East Valley Moms offers help, camaraderie

Dec. 27—Want to learn the ins and outs of motherhood and find camaraderie at the same time? Then try East Valley Moms.

The digital media platform for the past 10 years has been offering up tips and ideas such as how to find a last-minute babysitter, local restaurants where kids eat free, parenting on the spectrum and things to do with the kids before it gets really hot outside.

It serves the communities of Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe, Chandler and Queen Creek.

"We share local things to do, local mom hacks," said Amy McConnell, owner and chief curator East Valley Moms. "We host play dates. Everything we do creates that local connection for moms who perhaps feel over-whelmed."

McConnell has grown the membership to approximately 100,000 women across all of East Valley Mom's blog and other media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and emails. Many members are transplants from other areas of the country.

"Since I have taken over, those numbers have skyrocketed because of the hyper-local focus," she said. "I hyper-localized everything whereas before it was more general."

The Mesa resident stumbled upon the East Valley Moms blog in 2019 while pregnant with her son Maverick, who is now 3 1/2 .

"Like most first-time moms I went to social media, 'OK, I need to know what's coming next,'" McConnell recalled. "I found East Valley Moms and followed them and loved what they were doing."

With a background in public relations and journalism, she volunteered to write for the site — her first piece was about why she didn't share her pregnancy on social media.

She eventually purchased East Valley Moms from the co-founders in 2020, the same year the pandemic rolled into the country and four months after Maverick's birth.

According to McConnell, co-founders Lisa Glowacka's and Michelle Alexander's children were older and it was just time for them to move on. East Valley Moms is aimed at mothers with children up to age 10.

McConnell said she would like to up the age for children in the future but for now she has limited resources as she spends eight hours a week overseeing the event calendar, editing, writing and uploading the content over various media platforms.

She also home-schools her child and takes care of an acre-and-half grove.

"We can't be everything to all people," she said. "We want to make sure what we are delivering is truly helpful. I would love in the future to expand our coverage larger. But right now as a hobby business you have to know your limits and boundaries."

McConnell does have the help of 10 other mothers, who contribute articles. (The number of volunteer writers fluctuates each year).

The moms come from diverse backgrounds and provide expertise on what they know best.

For instance, a mom with twin sons, one of whom has mild cerebral palsy, a divorced mom of three, living the co-parenting life and a busy working mom of four children.

"We are not influencers, which makes us different" McConnell pointed out. "We are just regular moms sharing content and so we are not as polished like Pinterest. It's the mom next door."

The site also provides lot of local government resources as McConnell worked for the City of Mesa in public affairs for five years.

"Local governments have incredible resources nobody knows about," she said. "Despite their best efforts, their PIO team, people don't know where to look for incredible city resources. Often times, it's free for families. If you need a ladder you can borrow it from Neighborhood Services."

East Valley Moms also puts out digital publications such as an annual transplant guide, a self-care guide for moms, a summer survival guide and a pregnancy and postpartum guide.

For instance, an article coming out in January focuses on local resources for kids who are going through mental illness, McConnell said.

"It's a universal motherhood topic," she continued. "We have a local anchor to it and we are proud of that. Moms know we are the only resource with this depth and breathe of hyper local."

Moms also can learn about local resources to help them navigate through the foster care, and adoption processes, dealing with a child with dyslexia and other challenges they may face.

"We don't shy away from heavier topics," McConnell said. "We really proudly feature them from moms who have walked the walk.

"We have those heavier topics peppered in with some fun."

The fun events include locations to look at Christmas lights, paired with a "great local shop" in the neighborhood to visit.

McConnell said the decision to limit the group to the five municipalities resulted from a market study on how far moms were willing to drive to explore with nap time and lunches taken into consideration.

"There could be great free events in Scottsdale and Phoenix but for a majority of young parents, it's too far with naps and snacks and meals," she said. "We are not going that far."

What little income the site generates goes back into the play dates and events such as Mom's Night Out and Mummies Night Out during Halloween, which East Valley Moms host every year, McConnell said.

She said participation to the events is capped so that it's easier for moms to form friendships. The group gets asked a lot about how to find other mom friends as it's difficult to do so while balancing a baby on the hips and a toddler running away, McConnell said.

"We do aim to keep our events intimate because we create space for moms to feel safe and make relationships," she said. "Large groups tend to feel cliquish — 50 or below makes sure that moms feel like 'I'm not overwhelmed with lots of other moms here.'"

For many of the mom members, the group is a sisterhood, according to McConnell.

"We all come together with the common goal of sharing the parental journey and make it more connective for other moms in the area," she said.

Mom's New Year's Eve Bash

East Valley Moms is hosting a New Year's Eve party that will get the kids excited about 2024 — and ready to go to sleep well before the clock strikes midnight.

The celebration begins at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 31, at 10:30 a.m. at Swimhaus Gilbert, 868 N. Gilbert Road.

Activities include a braid bar for kids to get fancy, face painting, magic show, a photo booth including new year's props and backdrop, meet 'n' greet beloved characters Cinderella and Frozen's winter Elsa, story time and crafts.

Admission is $30 for up to four family members and can be purchased online.

Information: amy@eastvalleymom.com, eastvalley.momcollective.com.