Mom's Time Out

Today I attended a mom's group for SAHM's of preschoolers. Child care was provided - hooray!

It was Miss Baby's first time away from me, other than a few times when she's stayed home with her daddy - which I don't really think counts. I could hear her crying for the first 5-10 minutes which made me run back to her. I gave her a good talking to that calmed her down and she was fine after that - phew!

Ms. Toddler is of course much more seasoned having been in multiple child care settings (*dismay*). She of course just wanted to get into one of the rooms with toys! She got rave reviews from the ladies volunteering. As usual, she was a little social butterfly.

As for me, I had a chance to talk to a few moms in the midst of the first day chaos. I chatted a bit with a mom who was a teacher in her former life and who will likely be returning to work next year when her son is ready for school.

Lots of other preliminary chit chat, nothing significant. I do look forward to getting to know the women that were in attendance. All in all there were about 30 women there. I even agreed to take Ms. Toddler on a play date next week.

The senior pastor's wife started with an open discussion on discipline and young children. I really liked her down to earth, forthright and funny personality. The discussion was good and will be continued at another meeting.

The featured speaker was an ob/gyn from the area who talked about post partum depression. I didn't suffer from this illness, however as she talked I realized that at times I have had symptoms of depression that lasted well over the time period when you should seek professional help or intervention.

Thinking back, I had suspected as much. I had considered going to see a counselour about a year ago, but never did. It was a dark couple of months. I was even scared for myself at times. If I hadn't found out that I was pregnant with Miss Baby, I don't want to even imagine what I could have been capable of.

I know God was watching over me during that time. Miss Baby wasn't planned. But because I knew I had to consider her and her well-being, I forced myself to pull it together and hold on. Her birth was the light at the end of that dark time. I told myself that if I could just get through to her safe and healthy birth, God would help take care of the rest. Wow! God really did answer! (see this post regarding God answering)

I'm looking forward to these times out. I'm hoping they'll help me in my walk as a mother and christian.