Parenting doesn’t happen in a bubble. As parents, we can’t help but be affected by what’s happening in the wider world. Is it any wonder then that so many of us are feeling anxious, guilty, and overwhelmed?
Last week I went to a thought-provoking presentation put on by Cheryl Zandbergen, the creator of “Moms Gone Wild”. Moms Gone Wild plans events throughout the year for moms to get a break of the monotonous routine that raising children leads to. The speaker that night was Ann Douglas, author of Happy Parents, Happy Kids and weekend parenting columnist for CBC Radio.
Ann Douglas highlighted the broader cultural forces that have made everything about parenting feel incredibly high stakes. Then she went over some solutions, explaining how parents have the unique opportunity to serve as agents of change in their families and their communities. Her takeaway message is clear, powerful, and potentially life changing: you can tame the anxiety, embrace the joy, and thrive alongside your kids while building a better world.
My son just turned 1 so at the beginning of her presentation I was thinking “ah man, this is what I have to look forward to” and writing down the title of her other book ‘Parenting through the Storm’ so I could order it from Chapters. When she started on about different solutions and boosting our enjoyment I knew I would be ordering her other book ‘Happy Parents, Happy Kids’…maybe this was just a sales pitch? Lol. Either way I enjoy reading and I want to make sure my husband and I have a great relationship with each other and we each have a great relationship with our son. I see a lot of reading parenting books in my future
Anyway…back to the event. Some of the things she went over were:
• how to boost our enjoyment of parenting while maximizing the health and happiness of our entire family at the same time
• how to minimize stress, boost our mood, increase our energy level, and safeguard our physical and mental health — and how to encourage our kids to do the same
• how to zero in on the most effective parenting strategies (parenting strategies that work for parents and kids as opposed to parents or kids)
• why it’s so important to tap into support from “the village” — and why friendships are a necessity, not a luxury, for moms at each and every stage of parenting.
One of the quotes she left us with was “If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to support that child’s parents” – Ann Douglas. As of this week I am back to work after taking a year off. Before my mat leave, everyone at DSA (part of my village) was so supportive of me being pregnant and growing my family. And that support continued throughout my mat leave and into my return to work. Which I am so appreciative of and it makes me so happy to work for this company.
If you’re a Mom and you want to meet some other Moms and get a break from the family, check out https://momsgonewild.ca/