We understand that it can be very intimidating to come into a group in which many of the people already seem to know each other. For a new mom or new resident of the area, sleep deprivation and the whims of small children may make it even more of a challenge to get up the nerve to get out and seek adult friends.We ask that you please don’t let running late, spit upon clothes, or feeling frayed stop you from coming to try us out. At one point or another, ALL of us at AMC have been new or nervous or not our most “presentation-worthy” selves. Motherhood is awesome, but it can also be tremendously isolating — especially in a town like Athens where so many residents come here to follow a job and don’t have a local network of family support to fall back on. More than anything, AMC is about helping moms build a local support network and reassuring them that they are not alone when they feel most challenged.

AMC meetings are casual and fairly unstructured, but there are a few things we routinely do to help facilitate people getting to know each other. Typically, our meetings begin with introductions and a short, extremely informal ice breaker - e.g. we might go around and say our favorite movies or share a story about ourselves or our children. Often we aim for humor, but we all know there are some days when the best thing to share is frustration. Our hope is that in sharing these tidbits, we make it easy to see that even though we all have our own experiences and beliefs, motherhood also means we have a lot in common.

We then break out into a variety of member-led groups. These change from trimester-to-trimester and depend completely on member interest. Any member who has a particular interest is welcome to facilitate a group. Children are welcome in all groups, though childcare is available for moms who want it at a nominal fee. Among the groups that have been offered in the past are:

New Moms/New Members

Chat

Toddler Play

Money Matters

Fit Buddies

No Baby Talk

Walk ‘n Talk

‘Make & Take’ Crafting

Knitting/Crocheting