PEPS - Is It Worth It & Questions?

jeffrae

Are any of you ladies involved with PEPS?  We live in the greenlake area and I know that there are plenty of other new moms around here.  Unfortunately most of them are not in my friend circles (we are #3 of our friends - and those babies are a year old now).  I am thinking of signing up for this.

I also have another timing question....I do not plan to be a SAHM, but I will be home for  about four months.  Would I sign up for the daytime session or would night work better (as I plan to go back to work) or does it matter after four months?

angluvsammon

We loved our PEPS experience. We made a lot of friends and our group met weekly until the babies were 9 months old, and then monthly until about 15 months. Many of the moms in our group (a day group) went back to work after 3-4 months, and so there were less of us meeting after the initial 12 weeks. Many people that I know have a good experience, but it all depends on your group and leader. Looking back, I wish we would have done the evening group so that DH could have met some other dads. I have a lot of 'mom friends' now, but he still doesn't really have any dads to relate to. I have a friend who did a night group with her DH and they loved it.

energyzer

We did it and loved our experience too.  We did an evening group so the dads were involved too.  It's been about 3 years since we were actually in PEPS and we still get together once a month with all the kids.  In fact, all 4 couples just had their second babies within the last 4 months so it's like we're a new PEPS group with all the babies (there are a total of 9 kids when we get together!!)  In our group, half were SAHM and half returned to work (me included).  If you want DH involved, you'll want to do the evening group. 

I would highly recommend it and really enjoyed it.  All of us have different parenting philosophies and have learned so much from each other.  We did have a really good group, and a smaller one than normal (a couple people dropped out right as it was starting).

Seattle_JiLLn

I think it's really important to have some sort of support network around you during those early months.   So I would do it.   Be aware though that your group might not start til your child is a month or two old though... you can always opt to not jion the group (and get your money back) if it starts too late for you.

I would try to go to any parent/baby classes/groups you can get to - like the Evergreen classes that everyone talks about - there must be something on the Seattle side at one of the hospitals too? 

But just having somewhere to go once a week to make you get outof the house, and having a place wehre you can just say "my kid is doing xyz, what do I do?" or be able to just cry and say "i'm so tired" and have people commisserate with you, it's worth it IMO.

My PEPS group turned out to be a bit of a disaster due to one crazy chick, but I met a couple of nice women there, one of whom I still see.

jen_and_tom

It was definitely worth it for me.  I went back to work after 4 months and did the daytime group.  I preferred daytime because I needed the socialization during the day more so than in the evening.  Although, most of the other Moms still meet in some capacity during the week (15 months later) and I cannot because I went back to work full time.  I also think our group does less "family" things including dads than the evening groups do.  I was fortunate to get into a group at around 6 weeks so i got to participate for the full 12 weeks of the program.  From what I understand, there is a bit of a wait.  I met a woman at church who did the evening one and she loved that experience. 

Seattle_JiLLn

My issue with the evening program is that by the evening, I was always a WRECK  So exhausted.  So just "done" with the day.   Plus, lots of babies are real crank pots in the early evening.   So a room full of them all fussy and me just wanting to take a shower or a nap or eat some dinner.  That doesn't sound like fun at all.

sunmountain

Very much so and my group still gets together a year and a half later. I also did the Evergreen classes because that's where I delivered but pretty much everyone in them lives on the east side which can be prohibitive for playdates later on - not impossible just harder. W/ PEPS everyone is w/in 5 miles or so of your house. I liked the E classes for the information more than most of our PEPS speakers. But I have friends for life from PEPS. I really joined it for the social aspect and glad I did. Some mom's went back to work from our day group and we see less of them but not in all cases - some more than others. Depends on your schedule.  I wouldn't have done the night group for the same reasons as mentioned - we started an evening routine at an early age and those groups don't meet until 7.  We have group events that include the guys so that's been fine.  I'd sign up - we're so lucky to have the program in Seattle.

pearly1

Seattle_JiLLn:

you can always opt to not jion the group (and get your money back) if it starts too late for you.

They actually send you an invoice until after you've joined a group so if they offer a group that doesn't work for you, you're not bound to it.

We're joining an evening group so DH can be involved, but I have the same reservations that Jill mentioned - 8pm has really been the witching hour for Jamie, and it just *happens* to coincide with my breakdown time. So I'm really not looking forward to that - I'm going to have to make sure I have an afternoon nap those days! ?

I would guess that a neighborhood like greenlake would have lots of groups starting and you wouldn't have to wait too long to join one.?

braveangel2

I'm not, but my photographer, Jessica is. It was one of the first things she mentioned to me when we met. Oh, and now that she has her new baby (just Thursday!), she has an entire fridge and freezer stocked with a month's worth of food thanks to her friendships there.