Resilience – March 2018
Becoming a Resilient Mom
Navigating challenges is a staple part of parenting, and the series Becoming a Resilient Mom is an honest look at what strength and resilience look like in everyday motherhood. These essays and podcast episodes dive into recognizing our weaknesses, discovering grace, and how to become a resilient mom yourself.
// PODCAST EPISODES //
#35 – Becoming a Resilient Mom featuring Mary Kate Brown & members of the KM team
“In this episode, Emily Allen hosts two conversations about what resilience looks like and why becoming a resilient mom is important. On the team segment, members of the KM team discuss their current struggles as moms, and how to re-set a difficult day with kids. Special guest Mary Kate Brown shares her journey dealing with significant health issues while mothering little ones, and how she became resilient through the process.”
#36 – Dealing With Big Feelings as a Mom featuring Adriel Booker & members of the KM team
“This episode is about learning how to dealing with big feelings in a healthy way. The first conversation is a group discussion about what it looks like to navigate emotions sensibly, and the second half of the show features Adriel Booker sharing about how she has personally navigated anger and grief.”
// ESSAYS ON THE BLOG //
Dare to Dance – Mary Kate Brown
“From that morning on, I refused to let my unfavorable life circumstance get in the way of my life as a whole and my motherhood, if I could help it…In a work of grace, this challenging situation worked out for our good right in the middle of the mess. I stopped hiding. I stopped keeping my health a secret. I stopped shutting myself and my girls inside in order to save face. I released my control over a situation where I had none to begin with.”
When Resilience Feels Like Floundering – Emily Sue Allen
“While I would love to feel more successful throughout my days, the truth is I am working out resilience in real time. I am confronting shame and conquering my fears as I move forward and daily take faithful steps toward, doing what needs to be done without a furrowed brow and a negative attitude. I want my kids to know they are capable of hard work, that some things require us to dig in and do what is needed even when we feel like it’s all a mess and we’ll never get it right.If I want them to do that, I have to show them how by doing it myself.”
Strong and Brave – Lindsey Cornett
“I am already strong and brave because that is simply what motherhood requires of all of us. We are mothers with babies at our breast and toddlers at our sides, with teenagers backing our SUVs down the driveway. We are mothers on the sidelines of football games and in the lobby of infertility clinics. We are mothers at the social worker’s office or in a corporate cubicle. We are mothers with anti-anxiety prescriptions and mothers with gym memberships. We are mothers, and we are strong and brave.”
Poop Mountain – Jennifer Van Winkle
“I am usually so prepared when I leave the house with my kids. I carry everything I could ever need in my diaper bag down to a miniature tape measure because you never know when you might need to know the precise length of something less than three feet. But, when you haul eighty pounds of anything farther than three feet, the need to carry extra baggage is ridiculous. I had nothing, not even a snot-soaked tissue in my pocket to help clean up the mess.”
When Your Anger Frightens You – Adriel Booker
“In that moment I suddenly realized how people could snap right in two and do unthinkable things they regret for the rest of their lives. Never before had I possessed an ounce of sympathy for someone known to abuse a child, but in that moment I was faced with the dark side of my own humanity and this is what I saw: I was capable of anything. Yes, even toward the tiniest person whom I loved with the most giant of loves.”
Cultivating Rhythms of Resilience – Sarah Damaska
“As parents, we have the power to transform everyday rhythms into intentional times of growth and guidance. In doing so, we change our ordinary, mundane tasks into something extraordinary. As those times of gentle guidance multiply, we’ll begin to see the long picture of parenting. We’ll look back to see how the character of our children was formed in the seemingly forgettable moments. The times around the table. The whispered dreams in the darkness of the night. The trips to the grocery store. The conversations while we braid hair and check homework.”
Daily Resilience Toolkit – Robin Chapman
“Today was supposed to be different. I wanted quiet time, breakfast, and coffee before the kids woke, so I could step into the morning with a calm, glad heart and the hope that my children would follow my example. But a bad night with several kids coming to my side of the bed in the ungodly dark hours followed by a rough morning of bad behavior (not least of all, my own) has set off a cascade of crap. You know how this goes… interrupted sleep is followed by early morning chaos that cruelly precludes coffee. My nerves are frayed and my responses less than gracious.”
A Grief Experienced – Lynne Patti
“Perhaps we have reached a coasting season as a family. We’ve had our routines, we’ve known what to expect from the days and from each other. This new baby is about to change everything. Perhaps having babies 18 months apart is just too much for us to navigate gracefully. Maybe this baby is a tipping point and I have reached a critical threshold of what I can handle as a mother. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that adding another person to our family changes the dynamics of our family as we move forward. We will be different.”
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