Guidance Along The Way 

Parenting and Motherhood

You’re tired of feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. The business of life consumes you. Whether it’s tending to the non-stop needs of your children, long hours of work responsibilities outside the home or as a stay-at-home mother, managing laundry lists of things to do, or meeting the needs of your partner, taking care of yourself can feel impossible.

Parenting is a demanding 24 hour/day job and can frequently be emotionally draining and physically exhausting. Prioritizing your own needs is easier said than done. Learning self-care strategies is crucial as it will allow you to be the best parent you can be, help you create more joy and peace in your life, and improve the overall quality of your family life.

 Just some common areas that mothers struggle with and need support for include:

•  Time management
• Mindfulness and parenting
• Relationships
• Emotional regulation
• Perfectionism
• Drinking concerns
• Excessive guilt
• Self-esteem/feelings of inadequacy
• Over-critical sense of self
• Increasing efficiency
• Anxiety and worry
• Overcommitment/learning to say no

     Mommy Support can help you to:

• Learn stress management techniques
• Foster self-awareness
• Identify and manage emotional triggers
• Decrease mommy guilt
• Live with less self-judgment
• Listen to yourself and take the breaks you need
• Create a more balanced life
•  Navigate challenges with mom friends, parents, in-laws, co-workers, etc.
• Increase energy and productivity
• Utilize the power of positivity and gratefulness
• Stop beating yourself up
• Recognize that “good enough is enough” and let go
• Increase patience and decrease frustration

You do not have to get to your breaking point! You can make the changes you want and improve your mental health on a daily basis.

 Mommy support can also benefit mothers who are struggling to move forward with exercise and health goals, help them get back to old hobbies/interests, and jump-start aspirations, ideas or other goals. It can also merely provide a place to talk openly about the day-to-day challenges and stressors that come with parenthood, and not only reinforce the importance of “mothering ourselves,” but also guide us on how to go about doing it.

 Building Your Village

 Many mothers do not have family or friends nearby to support them and may feel lonely, isolated, depressed or anxious. Even those lucky enough to have relatives or friends in close proximity may not feel comfortable asking for help with childcare or reaching out for emotional support.

The lack of a social network, throughout the journey of motherhood, can often make parenting more challenging than it already is, and establishing one can be difficult. Finding or creating a community of like-minded mothers who will lovingly support you on your journey can make all the difference and help you feel more capable, confident and inspired in your day-to-day life.  

Some of the obstacles that may stand in your way when trying to build a social network may include: a lack of confidence, shyness, being a first-time mother, being the first one in your family or circle of friends to have a baby, lack of time, and/or having relocated to a new area. However, you can acquire the tools needed in order to overcome such obstacles and gain confidence in building relationships. My supportive services will empower you to try things that you might be afraid to try, and map out for you precisely how to create a mommy network within which you feel comfortable.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child, but no one ever tells you where it is or how to get there.” –Anonymous

Occupational Challenges

“Because we are all working mothers!”

Women commonly find themselves in career/job-related dilemmas pre- or post- pregnancy. Perhaps your maternity is coming to an end. You may be dreading going back, and feel guilt-ridden for leaving your baby. On the other hand, you may be feeling awful for actually looking forward to returning to work! You might be experiencing anxiety about your child-care situation and/or struggling with making the right decision about work for you, your children and your family.

If given the choice to be a stay-at-home (SAHM) or working mother (WM), some women know exactly what their decision would be. For others, this decision is a stressful one in which different variables play a role.  Even once a decision is made, second-guessing it, feelings of gain/loss and re-evaluation over time might be leading you to explore different possibilities for you and your family. Not having the option to be a SAHM due to financial constraints might also be the cause of more anxiety.

As either a SAHM or WM, you might feel like you’ve lost your professional identity, edge, or experience since having children. You might be interested in going back to school, reinventing yourself and/or starting a new career. Perhaps complicating your situation even further, your partner may have their own thoughts, expectations and feelings about what is best that differ dramatically from your own.

Decisions around work can be complicated and overwhelming for many mothers. Confusion, uncertainty and a sense of “being stuck” is common, but there is support available that can eventually lead you to the right choice for you and your family!

Marriage and Motherhood

Parenthood is hard and can be tough on your relationships and marriage. Babies and children often take over what was once coined "free time." The lack of sleep on top of the day-to-day responsibilities of life make it harder, or sometimes impossible, to connect to yourself and your partner. Suddenly, you may also have increased expectations of your partner that might not have been previously discussed, and this leads to mutual resentment, anger and frustration.

Does it feel like your partner doesn’t understand the chaotic 24 hour workday of being a mother?

Do you sometimes feel like a single mother who has been abandoned?

Do you feel like you have no time or energy left to take care of yourself and your relationship with your partner?

Do you feel as if your partner has been unable to look at you the same sexually since childbirth? Or perhaps your partner has admitted to this being the case?

Do you feel like your partner focuses all of his attention on your baby/babies?

Do you worry that your partner’s longer hours at work and/or time with friends signify an avoidance of new and growing responsibilities at home?

If the any or all of the above resonates with you, relationship/marital support can help. You can learn effective coping tools and strategies that will help alleviate your struggles with marriage and motherhood. Parenthood can bring a couple closer together, and the proper support can help make this happen for you.

Growing Your Family

Just because you have "been there" doesn't mean that the second time around will be all smooth sailing. Increasing your family size also means increasing your workload as a mother and adapting all over again to your “new normal.” The period of readjustment often starts before your newborn is here and can be a time filled with anticipatory anxiety and uncertainty about how you’re going to manage all the foreseeable changes.

Just like every pregnancy is different, every baby/child also comes with a unique personality and temperament which dramatically impacts your experiences as a mother.
Perhaps having to be a mother to more than one is turning out to be more challenging than you had anticipated, and you’re struggling.

Support for mothers who have had or are expecting an additional child(ren) tackles challenges such as:

• Feelings of anxiety about being a mother of more than one
• The daily management of more than one child
• Dividing your time between your children
• Co-parenting with more than one
• Helping your older/younger child to adjust
• Creating new routines for your family/ coping with the loss of/disruptions in old ones

Parent Coaching

If only it came with a handbook

Do you feel regularly exhausted, frustrated, sad, angry, resentful or confused by your young child’s behaviors?

Have you tried everything, but things only improve for a short period of time, if at all?

Have you ever found yourself wondering if you’re really cut out for this “parenting thing,” and have felt like quitting?

Are you at the end of your rope trying to figure out how to change things because you just can’t live like this anymore?

Do you and your partner often fail to see eye to eye and can’t seem to get on the same page regarding either discipline in general and/or the handling of a particular problem?

If you have answered YES to any of the above questions, you should know that we have all been there! We all need help with the challenges of raising a family and parent coaching can benefit you. Parenting today is hard, to say the least, and unfortunately it does not come with a much-needed handbook. It’s also so common to feel unsure about what to do or not to do, especially with so much conflicting information out there. Having a special needs child often comes with its own set of demands. 

ou’re either doing the best you can or wish you could do more, but you are at a standstill. Ongoing challenges with your young child(ren) are negatively affecting you and your family in a variety of ways. No matter what your situation, parent coaching will assist you in improving your situation and offer you the guidance, support, education, behavior- changing strategies, and the fresh perspective that you need.

• Temper tantrums
• Not listening/defiance
• Potty training struggles
• Sibling rivalry
• Sleep problems
• Power struggles
• Challenges around am/pm routines