• Date: You choose! If you’re hosting a Meals About Motherhood in your city/town, please let us know by emailing richa.rudola@gmail.com or filling out the Contact form on this website. We would love to keep track of where and when these meals are happening as we build this grassroots movement. It’s also possible we have other meals going on around the world we can cross promote and support.
  

• Location: The venue can be your house, a local restaurant, a public park - whatever your favorite gathering place is.
  

• Public or Private: Decide whether you would like to host a private or public event and either simply invite a group of friends/loved ones over or advertise a public event to your local community!

• Food & Drink: Well, that’s up to you! Some might be fancy with a signature cocktail, while others will prefer a potluck, takeout or just coffee/tea and cookies.

• Discussion: You can assemble everyone as a big group for the meal. We recommend having each person go around to introduce themselves, what stage of the motherhood journey they are in (even if they are on the fence and actively decided not to become a parent), and why they were interested in attending your MAM. We recommend also assembling smaller groups of 3-5 people by the time you get to the discussion questions so that folks can have more intimate and meaningful conversations. (Think Zoom Breakout Rooms, we’ve all been there!). After an appropriate time of private discussion time, consider bringing the entire group back together and having anyone who is comfortable share for their biggest insight or learning from the course of the evening. Also consider some kind of gentle time limit for each person to share so that everyone gets a turn to speak. Perhaps at the end of the discussion you go back around the circle or the group for closing thoughts, advice for the newer mothers in the group, or words of wisdom you wish someone had shared with you at the beginning of your journey. You can then allow for organic discussion as you wrap up for the night. There is truly no agenda, no call to action, this is an offering.

  That’s it! Thank everyone for showing up and their participation and send them back out into the world with their minds and hearts (hopefully) expanded. Don’t forget to take and share pictures of your Meals About Motherhood! #MealsAboutMotherhood
  

• Story Library Timeline: Two weeks or so before your MAM gathering, send out the Story Library to all of your guests - you’ll receive a password to this page via email) with information like this:

  “Between now and the time we come together, take the time to peruse the MAM Story Library. You can spend five minutes or hours - it’s up to you how deep you dive in. Each story was curated to get your minds and hearts churning around a different aspect of what “motherhood” means, and will no doubt give rise to ideas, questions, stereotypes, tropes…that will nurture a rich conversation.”
  

• You may use the below discussion questions as a jumping off point, or write your own! Feel free to print these up into strips and place into.a bowl for participants to draw, or let the conversation flow naturally. Whatever works for you!

  Suggested Discussion Questions:

  1. Are you currently a mother (or parent)? Why did you make the decision to become a mother/parent or not (as of now)? Can you recall a specific moment, incident, or factor that led you to this decision?

  2. If you are currently a mother/parent, please share as honestly as possible with your group what this experience has been like for you. What have been the best and most joyful parts? What have been the worst and most difficult parts? Has there ever been a moment in which you regretted your decision?

  1. If you are not currently a mother/parent, please share as honestly as possible with your group what this experience has been like for you. What have been the best and most joyful parts? What have been the worst and most difficult parts? Has there ever been a moment in which you regretted your decision?

  3. Do you agree with the premise that our current society might not be very well set up to support mothers/parents? If so, what are some of the things that would have to change to better support mothers/parents and their children? If you disagree with that premise, what do you think is working well now?

  4. If you currently have children, what is one thing you most wish was available to you to improve your life as a mother/parent? If you do not currently have children, is there any kind of support structure or social condition that, if available, would make you more inclined to have a child?

  5. What has surprised you the most about motherhood (or) what surprises you about motherhood that you have seen/witnessed?

  6. What have you discovered to be your superpower in pregnancy or motherhood?

  7. What has been the hardest part of your journey as it relates to motherhoodWhat do you wish you’d known before getting pregnant or deciding to have children?

  8. What is the thing that moms don’t say out loud enough to themselves or to each other about how it really is?

  9. What guidance or hard earned wisdom would you give to a soon to be mom or women considering mothering in some form?What has been the hardest part about maintaining your marriage/partnership since becoming a parent? 

  10. Tell a joyful story about being a mom - a moment where you felt like you were good at this, had an impact on your kid(s), felt yourself growing or changing into a new version of yourself, felt loved in a new way, etc.

  11. How have you navigated your identity shift - did you let motherhood consume you? Did you compartmentalize? 

  12. What would a society look like in the US that truly supported working mothers? How has the lack of resources and lack of “the village” affected you? 

  13. What are your thoughts and feelings about more women choosing not to have children or women having children later in life? Has that affected your friendships or network? 
  

• Follow-Up: After your event, all hosts will receive a short survey via email that they may distribute to their guests to receive testimonials or feedback about the experience, and also have the opportunity to upload pictures from the events that will be showcased on the Meals About Motherhood website!

• Reminder: If you’re hosting a Meal About Motherhood in your city/town, please let us know by emailing richa.rudola@gmail.com or fill out the Contact form on this website. Also, don’t forget to take and share pictures of your Meals About Motherhood! #MealsAboutMotherhood

• Social Media: Please post a group photo from your event and tag us! Here is some copy you are welcome to use or amend:

“Last night several people got together to have authentic, vulnerable conversations about what motherhood means to them, which is called Meals About Motherhood. 

Founded by Richa Rudola, Naomi McDougall Jones, Lela Meadow-Conner and Sarah Moshman, the motivation of this initiative is simple: a desire to engender more open and honest conversations between people about motherhood - about being a mother, not being a mother, and the decisions, consequences, and factors that arise from both - and to use film/media as a tool to expand and drive those conversations, over a shared meal.

Check out www.MealsAboutMotherhood.com to learn more!“