Meet the 'Mum Squad' - my support team

By Angela Bensemann

We are often thrown together with people in life through a set of circumstances not of our own choosing.



This happens a lot when you have children.  You end up making friends with the mums of kids your kid is friends with, or the parents who wait outside the classroom at the end of every day, or with those freezing to death on the side-line of a rugby or netball game in the depths of winter.

Sometimes you click with these people and sometimes you don’t.  It’s all about finding your team.  The people you enjoy hanging out with.  If you’d told me I’d find my team on the side-line of a kids' cricket game I would have told you, you were nuts.

I hate cricket.  I’ve always hated cricket.

Imagine my dismay when my child – age five - announced he wanted to play.  He could not be dissuaded so it seemed.

He is now into his seventh year playing and a funny thing happened along the way.

I’ve come to love my Saturday mornings in my deck chair cheering the kids on and gossiping with the Mum Squad.  Of course the Dads are there too but it’s the Mum Squad who keeps things going.

We're along the side-lines on our deck chairs.  We’re alternatively decked out in shorts, t-shirt, sunscreen and sun hat or (as is often the case) in our jeans, jackets and woolly rugs (that’s a New Zealand summer for you).

Like all good teams we meet up outside of the game and do some team building.  Although we don’t know a lot about cricket we know a lot about team building especially when it is focused around good wine and good company.

Each year we get together and take the boys camping – just the mums and the boys.  We head up to the campground after the game on a Saturday with tents sleeping bags some food and plenty of wine.  We commandeer a large section of the campground and we pitch our tents.  The kids run wild, we cook tea, toast marshmallows, drink wine and break up fights (between the boys not us).

Last year we took our team building to a new level and decided to try out the bouncy pillow (like an inflatable trampoline) in the play area.  Apparently after we left, some bemused children made  derogatory comments to which our kids replied – ‘don’t mess with the Mum Squad’.

The name stuck and we think it’s kind of cool so have adopted it.  And don’t think if your child quits cricket you can leave the Mum Squad.  Once a member always a member – that’s what good teams are all about.

If you want to read more about the Mum Squad check out our tramping adventure.