Thursday, June 11, 2009

Our next meeting, a new meeting night & 2009 schedule

Our next support group meeting is scheduled for this Saturday, June 13 at 10am. We meet at Northwest Counseling Services, 1560 Fishinger Rd, Columbus, 43221. CLICK HERE for map/directions.

Also, beginning this month, our long-standing Monday evening meetings will move to Tuesday evenings. They'll still be held the last week of the month in the same location. So - our meeting schedule for the remainder of 2009 looks like this:

SATURDAY 10:00am
June 13
July 11
Aug. 8
Sept. 12
Oct. 10
Nov. 14
Dec. 12

TUESDAY 7:00pm
June 30
July 28
Aug. 25
Sept. 29
Oct. 27
Nov. 24
Dec. 29

Hope to see you there! Call the Support Line - 614-315-8989 or email tonya@poemonline.org if you have further questions or comments.

It’s okay to reach out for help.
That’s why we’re here.

http://www.poemonline.org/

Monday, June 1, 2009

Why mom-to-mom, face-to-face support is important

Anna Quindlen recently wrote a Newsweek article about the importance support and informational programs for parents. She discusses a study that looked at helping parents of high-risk children learn basic child-rearing skills. The program she mentions, ParentCorps, looks like a fantastic program with great results. She also discusses the sad fact that although we live in an age where information is thrown at us nearly constantly, we're often not truly connecting with others for support - especially about parenting. Quindlen says, "It used to take a village to raise a child, but there isn't a village anymore. Instead of extended family, there's a playground where everyone pretends everything's fine, and a computer screen behind which women can say, under the cover of mommy blogs, 'How come this is so hard for me?' " MAKE NO MISTAKE, the many amazing blogs bravely written by mothers are very important and valuable. The internet and books can also be great tools. But mothers need more. Especially mothers who are coping with a mood disorder. The value of talking, in person, to other mothers about the challenges, frustrations, fears along with the joys of parenthood is enormous. It's real. Tangible. And it truly shows us, we are not alone.


It’s okay to reach out for help.
That’s why we’re here.

www.poemonline.org