Queen of the Extra Special Mamas

I posted the above gif image once, or so I thought, but it gave me 58 of the damned things, and I had to scroll waaaaay down the page to delete 57 of them. If it's supposed to be one for every year of age, it's off by a few, and I resent the implication. I'm still not old enough for senior discounts, and if I get carded when I try to order off the senior menu, I grin sheepishly and order something else.

I have now taken the step of starting my own Red Hat Chapter. So far, I'm the only one in it, but we'll see what happens. I'm basically re-starting the special mother's group I ran for so many years. We met for coffee, breakfast or lunch once a week, depending on our kids' school schedules, and informally traded sympathy, advice and funny stories about our kids. The group kind of fell apart when a couple of key women moved away and another (my best friend) became so ill with breast cancer she seldom had the time or energy to make it. When she died two years ago, that spelled the end of the group.

It's time for a resurgence of The Extra Special Mamas of the West Valley, which is a more "Red Hat" name than "Special Parents Network of the West Valley," even if our function will be similar. We'll appeal to an older group of mothers, too. We started out with preschool-age children, and as we and our children aged, so did the membership of the group. With the Red Hat Chapter, our moms will have adult special needs kids who still depend on them.

I intend to remain active (As Chancellor of the Exchequer) in the Classy Ladies Chapter I joined last year, since its aim and purpose is entirely different from that of my new chapter. Women who join Special Mamas should also join a chapter that engages in activities that appeal to their interests, assuming they aren't already in such a chapter.

Essentially, I want a group of ladies with whom I can enjoy theater, museums and nice restaurants on a monthly basis (Classy Ladies), but I'd also like my weekly informal gatherings with other special moms. There are things special moms talk about - and laugh about - with each other that absolutely horrify parents of normies, and I miss that.