
DATE: Sunday, May 11, 1997                  TAG: 9705090203

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   81 lines

M.O.M.S. GROUP OFFERS SUPPORT, ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS AND MOTHERS

She has one small child. Now she has learned that she is pregnant with triplets. The pregnancy is already making her sick, and she will need to stay home on bed rest for several weeks.

Luckily, she can count on her M.O.M.S. to come to the rescue.

That's what the M.O.M.S. group, short for Mothers Offering Mothers Support, is all about.

Just as mothers take care of their children, these M.O.M.S. take care of each other.

Mothers around the region are busy gathering baby supplies - disposible diapers, moist napkins, baby formula - to help the expectant mother of triplets prepare to change up to 45 diapers a day and deal with three rounds of 2 a.m. feedings. They are bringing her books and videotapes to keep her occupied, volunteering to babysit her toddler, even cooking her home-made meals, said Elaine Sargent of Chesapeake, who is among the helping mothers.

Members of the M.O.M.S. group meet every day - to share babysitting duties as well as war stories from the homefront of diaper duty.

The support group organizes a different family activity every day, as well as a weekly Mom's Night Out, a book club, craft club, child care co-op and community service projects, said president Marsha Murphy, of Chesapeake. The group attracts between 50 and 100 members a year, many of whom stay home with their children.

Moms often help each other out with childcare. Many mothers belong to a Mothers Morning Out childcare co-op at Chesapeake's Messiah Methodist Church. Mothers volunteer to watch others' children one week-day morning a month, then drop off their children for free during the three other sessions that month.

The M.O.M.S. also swap babysitting coupons.

``If I'm going to Lynhaven Mall, I can call up a couple people who live near Lynhaven Mall who can watch the kids for a couple hours,'' Murphy said. ``We trade coupons instead of paying each other. We could be putting out a lot of money there. It always works out.''

Sargent joined the M.O.M.S. group after her son was born as a way to meet friends - and get out of the house.

``I was working full time before I became a mom,'' Sargent said. ``After I had my son, everybody I knew was still working. It was nice to be around other people with kids.''

Mothers often join the group looking for playmates for their children - and adult conversation for themselves. The group often functions as a mothers' welcome wagon for new residents.

``When we moved here in July, we knew nobody,'' said Becky Douglas of Chesapeake. ``I met a mother at the beach who gave me the group's phone number, and it's the best thing that ever happened.''

Many members are mothers in military families, who typically move every three years. Peggy Alvarado joined the M.O.M.S. group after moving to Great Bridge from a Florida naval base.

The M.O.M.S. outings to local parks, restaurants and museums also have helped Alvarado learn her way around Hampton Roads. Alvarado lives with a couple miles of the Locks Park in Great Bridge, but never knew it was there before she attended a M.O.M.S. playgroup there.

The M.O.M.S. group cleans up the playground four times a year through the city's ``Adopt a Spot'' program.

While most mothers live in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, some come from as far away as North Carolina.

Melissa Wasinger, whose husband also is in the military, considers her fellow M.O.M.S. her ``second family.''

``This is who I call when I'm sick, when I need someone to watch (son) Dylan,'' she said. ``Our husbands are very happy we have this. It keeps us sane. My husband says it's the best $20 (for dues) we spend all year. He says he can't believe how many friends I have.'' MEMO: M.O.M.S. meets every third Thursday at Community United Methodist

Church, 1072 Kempsville Road, at 7:30 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by L. TODD SPENCER

Bobby Master, 1, in the swing; Susan Welch, holding Maggie Welch, 3

months; and Kyle Murphy, 2, enjoy the playground at Locks Park. The

group cleans up the playground off Battlefield Boulevard four times

a year through the city's ``Adopt a Spot'' program.

Lukas Lorensen, 2 months, takes his mother, Lisa, for a ride on the

snake slide at the Locks Park playground. The M.O.M.S. group

organizes a different family activity every day.