I love my Mom’s Day Out program and I think there are so many benefits to these types of programs.

Set Up

There are many different types of Mom’s Day Out programs.  Some are staffed by paid adults and some are free.  The program I am involved in is mainly free.  We do pay $10 each session, but that provides wipes, Cheerios, Play Doh, craft supplies, chalk, sunscreen, batteries, etc. Ours is held at a church, the babies are in the nursery and the big kids are in the basement.  There are 4-5 moms on a team.  Each team works every 4-5 weeks.

My Benefit

The days I have to work can be draining, but I know this and plan ahead for dinner.  Dinner is super simple on the days that I work.

On the days that I don’t work, I get about 4 hours to myself!  I do all kinds of things:

• run quick errands that I just have to run in and out for
• clean the house
• do a major organizing project
• volunteer at school
• eat lunch with my husband
• go shopping
• have a “me” day

Obviously, I don’t do this entire list every time I have Mom’s Day Out, but those are things I typically choose from.  This really helped us out this past year when our “babysitters” were having health issues and were unable to watch our kids.  My husband and I would use these as our “dates.”  It worked pretty well, lunch is cheaper than dinner, but we would only have an hour and since he works on the opposite side of town, I didn’t get much more accomplished on those days.

I have also made some good friends in the process.  I was able to meet people in the same situation as I am in.  Before I started, I really didn’t have too many friends.  It seemed like my friends who didn’t have kids, I didn’t have much in common anymore and they didn’t really understand all that it entails to be a parent.  On the reverse side, all of my friends who have kids, typically don’t have much time for friends.

My MDO group is good about scheduling optional Girls Night Outs and sometimes we get together for lunch.

Childrens’ Benefits

• socialization
• learning to separate from Mommy and that she comes back
• learning to be respectful to other adults
• learning that other adults (not just Mommy) can take care of them
• making new friends
• sharing
• learning that there are different rules for different environments