When my husband and I began our own family over 25 years ago, which ended up with four unique, vastly different kids, I was the first of my friends to start this parenting journey. I was also 3,000 miles away from my original family with minimal support, felt isolated, and quite frankly, I didn't know what I was doing. There was so much to figure out, and I questioned every parenting move I made. However, through various experiences and realizations, I learned to parent intuitively, which changed my entire parenting journey.

So, what does this have to do with Parent Coaching?

Parents and families used to have a built-in tribe. They had their mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and cousins around them for support, guidance, and encouragement. Unfortunately, many parents today can't experience this natural tribe, which can be isolating. Through my own experience, I knew I wanted to support new moms who found themselves in the same place I was, feeling uncertain and unsure of what to do, needing support and an occasional gentle reminder, "Hey, you're ok, and you're doing a great job!" Over the years, I have been so fortunate to have many opportunities to do just that for new mamas starting their parenting journey, and I LOVED it! I knew this would be my life's work somehow, someday.

I was a stay-at-home mama for 11 years before I went back to work at a Health and Counseling center at a small local college, where I worked for 11 years. It was there I found myself talking to, supporting, and encouraging parents of incoming first-year college students when it hit me!

These 17/18-year-old college freshmen, young adults to me, were still the "babies" of these parents. These older parents' questions were not different from the questions a new parent would be asking. Questions like:

"What do I do now?" "How do I do this?" "What's the best way to parent them?" "Am I doing this right?"

This was just another parenting transition within the parenting journey, and that journey never ends! Instead, it evolves, grows, and these "seasoned" parents were having challenges and struggles of their own. I found myself drawn to these parents, and I loved being able to listen, support, and encourage them as well.

This epiphany led me to go back to school to earn a Masters Level Certification, a year-long intensive program in Parent Coaching through The Parent Coaching Institute (PCI) at Seattle Pacific University, followed by becoming a Certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator. Both these programs allowed me to grow immensely, not only as a parent coach but personally and as a parent as well. Learning to be more intentional in all I do, looking at situations, and focusing on what is working, has been empowering. What a gift it is to help other parents navigate these questions and explore and discover those same internal insights for themselves and their families. What are the strengths of the parent/caregiver, the child, the family? Identifying the intuition you have within and realizing that guiding children from that place brings incredible creativity, positive energy, peace, hope, and CONFIDENCE, even during the day-to-day challenges they may face.

I have been, and continue to be, so grateful to have the opportunity to walk alongside families within their journey. As a result, they enhance and deepen connections with their children, and create a positive family culture that benefits the entire family as a whole.

I look forward to working with you too.

xx