Tagged With "mother"

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. I have been given the greatest gift a mother could ask, my daughter- back. Last year a month before Mother’s Day I began a heart wrenching journey. My oldest daughter was in a serious car accident. She suffered a traumatic brain injury, broken neck, broken back, broken foot, but she was alive. She was a single mom. I became the guardian of my toddler grandson. I wasn’t prepared to become a mother in that way again. I was prepared to be a doting, spoiling...

“I waited. And waited… And then…I waited some more.”

"It is relatively early on a summer evening, just after sunset. From my bed, I notice a shadow of a spindly branch dancing across the corner of the bedroom wall. I get up and close the curtains tightly to make it disappear, careful not to step on my daughter, who’s camped on my bedroom floor, lying stiffly under the weighted anxiety blanket I’d made her. I don’t mind the shadow, but I know it will make it impossible for her to fall asleep. This is the fourth night in a row she’s spent here.

I was such a mother. I was also the daughter of an alcoholic. My mom died earlier this year. When a mother loves an alcoholic or is raised by an alcoholic, she is changed in profound ways - ways she has no idea are even present, yet ways that make her a confounding figure in her children's lives. At the root of these "ways" is her adverse childhood experiences. As I shared recently in my post, The Legacy of Untreated Secondhand Drinking ACEs , "[My] Mom and I talked about my realization that...

By Amy Dworsky, Colleen Schlecht, Gina Fedock, et al., Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, March 2020 The dramatic increase in the number of women in state and federal prisons in recent decades has led to calls for gender-responsive policies and practices that address the needs and circumstances of incarcerated women and recognize the central role that motherhood plays in many incarcerated women’s lives. This brief describes the results of a project undertaken by researchers from...

In her practice, Kelly McDaniel, LPC, NCC, CSAT, author and psychotherapist, offers Individual Intensives for women living with the generational legacy of Mother Hunger. Kelly works carefully and confidentially with clients as they navigate the tender, primitive wound that comes from an early broken heart.

Good enough parenting is about repairing relationship ruptures with your child. Reach out, discuss, reconnect - repair the rupture to avoid later problems

By National Crittenton and Katcher Consulting, Annie E. Casey Foundation, March 2020 Founded in 1883 as a social justice advocacy organization, National Crittenton has been dedicated to the needs and potential of girls, young women and women facing violence, poverty and injustice across the country for more than a century. Additionally, National Crittenton convenes the 26 Yet, systems have turned a blind eye to the ways in which the “safety net” designed for adults is a “trap” for young...

Pregnancy is often welcomed with joy and hope however, many challenges and distress may still occur during a mother’s pregnancy. Any concerns simple or complex may impact the wellness of the mother, her baby and cause stress on her multiple relationships. Oftentimes, mothers have to face planned or unplanned life changing events.

Lisa: This is beautiful and honest and hopeful. And you make me think, as your writing always does, about some of the impacts I don't always think about in my own life or in my own mothering. THANK you!!! Please keep sharing. I started to highlight the lines I loved but there were too many. Cissy

Thanks so much, Cissy!

By Rebekah Diamond and William D. Lopez, Slate, May 28, 2020 On Monday, the Washington Post reported that cases of coronavirus infections among front-line workers in the food processing industry continue to surge. As the Post noted, the number of workers who have died from COVID-19 across the country has at least tripled, while the number who have been infected at three of the country’s largest meat processing companies—Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, and JBS—in the past month has increased...

Like many of you, I’m a bit out of sorts and somewhat disoriented right now. Our collective mental health is deteriorating during Covid-19. Recent stats report an increase from 20-40% of adults struggling with mental illness since the advent of the pandemic. Maternal mental health is particularly at risk. Helping children with distance learning, navigating exposure to the news, trying to keep life a bit “normal”, keeping family members fed and supplied, juggling career and income loss, all...

Touch of Health’s annual scholarship for single mothers with many children In today’s world, it is much easier to have a great income when you have an education degree. In addition, secondary and tertiary education increases the educational attainment of each person being educated, which is good for society. However, because of the need to spend on more necessary things (like taking care of their loved ones’ lives), not everyone can increase their education. Because of this, Touch of Health...

By Alyssa Lukpat, Photo: Alice Rouse, The New York Times, Jan. 23, 2022 The pandemic has been relentless for mothers, many of whom have been stuck in an endless cycle of work and child care. Some Massachusetts mothers gathered to do something about it. In Boston, many mothers were exhausted. The pandemic had been so draining that they wanted to scream. But they had to hold it in because they had children to raise, careers to build and chores to finish. For nearly two years, they have been...

What do PACEs Connection and “What Happened to You?”, the new book by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Perry, have in common? Almost everything. That’s my conclusion after I finished listening to the book on Audible and re-reading parts of it on Kindle. In the book, Winfrey, a w orld-class connector, journalist, entertainer, author, thought leader, actor, and philanthropist, teams up with her longtime friend Perry, a child psychiatrist, neuroscientist and principal of the neurosequential model of...

This article from Mental Health America discusses common stressors faced by single parents. Single-parent families are increasingly common in the United States – some start that way, while others come about after divorce, death, or incarceration. Sometimes one parent’s job requires them to travel often or for extended periods, making their partner effectively a single parent at times. There are many types of single-parent families, headed by a biological parent, grandparent, foster or...

By Claire Cain Miller, The New York Times, May 11, 2022 When it came to who lost jobs, education mattered much more than gender, a broad new analysis found. For mothers during the pandemic, the usual push and pull of work and family life has felt more like a tug of war. Yet despite concerns that they would quit their jobs en masse, most succeeded in keeping them, two new data analyses show. In fact, one group of mothers — college graduates with babies and toddlers — became significantly more...

October 12, 2022, from 3-4:30 p.m. ET Register now! Meet longtime friend of PACEs Connection and award-winning author, science journalist, and international speaker Donna Jackson Nakazawa as she shares insights and findings from her newest book, “ Girls on the Brink: Helping our Daughters Thrive in an Era of Increased Anxiety, Depression and Social Media ”. Her seven books explore the intersection of neuroscience, immunology, and human emotion, and are in 12 languages. Register now to join...

by Amanda D'Ambrosio, Enterprise & Investigative Writer, MedPage Today September 29, 2022 Bedside counseling aimed at boosting the emotional connection between moms and their newborns was associated with better neurodevelopmental outcomes among preterm babies, according to a trial from Finland. Infants (average age 30 weeks' gestation) whose mothers participated in the Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) experienced frequency-specific network effects in the brain, mainly observed in the...

October 12, 2022, from 3-4:30 p.m. ET Register now! Meet longtime friend of PACEs Connection and award-winning author, science journalist, and international speaker Donna Jackson Nakazawa as she shares insights and findings from her newest book, “ Girls on the Brink: Helping our Daughters Thrive in an Era of Increased Anxiety, Depression and Social Media ”. Her seven books explore the intersection of neuroscience, immunology, and human emotion, and are in 12 languages. Register now to join...