Moms Club offers help for hectic households

‘‘It’s a really great source of support because it can be really isolating living in a rural area,” said Lori Penrod of Myersville, mother of 3-year-old Natalie and 4-month-old Emily. ‘‘If you don’t live in a neighborhood and you don’t work locally, it’s so hard to meet people, so that’s one great thing about MOMS Club. I made tons of friends.”

The group is comprised primarily of stay-at-home and part-time working mothers, but members with full-time jobs are welcome. There is no obligation to attend any specific event or activity, so working mothers come when their schedules allow.

In addition to being a great social outlet and meeting place for mothers, the MOMS Club is a great place to find out about fun activities for youngsters, and also find other kids and mothers to attend them with.

‘‘It’s kind of neat because it’s people you would never meet otherwise, but the common denominator is we have kids, so hopefully we’ll stay friends even after our kids start school,” says Debbie Bruns of Myersville, president of the club and mother of 2-year-old Morgan. ‘‘As we become friends, we do activities outside of MOMS Club and include our husbands.”

The group is active. Its members have play dates at their homes, meet at playgrounds, take field trips, and hold story-telling events. During the summer, they take swimming trips, go to the zoo and have picnics.

The mothers are also active in community service. Some of their past volunteer work included assisting with Christmas in Myersville, sponsoring a family for the holidays, and holding yard sales and food drives to donate the proceeds to charities and schools.

New members are always welcome to join the chapter, which was started in 2003, provided they live in the region it covers.

In fact, Jenny Brown of Middletown, mother of 7-month-old Maxwell, attended her second MOMS Club event Monday – a monthly planning and organizational meeting in Myersville. Near the end of the meeting she announced, to the other mothers’ delight, that she would join the group.

‘‘I think it’s good to meet other moms just to talk, and so your kids can develop their social skills at a young age,” Brown said. ‘‘And also, just to get out! It’s sanity, I guess.”

Several other MOMS Club chapters exist for residents of other areas of Frederick County. Information on other chapters can be found on the International MOMS Club Web site.

The mothers also try to take some time off from the tasks of motherhood once a month to get together and enjoy each other’s company. They call the events ‘‘moms’ nights out” or ‘‘moms’ days out,” and they serve as a kind of play-date for the mothers. Past outings include trips for breakfast and coffee, and visits to one another’s homes.

MOMS Club

The MOMS Club of Myersville meets on the third Monday of the month, and holds other activities and events. For details, e-mail momsclubofmyersvillemd@yahoo.com.