Australian based Mothers of Boys (MOB) charity is inviting mothers who only have sons to attend a lunch raising funds and awareness for the prevention of domestic and family violence. The MOB initiative raises funds for Australians in need and works as a forum for discussion, support and networking for women in all male households.
MOB was originally formed by a group of women who met on the sidelines of their sons’ football game. They discussed they had unique positions in only having sons and being the only female in their all made household. While they loved their boys, they were envious of other mum friends invited to events like mother daughter fashion parades or morning teas. They realised the same gender events occurred with males too, with father and son fishing weekends or sporting dinners being a regular occurrence, but never mother and son events.
What started as a tongue-in-cheek “any excuse for a lunch” event has grown into a formal national charity with deductible gift recipient status, raising significant funds for Australians in need.
Mother of three adult sons and MOB spokesperson Diane O’Reilly believes raising boys was a privilege, but also an isolating experience.
“Personally I grew up with only sisters and it was something of a shock to have all these little wrestling boys who in the blink of an eye would turn a broom into a Jedi sword and chew a piece of toast into the shape of a gun,” said Diane.
“There were years and years of late night agony when checking boys were asleep and unsuccessfully dodging Lego pieces scattered on the floor. Piles of smelly football boots prevailed, passing wind and burping the alphabet were practiced at Olympic sport level. As for the food bills – astronomical!”
Even so, she said she “absolutely adores” her sons but MOB women love at bit of “girl time.”
“Spending time with other women in the same boat is awesome. The annual MOB lunch is our one day of the year for it to be all about us Mums of only boys.”
After hosting events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, MOB has extended their event to Toowoomba.
Mothers of Boys raises money for a different charity each year. This year’s recipient is the Red Rose Foundation, a national charity which actively works towards ending domestic violence related deaths in Australia.
Past recipients have included Roses in the Ocean, Orange Sky Laundry, Daniel Morcombe Foundation, Abused Child Trust, Pathways to Resilience and the BrainChild Foundation. While MOB initiative raise funds for serious issues, the emphasis for their events is fun and engaging with likeminded mums, who all want their boys to become great men.
The inaugural Toowoomba event will take place at Blank Space on Saturday 12 May. Interested mums can register on the MOB website or like them on Facebook.
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