Northwest-area mothers connect through social groups

Lisa McNorton has tried more than a couple of the two dozen or so mom s groups based in the Las Vegas Valley.

McNorton, like 32 other moms living in and around Centennial Hills, eventually stuck with northwest Las Vegas-based Happy Toddler Moms, not out of geographical convenience but personal preference.

“I tried three other moms groups . Some just weren’t a good fit,” the 43-year-old stay-at-home mom said. “Some of them are pretty militant — well-run, and we don’t want to knock any of them, but militant.”

McNorton, a former member of Alternative Moms — a group for “tattooed moms, lesbian moms, crunchy moms, vegetarian/vegan moms” and lots of other “unconventional” mothers — joined Happy Toddler Moms this year and has since become the group’s event coordinator.

Her 3-year-old daughter Kaitlyn still shares a playground with Paige and Gary Beckstrom, the 2- and 4-year-old children of fellow Alternative Mom veteran Alisha Beckstrom, a Centennial Hills resident who tagged along when McNorton joined the group.

Beckstrom, from Utah, also dipped her toes in a few other groups before picking Happy Toddlers.

She, like McNorton, has almost never seen a child driven from the sandbox on account of another child. More often, she said, moms and children leave a group thanks to other moms.

“I like this group, and I liked Alternative Moms,” the 36-year-old mother of five said. “Both are non judging environments, and that’s what I needed coming out of the Mormon moms in Utah.”

Beckstrom was joined on that point by recent California transplant Bri Wiley of Centennial Hills, a 30-year-old mother of two.

“Once there’s a beef with one of the moms in the group, your group splits and alliances are formed,” Wiley said. “So much drama . As you get older, you realize it’s not worth it to join the wrong group.”

But the right one, Wiley said, is well worth seeking out.

The former electrical company administrative director now shares weekly play dates, biweekly movie nights and a monthly girls night out with 62 other group moms from all walks of life.

Most, like her, are stay-at-home moms. Many, including Wiley, left a career to raise their children.

“I was almost making as much money as my husband when we had (2-year-old Lia) and I decided to stay home.

“There’s days where I think, ‘I’d rather be at work right now,’ but (raising kids) is also full-time job. So is being in a group, sometimes. It’s intimidating because you think it’s going to be like high school all over again. But it’s worth it because you’ll get out of the house and hopefully find friendships that last.”

McNorton, a North Las Vegas resident who put her meeting consulting business on hold to raise Kaitlyn, agreed. As for staying home? She wouldn’t have it any other way.

“You have to . You can’t just let TV or somebody else raise your kids,” she explained. “We have a mom who just went back to work and she loves it, but she also misses her kids. She misses the mommy community.”

Despite or maybe because of their experiences within that community, all three shared the same piece of Mother’s Day advice for their fellow northwest moms: Join a group, no matter which one.

“This town’s hard to meet people,” Beckstrom said. “There were places I was uninvited to because I had children. So if you’re in that situation or if you just want to get out of the house, go online and find a group.”

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter James DeHaven at jdehaven@viewnews.com or 702-477-3839.