PenPenWrites

I read my friend Pat's email with delight–I knew just what she was feeling. Her grown daughter had just launched a Web site–momoasis.com–and she was spreading the word. Isn't that what we do: encourage, support, let others know (without bragging, of course) when our grown child has done something noteworthy or interesting.

Then I went up on the site. It's written for the harried mom in the midst of her child rearing years. It isn't about parenting so much as it's about finding a moment of calm in the storm, of figuring out how to take care of yourself while you're still busy taking care of others. Or as the author's blogger-in-chief put it, "Mom Oasis was created as a calm and pleasant place to go to as a brief respite from the hectic, isolating world of motherhood.  Many sites reach out to provide moms with help for their children's emotional issues (tantrums, sleeplessness) but there are few that address those of mom."

While those pressures have lessened for parents of grown children, they haven't disappeared. Some of us are still loaded with responsibilities–caring for an aging parent, working full time, maintaining house and home, being a responsive spouse and friend, keeping up with the book club reading. We still lead busy lives and many of us need to find that precious moment for ourselves.  You might find there's something in Mom Oasis for you–or for your daughter. I did–and not because Pat is my friend.