have.  For toddlers and up please label sippy cups and anything else they may bring.  During the cold months please label coats and jackets.  If you are going to be absent from mops it is very important that you call your group leader and contact me as well.  You can do this through phone, text, or e-mail.  Even if it is the morning of mops please call.  This helps me make sure I have enough staff to cover all our childcare needs and allows me to know if we have spot for a visitor.  Thanks for your help with this. 

I am looking forward to a wonderful year together.  Please let me know if there is anything I can do to serve you better.

In Christ Love,

Welcome from Tanya!

Welcome to the 2011-2012 year of MOPS at First Baptist Church – Amarillo.  I’m Tanya Alloway, MOPS coordinator and I am ready for our year to begin.  Our steering team is so excited to get this year started; we can’t wait to get back so we can meet new moms and reconnect with returning moms.

This year’s theme from MOPS International is MOMSENSE: BOLD-LOVING-SENSIBLE.  The spiritual foundation of the theme is from 2 Timothy 1:7.  As you read the whole chapter, you see that Timothy had a strong mother and grandmother who nurtured his faith. Paul exhorts Timothy to use the gifts God has given him in a bold, loving and sensible way. We have chosen to use The Message paraphrase to use words that are accessible to moms who may not be familiar with the Bible, but we encourage leaders to study the passage in their preferred translation as well. 

In my opinion, The Message is not a bible, but a reading bible.  It is merely one man’s commentary of the bible.  So, please take a moment to read in your preferred translation 2 Timothy 1:7 and supporting verses.

As we follow the MomSense book this year, we hope you begin or adjust and fine-tune those mothering strategies.  We will follow the book through the year.  So if you already have a book please start reading as we will dive right in to the first “MomSense” – Sense of Patience from Chapter 4.

If you are a mom who already has older children (like me), this book isn’t a waste!  I have read it cover to cover and many pages have underlined sentences with info that needs to be digested.  Here is a couple:

•  pg 30 “Part of growing up is getting to know ourselves, learning about our gifts and our weaknesses, and understanding who we are and how we become that person.  This, for most women, brings us back to our own mothers.” (Huh…does it really all come back to our mothers?!?
  
• pg 117 “Growing a sense of humor is just the beginning of creating something vital in our homes – an atmosphere of joy.  Atmosphere is defined as “the dominant mood or emotional tone.”  What is the dominant mood or emotional tone of your home?” (I know as the summer is winding down, sometimes the atmosphere at our house isn’t the most pleasant!  How can I as a parent improve our atmosphere?)
  
• pg 177 “Living beyond your MomSense is partly about recognizing that you are important and part of something bigger, and growing in your sense of God.  You have not been created to live alone.  You have been created for relationship.”
  
  (I am so thankful to have my relationship with God – my Rock!)

I hope you will enjoy reading this year’s book – it is full of wisdom!  I thank God for each of you moms in being BOLD (maybe the first time at MOPS), LOVING (bringing a friend), or SENSIBLE (knowing you need mom-friend relationships)!  See you September 7th!

Common Sense

Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius.

George Bernard Shaw

My mother has always told me, "You've got book smarts, but no common sense." I probably should have been more insulted by this, but I found it to be rather true about myself. Most of my "common sense" was actually learned through experiences in trial and error. I've usually had to do something wrong in order to learn how to do it correctly. Often I try to fit the square peg into a round hole before I have my, "Ah-hah!" moment and realize I need to try something different. It doesn't come naturally to me, but I remember the answers to hardest lessons the best. I try to be observant of other moms and how they deal with discipline or instruction. I am open to advice but also use my own judgment on how much of the advice I follow. Do you feel like common sense is something that you are born with, or do you think it's something you develop as you grow older and have new experiences?

Blackmer introduces MomSense as Mom Intuition + Common Sense = MomSense

Chapter One Discussion Questions

1. Do you think you have a high level of common sense? Why or why not?
2. What experiences have you had that developed your common sense?
3. How do you use your common sense in your mothering practice?
4. How can you help your children develop common sense?
5. Take a minute to write down your own definition of common sense. 

As always, please feel free to discuss these questions on the blog as well as in your discussion groups at the MOPS meetings.

How Can We Work on Patience?

 

"Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active, it is concentrated strength."

Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

By nature, I am not the most patient of people. It has become something I have to work at.  I have a tendency to string myself a little too thin with overcommitments and obligations. This puts me in a constant sense of urgency and rush. As a consequence, I am a little too easily frustrated when my four year old wants to stop and examine the "rollie-pollies" on the side walk as we head to load into the car. As he stops to inspect them, in awe of their capability of rolling themselves into a tiny sphere, I am agitated that it is taking him an eternity to reach the car.

"They're so cute!" he squeals.

"Yeah, yeah... get in the car!"

"Look, this is a baby one! Where's his mommy and daddy?"

"I don't know, babe. Hurry up. Get in the car."

"I think he lost his mommy and daddy. I'm going to look for them."

"No! Not now... GET IN THE CAR!"

After all, we are rushing to go to the gymnastics class I enrolled him in so that he could have some social and physical activity to guarantee that he would be a well rounded child. That's important, right? More important than rollie-pollies?

But my son is heartbroken that the "baby rollie-pollie" appears to be an orphan and has no interest in going to gymnastics. I have him drop the rollie-pollie to the ground and lift him up to load him in the car myself. He immediately starts crying.

I am on the edge of losing it. Why is he being so emotional over a bug? Can't he see we only have 5.5 minutes before we are late... again... to gymnastics? Gymnastics class... the one in which he can't seem to sit through a demonstration, whines about having to jump on the trampoline, pesters the girls in pony tails and tights, runs around when he is suppose to be sitting, refuses to flip on the bar, is bored by the balance beam, and burps the alphabet if he thinks the kids around him will laugh.

Tell me again why I'm in a rush to do that tonight? I get out of the car and unbuckle my little guy. "Come on. Let's go look for his mommy and daddy." And my little guy is satisfied and content.

I have to remind myself to chill. I should be moved by his compassion and his interest in new things that are so wonderful and mysterious to him... things I've seen a million times and look over every day. I want to appreciate how he marvels such tiny things.

So, what are some ways we can daily work on our patience?

I love this post from Inspired to Action who suggests we as moms can work on our patience by doing the following:

1. Sleep 7-8 Hours
2. Drink 6-8 Glasses of Water
3. Be Like a Wall of Jello.
4. Be All There
5. Don't Multi-Task
6. Start 15 Minutes Early

Check out her post on How To Be A More Patient Mom in Just 24 Hours if you get a chance. 

If you are reading along in MomSense, Jean Blackmer includes tips on radiating cool. You can check them out on pg. 71.

1. Know if you're tired. 
2. Do an attitude check.
3. PMS. Know your menstrual cycle.
4. Be aware of your stress level.
5. Employ your sense of humor.
6. Did you grow up with a parent who had a short fuse?
7. Remember your children are watching you.

I think the last one is the most important one to me. How do I want my little guy to react to others? I don't want him high strung. I need to be a better example for his sake if not for my own sanity.

What are ways you cool off? How do you control your frustrations?

2011 Race for the Cure

Get Your Run On! (Or walk...)
The 2011 Race for the Cure is coming up in a little over a month. The Race will be held September 24th, 2011 at Downtown Amarillo.
I know I personally have lost someone I love very much to breast cancer, so this event has always been important to me. The event in itself is an important one because it raises funds for our community. Up to 75% of funds raised stay in the Panhandle. Not only that, but it brings a strong call for self awareness and proactive responsibility for women.

"The Greater Amarillo Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®—along with those who generously support us with their talent, time and resources—is working to better the lives of those facing breast cancer in our community. We join more
than 100,000 breast cancer survivors and activists around the globe as part of the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting breast cancer. Since 2004, through events like the Komen Greater Amarillo Race for the Cure, we have invested over $1,000,000.00 in local breast health and breast cancer awareness projects in the 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle. Up to 75 percent of net proceeds generated by the Komen Greater Amarillo Affiliate stay in the Panhandle. The remaining income goes to the national Susan G. Komen for the Cure Grants Program for energizing science to find the cures."

Quoted from the 2011 Resource Guide for our Local Chapter

The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Greater Amarillo website has valuable information on breast cancer and even a local guide to relevant resources in the Panhandle community. I highly suggest you check it out.

The Facts
Think breast cancer isn't relevant to you? THINK AGAIN! "Despite the prevailing opinions that young women don’t get breast cancer, the reality is that they can and they do. Here are some important and startling facts about breast cancer in young women:

• In 2009, the American Cancer Society projects 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 62,280 cases of non-invasive breast cancer in females; it is estimated that 25,100 of these women will be under 45 years of age.
• One in 14 women with breast cancer is under age 40 when diagnosed. One in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer is younger than 45 when diagnosed.
• Breast cancer accounts for 26% of all cancer in females 15-39 years of age and 39% of all cancer in 35-39 year olds.
• Young women’s breast cancers are generally more aggressive and result in lower survival rates, particularly in African-Americans and Latinas.
• Increasingly, evidence suggests that breast cancer before age 40 is biologically different from the majority of breast cancer that occurs in older women. Women younger than 25 may have a third type of biologically distinct breast cancer.
• As the incidence of young women with breast cancer is much lower than in older women, young women are often an underrepresented population in research studies.
• There is no effective breast cancer screening tool for women 40 and under."

Information from the Young Survival website. You can print PDFs from their fact sheets here.

TOUCH. LOOK. CHECK.
It’s as easy as T.L.C.
TOUCH your breasts. Feel anything unusual?
LOOK for changes. Be aware of their shape or texture.
CHECK anything unusual with your doctor.

One of my FAVORITE sites on breast cancer awareness is through REthink Breast Cancer. It is a Canadian based site, but the information is current, valuable, and relevant. They focus on teaching women under 40 about breast cancer awareness and do it in a fun and honest manner for young women. If you aren't into pink ribbons, you might want to check out the information they offer.

"It’s not just an old ladies’ disease...
When young women get breast cancer it often spreads more aggressively, leading to tougher treatments and lower survival rates. Add such age-specific issues as fertility, diagnosis during pregnancy, childcare, financial security… and breast cancer becomes a triple threat to young women. But here’s the good news: When it’s caught in its earliest stages, the five-year survival rate for women ages 20-39 is almost 90%. We think that's a pretty fabulous reason for every young woman to get proactive about her breast health."

Quoted from the REthink Breast Cancer website.

Want to help give away free mammograms to women who need them? Check out thebreastcancersite.com. Every click gives funding toward free mammograms. (Paid by sponsors and not by you.)

Patience!!!

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 

James 1:19-20

One of the toughest challenges we face as mothers is patience. I've always been told, "Don't pray for patience! God will give you an opportunity to practice it!" 

I know every morning my four year old son tests mine. He, not unlike myself, is not a morning person. He wakes up protesting brushing his teeth before even crawling out of bed. Before he is even served breakfast he has asked if he has to take a bath, has to get dressed or has to brush his teeth. Every morning he whines, "I don't feel good..." and attempts crawling back in bed. His feet drag, he is unmotivated, and he is groggy. He sits staring at his cereal bowl, uninterested, until it is mushy and unedible. He cries because, before even testing the bath water, he knows it is too cold or too hot. He is tight lipped as we try to brush his teeth and whines as we comb his hair. He wants to wear his shoes with cleats as opposed to his school shoes and is angry that he can't wear his iron man helmet to Pre-K. As we walk to the car, he claims he can't carry his own school bag because it is too heavy and won't pick his feet up as he walks. I am on edge and don't know how many times I've said, "Hurry up," and my frustration is building. 

On the way to "school" I feel convicted about my impatience with him. I know these moments are fleeting when he will want to cuddle with me in the mornings, need me to tie his shoes, or will let me kiss him dozens of times or hold my hand. Why am I in such a rush?

It is something I have to practice daily. Patience....

Over the month of September we will be going over patience. Below are some of the questions we will discuss in small groups. Please feel free to post answers to these questions in the comment section below. Do you have any scripture that helps you through your frustration? Do you have recommended reading or advice? We welcome past experiences, advice and recommendations!

Discussion Questions :

• What causes you to really lose your patience with your kiddos?

• Would you describe yourself as patient? Why or Why Not?

• What is something you can do for a single day to practice patience with your children?

• What are some recognizable signals that indicate  you're about to lose your patience?

• When you recognize those signals, what can you do to intentionally practice patience?

What to Expect the First Meeting

September 7th is our first meeting. Mothers can drop children off to Moppets beginning at 8:45 on the second floor of the Main Church Building. Please remember to label every item you bring in for your child.   Each mother and child will receive a mommy/child label sticker when she drops off her child.  Your child’s teacher will match this label when you pick up your child. 

Remember to please keep your child home if he/she has had any of the following in the last 24 hours: 

• Fever, vomiting or diarrhea

• Any symptom of childhood disease such as: chicken pox, mumps, whopping cough, scarlet fever or German Measles

• Cough or green runny nose

• Croup

• Any unexplained rash

• Any skin infections

• Pink eye or other eye irritations

• Any communicable disease

(If you have any doubts, please keep your child at home.)

Moms will meet in room 104 and will each be assigned a discussion group. (Your discussion group leader will let you know which group you belong to before the meeting.) You will need to look for that discussion group table and your name tag. There will be ladies there who can help you find your seat. Meetings start at 9 am with an on-time drawing, sign in, food/drink, and open fellowship until 9:30 am. At that time we will open with prayer, announcements and then games/ice breakers. Should we have a guest speaker, he/she will begin speaking at 10 am. If you are running late, please enter the room quietly. When a guest speaker is talking, please remain quiet. We will have discussion after the speaker has left. 

Mothers who have babies 6 months and under are allowed to bring them to the meetings. However, mothers with a child over 6 months are encouraged to leave them in the nursery. At this age, babies are more vocal, more mobile and require more attention from you. This distracts your attention from the meeting as well as the attention of other moms. During speaker time, if you find that your baby needs your attention we ask that you quietly leave to attend them. Many speakers have taken time from their work schedule, and we want to give them our full attention.

Also, we usually take pics for our directory on the first two meetings, so get your smile picture perfect! We look forward to seeing you!

Better Moms Make a Better World

 

Welcome to our MOPS Amarillo blog! We hope you find this a valuable resource that you can share your ideas and visit often. We'll try to keep you updated on what our group is discussing and important events in our community.

If you are new to MOPS, don't fret. It has nothing to do with cleaning house.  MOPS stands for “mothers of preschoolers” - but don’t let that confuse you. MOPS is about meeting the needs of every mom of a child from conception through kindergarten. Whether you’re a stay-at-home, working, teen, adoptive, special-needs, single or married mother, MOPS is for you! Being a mom is what brings us together and allows us to build a community. The early years of being a mom are just as foundational to you as they are to your baby, and those years are filled with unique needs that other moms instinctively understand.

We hope you can join us for the wonderful things God has in store for us this year! Our MOPS theme will follow the book chosen for the 2011 year. Below you will find information about the study book:

MomSense helps moms embrace their mothering instincts and develop their own unique parenting style. The book also

• empowers a woman to be the best mom she can be
• gives a mom guidance to push through the clamoring advice hitting her on all sides
• increases a mom’s confidence in her mothering skills so she will raise confident kids

   What is the right way to mother? Can a mom trust her intuition? Or should she follow the advice of one of many parenting books? Into this fog of theory and philosophy, MomSense shines a light of refreshing clarity.
   Through personal stories from real moms and proven practical advice, MomSense helps moms honestly assess their skills, embrace their mothering instincts, and develop their own unique mothering style. Rather than pushing one “right” way to be a mom, this liberating book shows moms that they are the best mom for their kids and that they can have contentment, joy, and confidence in their role. A perfect gift for a new or experienced mom, MomSense is also an excellent resource for women’s small groups and MOPS groups.