Friday, August 14, 2009

Moms' Night Out Ideas

Having a Moms' Night Out (MNO) is important. In fact in my circle of friends we call this our S.O.S. Night or Save Our Sanity Night. And it does just that! Even if it is just you and a few of your friends bonding over coffee, sometimes you just need a few hours to bond kid-free. Lots of co-ops and support groups offer a monthly MNO. If your support group does not offer a MNO, I encourage you to start one. They can be a great place to meet friends, get ideas and offer support to those that are struggling. I have always enjoyed hosting these groups at my home, but you can certainly have a different host every month.

I would also encourage you to pick a theme for each month. This starts the conversation and is a ton of fun! Here are some ideas for you to pick and chose from. Enjoy!

Wedding Album Night. This is always a very popular night so I will go into the most detail on this idea. For Wedding Night, all the Moms bring their wedding album. We start out by asking everyone to talk about how they met their husband and how they got engaged. As a game ask what is the worst thing that happened on your wedding day. The worst/best answer gets a prize. To look at the albums we sit in a circle or around a table and pass the albums from one person to the next. It is so much fun to see the albums! For snacks I either provide or have people bring something wedding related. A cheap and easy "wedding cake" can be just a plain frosted white cake topped with your old cake topper. Other snack suggestions are Jordon almonds, wedding cookies or whatever is popular in your area. And of course a champagne toast is always nice.

Baby Night. This is the night to show off your baby pictures, talk about labor and delivery or your adoption journey. It is fun to play baby shower type games.

Pre-Mom Moments. This is a fun and often sentimental night. Have the moms bring pictures of themselves before they were mothers. When guests arrive have them write down three facts that people would not know about them from before they were moms on a index card. Before talking about the pictures, as the pictures might give away some of the facts, read each of the cards to the group and have everyone guess who it is. This is so fun and you are sure to learn something interesting about everyone. Other conversation starters could be asking people their most embarrassing moment or greatest achievement.

Project Night. Everyone brings something to work on - scrapbooking, paying bills, knitting, etc. The idea is just to get together.

Recipes Swap. Pretty self explanatory.

A Curriculum Fair. Everyone brings their favorite homeschool products to share. This is best to do in the spring when people are starting to think about books for next year but before the end of the year push to get things done.

Wrap It Up Night. This is one of my favorites. Just before Christmas have everyone gather to wrap up all of their gifts.

Hopes and Dreams Night. This is a night to talk about what you plan to do when you are finished being a school marm. For an added touch have everyone dress in a costume depicting that occupation.

What's Your Style? Ask someone from a local shop (or perhaps if there is someone in your group who is particularly fashion oriented) to come and talk about spicing up your wardrobe, fashions that last more than a season and how to chose a clothing and accessory style that works for you and your body type.

I hope some of these ideas work for you!

All the best,
Crunchy Momma





4 comments:

ViolinMama said...

LOVE these idea. I'll have to post them to my mommy group!!

Thanks so much!!

RealMom4Life said...

And you figured this out AFTER moving half way across the country from me?

Anonymous said...

What a marvelous idea! We are going to start a women's group! LOVE those ideas! Absolutely Fabulous!! Thank you so much!!!

Crunchy Momma said...

Aw, thanks Violin and Kelly! I am glad the ideas will be of good use to you!
Real, these ideas were after we left your area. But you are more than welcome to come to any of them! Tee hee.