Before becoming a mommy, I worked for almost ten years as an Infant Development Consultant, a career that I loved with a passion. I had the privilege of working with hundreds of families over the years, visiting with them in their homes and working with parents to help them understand and promote their child’s development. Nothing gave me more joy than seeing parents gain confidence in their abilities, and watching as children reached their potential as a result of the loving attentiveness of their parents. Nothing gave me more joy, that is, until I became a parent myself.
My journey to mommyhood has not been an easy one. After years of struggling with infertility, my husband and I were thrilled to conceive a beautiful baby boy. Our much loved and longed for son had an extremely rare condition that compromised the development of nearly every organ in his body. He blessed us with the gift of parenthood, and passed away at birth. Nine months and eight minutes later, his little baby sister came into our lives through adoption. Now two years old, she is the joy and delight of our lives. Two years and two months after our son passed away, we lost a second baby boy as the result of an adoption revocation. He was our son for just six days, but we will hold him in our hearts for a lifetime. And now we wait, eagerly and anxiously hoping to expand our family once again, appreciative of every moment we have had with each of our three children, and understanding as few others can the true depth of blessing that parenthood is. Yes, we are JOYFUL parents. And I am a joyful mommy.
And nothing would make me happier than to share a little of that true joy with you. The ideas in this blog come from a decade of experience working with children and families, and from all of the research, training, education, and input from other professionals that I have had access to as a result of my career. But the inspiration comes from the JOY of mommyhood that springs daily from my heart, as I cuddle my daughter in my arms and understand the blessing of each little moment.
My daughter and I now enjoy the benefit of a gigantic bag of tricks – tips and suggestions that I once shared with the families that I worked with, and now put into practice each and every day. Understanding development and having such a rich repertoire of resources to rely on has made the daily ins and outs of mommyhood so much easier, and has meant richer opportunities for learning and enjoyment for both my daughter and myself. I hope you’ll enjoy digging into that bag of tricks with me – and that your joy in mommyhood (and daddyhood!) will be enhanced as a result.
