In June, 55 families celebrated the Baltimore-based WhatsApp group Camp Mommy’s one-year anniversary with an in-person event at the JCC of Greater Baltimore.
The group chat’s founder, Fallon Saposnik, planned the event and considered it a major success.
“It was a really fun day, and it brought us together in person when we’re normally not in person together,” said Saposnik, 39.
About 470 moms from Baltimore and beyond belong to the Camp Mommy WhatsApp group, where they post ideas for family activities. Saposnik said that these women are mostly people who identify as Orthodox Jews. Therefore, to respect the community, Camp Mommy restricts posts during Shabbat and posts that advertise events at non-Kosher restaurants.
Saposnik grew up in New Jersey and attended Rutgers University for her undergraduate degree. After graduating, Saposnik learned to cook professionally at The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts. In 2011, Saposnik moved to Pikesville where she began working as a teaching assistant at Krieger Schechter Day School and as a Hebrew school teacher at Beth El Congregation.
Fallon and her husband Noah belong to Suburban Orthodox Congregation Toras Chaim. Fallon has three children.
What is Camp Mommy?
I started it in June of 2022, and it’s a WhatsApp group where we, any of the members, can post different ideas for kids and family activities. Those are the requirements. Only kid and family activities. So, [no one can post] something that’s for adults only or not related to a kid or family activity.
I really created it because I do Camp Mommy every summer with my kids, which basically is … my kids only go to camp for one session each summer. During the rest of the summer, we are together every day, and I have never been the type of mom who just stays home and does nothing. I was a stay-at-home mom for the first five or six years of being a parent. We were always out doing things. I learned a lot about what Baltimore has to offer. I want to help people find different activities and give them ideas of things to do.
It started off as just summer things, but then it turned into year-round posting because there’s people who stay home with their kids that need ideas, people who homeschool and people who use it for when their kids are off from school. I really wanted to give people ideas because I really would have liked that help when I was looking, and I didn’t really have a lot of people to ask for that. I kind of investigated it and learned about it on my own. I was one of the first of my friends to have kids and then I made a lot more mommy friends once I became one. I wanted to share that information with other moms and to also learn from the other moms.
How do you monitor posts to keep your chat focused?
That is such a great question because there have been some issues. The nice thing about WhatsApp is that, as the admin of the group, I can delete posts. So if something comes on that I think is irrelevant or is getting out of hand, I delete it. If I don’t think it’s applicable to the group, I will delete it. I’ve even heard from the members that they really like that. I do that because I try to keep the group about posting kid and family activities.
Also, people sometimes ask questions about an activity. Not only can you post activities, but the mommies ask also. All of that is allowed.
I really try not only to delete [unrelated] posts, but I also try to message the person to just explain to them two things: That their post is really not applicable to the group, and then I try to also tell them where a good place would be to post that or to answer their question.
Is this a lot of work?
Yes, it is. I mean, it doesn’t overtake my life. It’s like a part-time job. I just like to help people. Moms have to stick together and help each other out. That’s really one of my goals for this group, not only to give these ideas but in the way of helping. It does take time out of my life, but it’s very rewarding for me, and I really enjoy doing it. People have messaged me saying how much they love the group, how many ideas they’ve got. They’re so grateful for the group and that has just been so helpful. It really warms my heart because I’m doing this out of a love for these women and these moms. I really feel, as a mom, we need to stick together and it’s always better to just help other moms out when they need something. I just love the togetherness we all feel from it.
What does your relationship with Judaism mean to you?
It really defines how I live my life because I live my life by the Torah. I’m an Orthodox Jew so I’m bound by all these laws that have really enriched my life. I grew up a Conservative Jew, and so it has given a lot more meaning to my life. It has really brought me to this community. Pikesville is an incredibly rich community and diverse, which is one of the things I really love about it. I’m an Orthodox Jew and I go to an Orthodox shul, but I work in two Conservative shuls, so I have a very well-rounded understanding of Judaism from different facets of life. I really enjoy being in the Jewish community and having Judaism surround me everywhere.
