Most people have some experience with parenting, so this might seem like an obvious one. Let’s just say that my experiences are a little more… diverse than most.
- 2 biological children (Yep these tiny tots are literally my whole world)
- 1 misscarriage
- 2 stepchildren (Such an honour to be the bonus Mum to these amazing young men and be involved in bringing them through their teenage years)
- 4 foster kids (So proud of these kids, who are not really kids anymore!)
- Worked as a live-in youth worker in a group home
- Applied for adoption (withdrew from the waiting list as no longer eligible to adopt before being placed with a child)
- Bachelor of Counselling, including studies on childhood development
- Certificate of Advanced Reparative Parenting
- Running online mother’s groups offering education & support
- Created and ran a group counselling program for parenting children with additional support needs
- Created and ran a group counselling workshop for dealing with the day to day stresses (including parenting) using creative as well as educational based therapies
I love being a Mum, but heck yes it is exhausting! When I was growing up I only wanted to be a writer and a mother. In my dreams I was having my first child by 21 and number 5 or 6 by the time I was 30, pumping out books along the way. Well, life didn’t quite pan out that way. It was a long road, but I got there. My desire to have a large family has seen fruition in ways I never imagine. The foster kids came first, the frustration and disappointment in unsuccessfully trying to adopt, then the stepkids, then finally my biological girls, with the gut wrenching experience of a loss in between them. Yeah, I’m a bit tired, but I am always up for writing about one of my all time favourite topics.