Willows Moms & Babes is made up of families who live in the Willows neighborhood in Menlo Park. We began in 2001 with just 10 moms and now have over 200 members. We include stay-at-home moms, stay-at-home dads, working parents and single parents.

We began with a basic premise: It really does take a community to parent in this day and age. As we work and juggle hectic schedules – and often don’t have relatives nearby – we need others to help us pull off good parenting. We need our immediate community for laughs, friendship, advice, play dates, emergency help, scheduling, carpooling, a glass of wine, work-outs, shopping, whatever.

We want our kids to grow up in a community that knows, cares about and looks out for them. And, as adults, we want a community of people whom we enjoy, trust, care about and don’t feel judged by.

Some of our “official” activities include an e-mail listserv, a Web site with an event calendar, contact list, vendor list and other resources, weekly play dates, moms’ (and dads’) nights out, a summer BBQ and a holiday party. We’ve also organized fall hayrides, parenting workshops with outside speakers, camping trips and whatever other ideas people come up with.

We are always eager for more neighbors to join our group. More information can be found at willowsmomsandbabes-subsribe@yahoogroups.com or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/willowsmomsandbabes.