Shanghai Mamas Anniversary Party

We all need people to lean on.

In Shanghai, the ladies involved with the Shanghai Mamas mothering group has been an invaluable part of my mothering experience here in this large and often difficult-to-navigate city.

This group was started by a really dynamic lady who, upon her arrival in Shanghai, felt so alone with her son in this large city. Knowing that there must be other mothers in the same situation, she set up a yahoo-based group and viola, Shanghaimamas was born.

The network is currently made of up about 1,000 expatriate mothers - most of whom had given up their careers, left families to come to Shanghai with their spouses, along with their children.
Mothering is a tough job, as we all know, and having to mother in an unfamiliar city without the support network of family and friends makes it so much harder.

I must say, this network has help bridge this gap and for that I am sincerely very thankful.

Through this network of ladies, I've been able to find recommendations on just about everything I need: who are the best pediatricians around, what to do in an emergency (funnily enough, in Shanghai, its not to call for an ambulance but to hop on a cab and head to the nearest hospital), where to locate rose syrup, where to find organic vegetables...the list is endless.

Through this group, my eyes are opened to the diversity of cultures and opinions that make up our world. How simple topics breastfeeding or an ayi napping can be contentious for some of us.

I've also made some very good mates through this group - ladies who I may never have had the chance to meet given that I work full time and have so little time to join in the fun activities that they do when I am chained to my desk at work. For that, I am very thankful.

This has been one of the reasons why I have volunteered to be part of the group to put together an anniversary party for this group. It is also a time for us to say goodbye to the founder, who will be repatriating back to Texas. I'll miss her a lot and especially her sense of humor and how fast she talks (honestly, we think Singaporeans speak fast, wait till you meet this lady!)

Things from an organising committe have been tough though: ticket sales have not been encouraging and many members have been critical but I do love the spirit behind this small group of ladies who are adamant to make this happen. I just know that at the end of the day, the Lord will bless us with a very successful event where everyone who came will walk away knowing that they are part of a big Shanghaimamas family.

So if you are in town this Saturday 16 May, do drop me a note and ask for some tickets to come to this event.

I'll love to catch up with you.