Co-Op Moms

Today I came up with a new word that kind of hits upon what I'm trying to achieve - co-op!

Today was great.

A friend of mine, S.K, called me about 5 minutes before I needed to leave
work to pick up my 3 girls from school and volunteered to pick them up.
(She has two of her own that are the same ages)

This was valuable since Ron and I own our own business and I would
have had to drag hungry kids back to the office to finish shipping out
product.

The girls had a great time playing. I finished packaging product and
got to Fed Ex and the Post office on time and I was much less stressed.

Tomorrow, I volunteered to pick up her kindergardener and watch her child
in the afternoon with my own twin kindergardeners before our older kids are
out. At 3, I'll pick up the big girls and drop off my friends' kids. I'm sure
she'll be taking my girls one day next week.

I have got to focus and get more carpools going. Going to the school 2-3 times
a day is too much. We have no buses after the cuts in funding and it
is an absolute zoo.

Mom Overwhelm 911

As moms, we often find ourselves overwhelmed.

For those of us who have our family and childhood friends who live out of state,

we are even more overwhelmed with everyday tasks.

The problem is that we don't have a community to support us.

My goal is to learn everything I can about creating a community, try

it myself and see if in one year's time I can have a great support

system, better friends, a happier family and less overwhelm.

I also want to see if I can significantly improve the lives of those

around me who also want to establish a community.

I have some ideas of how to do this and I've already had

a few minor successes in the last few weeks. I'll be experimenting

and asking for your ideas of what has worked and what

I could try.

I, Sheri Menelli, am also joined by Rhonda Schonberger who came

up with this idea over a year ago. She lives 45 minutes away

from me and is in a completely different part of her life - her

kids are grown and she is single.

She will also be trying to create her own community for her

own needs.

A few of my friends have asked if I'm writing a book. Well,

maybe. I guess it depends on what I can create in the

course of a year and how much overwhelm I can overcome.

Let the journey out of overwhelm begin!