Online News From The Tribeca Trib

Group Offers Mothers Valuable Support

by Carl Glassman

The community room on West Thames Street in Battery Park City was abuzz with the babbling of babies and the chatter of their adoring mothers. The conversation was classic new-mom talk. While one woman wondered aloud about the drooling of her newly teething toddler, another sought tips on getting her baby to sleep later, and yet another asked if there were other mothers in the group who were trying to get pregnant.

"How did we have this baby?" came the quick-witted response from a sleep-deprived mom next to her. "Is that what we used to do?"

Beneath the playful banter and mundane exchanges that filled the room that recent afternoon lay an uncommon and flowering community of support. It is called the Hudson River Park Mothers' Group and since its informal beginnings last spring with a mere eight moms and their newborns, the group has grown to more than 100 families living in Tribeca, Battery Park City and the Financial District.

The group's organizer is Anna Grossman, 34, a photographer and mother of 14-month-old Julian. Her spirited recruitment efforts have helped membership grow beyond the capacity of the community room.

"We never thought it would get to this," she said.

Two afternoons a week — Mondays in Battery Park City and Fridays at St. John's University on Murray Street in Tribeca — dozens of moms, nannies and babies gather for cooing and conversation. (When it's warmer they meet in the park.) While those get-togethers offer valuable respite from the tiring and often isolating routine of baby care, it is the group's website and email group that provides the biggest help to many moms, especially when the parenting chips are down-midnight colic, for example, or maybe a case of the blues. On one occasion an impromptu support group convened when members learned online that a fellow mother was suffering anxiety over her return to work.

"Being a new mother is very exciting but it's also a little scary," said Faith Paris-Aarons, mother of seven-month-old Hudson. "Kids don't come with an instruction booklet."

So when she is confronted with a problem, like the fussiness of her son, Aarons goes to the group's website, night or day, where some 5,000 postings are searchable-and other real live moms are bound to be online as well. "You can pose any kind of question you can think of," said Aarons. "It's very open."

One woman, whose baby had just recovered from a stomach flu, posted a message of appreciation: "I can't describe how great it is to have this network of smart, wonderful moms to spill your guts to!" she wrote.

For membership details, email hrpmamas@yahoo.com. Another resource is the BPC Mom's Network; write to dlm@debraleemurrow.com.