Starting off MOPS with Fun and Games

Welcome back to PazNaz MOPS! It was so exciting to see familiar friends and new faces at our first meeting on September 23rd. We have a fun year in store for you with great upcoming speakers, hilarious Minute to Win It games (with prizes!), and delicious breakfast buffets.

Our first meeting of the year was all about fun and games. We played Minute to Win It, enjoyed speaker Rochelle Siegrist's Simply Fun presentation, and got to know our new table-mates with Simply Fun's Take Your Pick game.

The Minute to Win It games involved a strange combination of Oreos, Ping Pongs and Popcorn Buckets. The Oreo game was a quick win, with former Coordinator Debbie Wong moving an Oreo cookie from her forehead into her mouth without hands in a mere 29 seconds.   The Ping Pong game was just as challenging.  Moms had to orbit their table in twos while holding a Ping Pong ball cheek-to-cheek, and then drop it into a plastic popcorn bucket.  The table with the most Ping Pong balls in the bucket at the end of one minute won the game.  This game's winners were the ladies at Jennifer Gowen's table.  

All of the winners won adorable bow hairclips made by PazNaz MOPS Assistant Coordinator Stephanie Dollahite, one of two sponsor's for this week's games.  Our other sponsor was our in-room baby whisperer, Michele Tully, who offers personal assistance by the hour to stay-at-home moms.  Thank you, Michele and Stephanie, for sponsoring the Minute To Win It game prizes.

Krys Strong, our new Prayer and Care Coordinator, then announced the new babies of PazNaz MOPS. Melissa (DGL) introduced her new daughter Ansley Joy, born on July 19th. Amber showed us new new bundle of joy Asher, who was born on August 6th. And Nicole was blessed with baby Violet on June 18th.

Rochelle Siegrist continued the fun and games theme with her presentation of SimplyFun, an educational board-games company whose mission is to keep parents and children connected through play. Rochelle shocked some of us by stating, "A study shows that kids spend only 30 minutes a week in meaningful conversations with their parents." Yes, thirty minutes a week (not a day). She then challenged our moms to guess what two things distract families from spending time together. Our clever moms had the answers in seconds: TV/Technology and Over-Scheduling. With smartphones and ipads and other very portable objects that allow you to stay digitally connected 24 hours a day, and with transporting your child(ren) from grocery shopping to doctor appointments to preschool to Mommy & Me to soccer (sometimes all in one day!), it's very easy to be disconnected with your children.

Yet it is crucial that parents spend quality time with their children. The American Academy of Pediatrics list nine important skills a child should learn: confidence, competence, deep connections to others, resiliency, honesty, generosity, decency, tenacity and compassion. Ideally, these skills should be learned within a home where adults and children spend time together. How can you teach these skills to your child? SimplyFun encourages families to seek more playful moments with their children, and to do it through play. Rochelle says that play helps you get down to the kids' level and enables you to see where they are in development. In play, especially with board games, kids learn valuable social, academic and emotional skills. These include taking turns, playing fair, winning or losing gracefully, reading, math, numbers and colors, patience, following directions, cooperation and role-play. Rochelle is a firm believer in game play. She suggests that you try to play a game with your kids for 30 minutes every night, or add a Game Night to your weekly schedule. In doing that, you can teach your children valuable life skills and grow closer as a family.

Rochelle and her helper Kim Rausch then passed out Take Your Pick game cards to each MOPS table. These cards had two choices (e.g. "Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera?", "Would you prefer to wear the same outfit or eat the same meal for a year?") and moms had to guess which choice their table-mate would make. That game was a wonderful conversation-starter!

The educational games by Simply Fun are not sold in stores. If you are interested in buying, borrowing or hosting a party, please check out Rochelle's letter under the "Pages" header on the right of this webpage for more information. Thank you, Rochelle!

Ladies, don't miss our next meeting on October 7th. Our fabulous Mentor Moms will be answering your questions on the Mentor Mom panel. We will also finish our placemat crafts. (Don't forget your photos!). See you on Friday!