Central St. Louis County MOMS Club Is Forming

Stay-at-home-moms have something very much in common. The experience of raising their children at home can be isolating at times. Out of that problem came a solution. That is International MOMS Club.

Sharon Parks, a 36 year-old stay-at-home mom with two children under the ages of 5 is developing a chapter for St. Louis County. Already, there are MOMS Clubs within the city limits of St. Louis; Kirkwood, St. Charles and West County (beyond I-270).

This Olivette resident, who moved from Indianapolis a couple of months ago is organizing the following cities for her group: Olivette, Ladue, University City, Clayton, Richmond Heights, Brentwood, Rock Hill, Webster Groves, Shrewsbury, Maplewood, Town & Country and Creve Coeur. Her goal is getting at least 20-30 moms to meet on a regular basis.

Here’s what Parks is doing:

Patch.com: How did you get started at this?

Sharon Parks: “I was president of the Indianapolis board. I met a lot of my best friends that way. We do things with the kids, meet at the zoo, have play dates, and have a Mom’s Night Out once a month. Sometimes for new people in St. Louis, it’s hard to meet other people.

“I put together a calendar (of activities) for April, and now I’m putting together one for May.”

Patch: What are the age parameters?

“We have kids who are already starting Kindergarten and pre-school. There are moms who just want to do Moms Night Out just to keep in touch."

Patch: How do you communicate to each other?

Parks: “We have an email blast list. I created a Facebook page for this program. Problem is, some people don’t have a Facebook page.

I tweet and email to the group a lot.”

Patch: What are some of the things you might do?

Parks: "My old club, we did community service projects. We might do that here?”

Patch: is everyone a stay-at-home mom?

Parks: "No. We have moms who work part-time, some are teachers and do other things."

Patch: What are some of the planned activities?

Parks: “We have play dates, meet ups in the parks, we go to the zoo and at night, we might have a book club for moms. We’ve tried all kinds of things. I love taking my kids to Tilles Park, Stacy Park, Shaw Park. a lot of these parks are toddler friendly. We definitely do field trips like the Butterfly House and Grant’s Farm.”

Patch: How can a stay-at-home mom find you?

Email: centralstlcountymoms.com. Website: www.momsclub.org. Or personal email: sharon parks_sharon@yahoo.com