2010-2011 Handbook

CONTENTS

• 2010-2011 Theme
• Meeting Dates
• MOPS Steering Team
• MOPS Mentor Moms
• Attendance Policy
• Meeting Cancellation Policy
• Guest / Visitor Policy
• FCC MOPPETS and Nursery
• General Policies
• Sick Policy
• Childcare Security System
• Finance
• Care Groups
• Mentor Mom
• Hospitality
• Creative Activities
• Communication
• Photo Directory
• Website
• Business Board

2010-2011 THEME
In 2010, MOPS invites you to join in the learning process as together we explore Momology: The Art & Science of Mothering.

Mothering is both art and science. It combines all of who we are to shape healthy, resilient kids. Mothering is so complex it requires both sides of our brain – not to mention our hands and feet, eyes and ears, mouth and (sniff, sniff) unfortunately, sometimes even our noses! There's the scientific side of mothering where we develop a hypothesis based on certain principles, test that hypothesis in real-time, consider the results and decide what parts worked and what parts didn't. We keep refining our hypotheses until we find what works for us. Intertwined with the scientific, mothering requires an artistry that shades with our personality, colors with our unique gifts, and blends past and current experiences. MOPS International has identified four essential elements for successful outcomes with our kids. Core is about knowing and growing ourselves. Understanding and working with our unique temperament, experiences, and emotions in a way that develops resilience. Research clearly shows that a mom with a strong, resilient core is more likely to raise a child with a strong, resilient core. Finesse is about honing practical mothering skills—intentionally carrying out our daily responsibilities in ways that encourage growth and resilience in our kids. Circle is about building relationships with neighbors, care-givers, extended family and, most importantly, with our husbands or for single moms, with a parenting partner. Grandscape is about engaging with God and his unique purpose for our lives. Both secular and Christian research identifies faith in God as an essential element for successful mothering.

Through Momology, as we explore together, we’ll be guided by an all-knowing, all-powerful, always-present God. Our theme verse for the year is:

Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139:10)

Anywhere we go, God sees, knows, and guides. So we can lead — and love — knowing God will get us through all the hard spots, all our decisions, all our roles, all our times we can’t hold open our eyelids and the times we’re bursting with joy. God’s hand guides us as we guide our children. As we study Momology together to become better moms making a better world

2010-2011 MOPS MEETING DATES

First Semester

• September 13th & 27th
• October 25th
• November 8th
• December 13th

Second Semester

• January 10th & 24th
• February 14th & 28th
• March 14th & 28th
• April 11th & 25th

MOPS MEETING SCHEDULE

As you can see from the time schedule listed below, we accomplish a lot at each MOPS meeting. In order for everything to run smoothly, we need your help. Please make every effort to arrive on time to each meeting. Our meetings will begin at 9:00 am with 30 minutes of eating and talking.

Additionally, if your group is responsible for bringing refreshments, please arrive by 8:45 a.m. so that the Hospitality Team can prepare the food table in time for the morning’s meeting.

During the teaching time, it is especially important to give the speaker/video your undivided attention. Please respect the speaker and those sitting around you by facing forward and keeping noise to an absolute minimum. In order to maximize your Care Group time, please move quickly to your destination.

Thanks for your help in making our MOPS mornings fun for everyone!

2010-11 STEERING TEAM

Stacia Jones ~ Co-Coordinator ~ stacia@etownmops.com
Kim Medley ~ Co-Coordinator ~ kbmedley@hotmail.com

Janis Tarter ~ Mentor Mom Coordinator/Care Group Team Leader ~ tarterdj1@comcast.net

Heidi Durbin ~ Finance ~ hdurbin@comcast.net

Leigh Anne Schory ~ Hospitality ~ laschory@yahoo.com

Annete Hicks ~ Hospitality ~ jarbo42@netscape.net

Sarah Christensen ~ Creative Activities ~ carldsarahj@windstream.net

Holly Gross ~ Creative Activities ~ hdgross33@hotmail.com

Dorothy Platt ~ Publicity ~ dee_squared2004@yahoo.com

2010-2011 MENTOR MOMS

Janis Tarter

Pat Durbin

Sheri Bartholomew

Danna Cox

ATTENDANCE POLICY

As mothers of preschoolers, we realize it is difficult to be present at every meeting. If you are unable to attend a specific meeting, please call your Care Group Leader as soon as possible.

Because we have a limited number of MOPPETS workers, we may have a waiting list for new members. If you miss three meetings without contacting your Care Group Leader, you will automatically forfeit your slot, and we will open it to a mom on the waiting list. Medical/health reasons are the exception to this policy. If you have a medical condition which prevents you from attending, please inform your Care Group Leader so we can support and encourage you during that time.

MEETING CANCELLATION POLICY

MOPS will be cancelled if:

· If area schools are cancelled or delayed

· If there is a tornado warning

· If there is a risk of contagious illness exposure in MOPS (eg., chickenpox)

A decision to cancel a MOPS meeting will be made no later than 7:45 AM on Monday morning by a Co-Coordinator. Your Care Group Leader will call to notify you of the cancellation by 8:15 AM. Cancellation of events information for First Christian Church will also be aired on the following radio stations: WQXE 98.3 FM. You can also view our MOPS website or call the church office at 270-769-7475.

During thunderstorms and tornado watches, we will meet and continue to monitor the situation during the meeting. If the situation worsens, we will immediately notify the group and make a decision.

GUEST/VISITOR POLICY

At FCC MOPS, we desire to be available to ALL mothers of preschoolers. However, due to childcare worker limitations, we may need to close our registration and carry a waiting list. If you have a friend who is interested in MOPS, please have her contact a Co-Coordinator (Stacia Jones or Kim Medley). If space is available, we will certainly invite her to join MOPS. First-time visitors are exempt from paying registration or dues – however, we do ask that if she decides to continue attending, that she pay by her second meeting.

In case of a waiting list, a mom who is able to provide her own childcare is welcome to join the group.

If you have a friend/relative visiting from out of town, or someone who is interested in starting a MOPS group and needs more information, you are welcome to invite her to a single meeting. Please contact a MOPS Co-Coordinator to confirm that we have enough space in our childcare program to accommodate your guest’s children. The guest will be exempt from paying dues for the meeting she attends.

FCC MOPPETS AND NURSERY

MOPPETS, the childcare and learning program for our children, is a very important part of our MOPS program. It is the goal of MOPPETS to provide a safe, warm, and loving environment for your child. The classroom teachers help our children experience God’s love for them through stories, games, music, crafts, and playtime. The staff of the MOPPETS program hopes that you will enjoy a refreshing morning, confident that your child is in safe and loving hands.

The MOPPETS will meet in the church nursery area, which has four rooms. The facilities are located in the basement of the main church building. You can get there by using either the front or back doors and following the nearby stairs down to the lower level.

To help our childcare worker and your children enjoy a MOPS morning, we have childcare policies in place. If you have any questions regarding the childcare, please contact Stacia Jones.

Please make sure that you register all children who will be involved in MOPPETS, including any special instructions for your specific child(ren).

General Guidelines:

· Please arrive in time to settle your child into his/her classroom.

· Please label all of your child’s belongings – especially diaper bags, bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, and blankets.

· Please stock diaper bags with diapers and wipes.

· On the MOPPETS/Nursery sign-in sheets – please note in detail any special instructions for your child, especially with regard to your child’s routine (nap time, snack time, etc.).

· Snacks are provided for children toddler-aged and older. Please note any allergies on the MOPPETS registration form. Since each child develops at a different rate, please also note on the sign-in sheet what is/is not appropriate for your child. You are welcome to provide your own, labeled, snack – please note that on the sign-in sheet.

· If your child needs you, you will be called out of the MOPS meeting. Outside of that, please refrain from checking on your child – it is possible that he/she will get upset if you do that, and it can cause a difficult situation for the workers and teachers. Someone will notify you if your child cries consistently for longer than 10 minutes, or if he/she has sustained an injury. If you have any concerns about your child during a meeting, feel free to have a Mentor Mom check on him/her for you.

· After the end of each meeting, please go get your children promptly.

Infants:

· If you have an infant younger than three months of age, you may bring your baby into the meetings.

· If you are nursing an infant, feel free to nurse your baby during the meeting. We ask that you use discretion because we share the building with a preschool. Then you may return him/her to the nursery when you are done. If you prefer privacy, there is a quiet place to nurse in the nursery.

· There are beds available for sleeping infants.

Lap Policy: We understand that there are times when our children need extra reassurance and attention. If your little one is having trouble staying in childcare, you may hold your child during the meeting while you comfort him/her. However, please be sensitive to the moms around, and restrain your child from crawling/walking/running around the meeting area. This is a time and place for moms to have a break from children, and we want to respect that.

SICK POLICY:

Please keep your child home if he/she has any of the following symptoms:

· Fever above 100 degrees within the past 24 hours

· Excessive runny nose (unless fluid is clear and child is teething or has allergies)

· Diarrhea or flu symptoms

· Colds/coughs

· Unusual rashes

· Conjunctivitis (pink-eye)

· Impetigo, active chickenpox, measles, or mumps

We try our best to minimize the spread of illnesses. Please keep in mind that bringing your sick child to a MOPS meeting may jeopardize the health of others. Remember the Golden Rule of “Sick Day Decisions”: If another child had the same symptoms, would you be glad to have him/her sitting next to your child?

CHILDCARE SECURITY SYSTEM:

In the best interests of the children, we have a security check-in system for the nursery and MOPPETS rooms. You will have a label for your child, and that will be matched up when you pick your child up. Please list, on the MOPPETS registration form, anyone who is permitted to pick up your child. If anyone other than you is picking up your child, we will ask for their identification.

FINANCE

There are several expenses associated with the MOPS program. Our goal is to help minimize these costs as much as possible and still make MOPS a success. Thankfully, our chartering church (First Christian Church) will pay for all childcare costs.

The fee for each MOPS mom will be $25 to cover the MOPS International registration fee. Please make checks payable to First Christian Church. Your registration fee includes a yearly subscription to MOMSense magazine, periodic MOMeMail messages, a MOPS logo reusable bag, a MOPS bumper sticker, a MOPS 2-in1 magnet, and a bag tag. We ask that you pay the registration fee by the second meeting (27 September).

We will also have dues of $15/semester (fall & spring) to help with costs of running our MOPS program.

If finances are keeping you from joining MOPS, there are some scholarships available. Please contact Heidi Durbin – your name will be kept in strict confidence.

CARE GROUPS

A Care Group allows a smaller group of ladies to connect with one another in a more-intimate fashion. Moms will have the opportunity to share stories, ideas, advice, and funny memories with one another. WE want you to feel free to share anything with your Care Group, as everything will be kept in confidence. Your Care Group Leader cares about you, so please feel free to ask her for help, advice, or encouragement. Please respect the individual differences of each of your small group members.

MENTOR MOM

A mentor is someone who has walked the road before us. She has experienced life with a preschooler, and she has survived intact – battle wounds and all. She understands more fully that this precious tie is only a short season of a mother’s life.

At FCC MOPS, we are privileged to have a mentor mom in each care group. We encourage you to get to know your mentor mom this year. She has a good listening ear, she will offer you encouragement when needed, she will offer advice when asked, and she will pray faithfully for you during this challenging season of mothering.

HOSPITALITY

We hope that you will have a wonderful time of fun, fellowship, and refreshment. To help make MOPS mornings run smoothly, here are some things to keep in mind:

FOOD: Each meeting a brunch will be provided by one of the care groups. Your group leader will let you know when it is your group’s turn. Expect to do this approximately three times during the year. Please bring food that is ready to be served (bread/bagels already sliced, fruit washed and cut, etc.). Please have your food items at the refreshment table by 8:45 AM.

PUNCTUALITY: Please try to be on time. (We are all moms and understand that we will have a bad morning or two.)

OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES: In addition to getting together with your Care Groups outside of MOPS, we also look forward to gathering all the moms together in special activities and events like walking clubs, babysitting exchanges, and service projects. We encourage you to keep an eye (or ear) out for opportunities throughout the year.

CREATIVE ACTIVITES

Our creative time together is designed to be an area in which you can have the freedom to express your creative side without having to clean up your house afterwards. We will provide the supplies and you’re in charge of manpower – rather, woman-power! We have some really cool crafts in store for you, and we hope they will be wonderful reminders of our time together.

FCC MOPS COMMUNICATION

Website: Our website is located at http://www.etownmops.com/

You can also go to http://www.firstchristianonline.com/, click on “Ministries”, then “Family Support”, and then the MOPS link – this will link you to our Facebook page.

Please note that periodically we may create brochures or post pictures on our website or Facebook page to showcase our MOPS group and our MOPPETS program. In doing so, we would like to respect the wishes of each mom in regards to publishing photos. So, we ask that each mom please fill out a Photo Release Form for yourself, as well as for each of your children in MOPPETS, and indicate whether you give permission for this. Please rest assured that we always exclude the names of any children when we post photos.

Photo Directory: We will be creating a group photo directory as a resource for moms to connect better with each other. If you wish to decline to be included, please let us know.

Business Board: We have a specific area at our Information/Welcome Table for moms to advertise their businesses. We will also advertise for businesses that support FCC MOPS with gift certificates/door prizes and fundraising activities. You may bring your cards or flyers and post them in our designated locations. However, we ask that you please respect other moms and refrain from using our meeting times as advertising opportunities. We want to support each other in our business endeavors, but our primary goal is to meet the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of every mom.