Dear Moms, Here’s How to Prepare for 2022

Is your toddler going to school for the first time? Or are you going back to work for the first time since having your baby? What about going back to school in a pandemic?

Watch to get all the tips and tricks you could need ahead of 2022!

Brought to you by Fedhealth, Epi-max & Jacaranda 94.2.

Hey there moms and dads I think one can still say happy new year even though we are halfway through the first month of 2022. Uh if you've never seen this platform it's called Baby Brunch to all of you that have subscribed and that always says hello to us, hi there guys it's really wonderful to see that you are all back from holiday and tired. I hardly feel rejuvenated but we are in the new year and so I thought instead of just starting with our podcast and our videos that we normally do in order to support you I want to use some of the learnings from last year and I want to bring it back because there's a few things that can help us to prepare for this year. 

Uh one of the moms said to me um what can I do to not feel afraid and had another Whatsapp that said how do I prepare for 2022. I had an inbox message that talked about baby and toddler going to school and I thought okay well we've got some amazing conversations that we had, and we want to bring them to you so that you can have a listen and in some cases have a look see. From my side I’ll give you some practical examples I don't know if you always want my advice I think mine could be quite radical but to the mom that asked me about baby and toddler we have a fantastic podcast and conversation about is your baby or toddler going back to school for the first time. Take a listen to this one this is what it looks and sound like:

You know what the anxiety for me as a mom was so bad I didn't know what was happening to me I was so stressed about it and learning that it's back to school for our moms, now I say back to school for us because it's not just our children's journey it's our milestone and journey too why do we get so nervous why is it so hectic? It's because we feel as moms I’m talking about a mom perspective now that we feel that no one can look after our children like we can, but we have to remember that moms must choose a school that they feel they must follow that gut in them and see can I leave my child here will they also look after my child and care for them like we like I would do, so if you choose your school well I think it will be better on a mom and she will feel okay I will have a relationship with these people and it's like it's a community raising the kids so if you work in partnership with them I think it will be a better journey for you. 

Last year had us thinking about how to navigate in this whole thing that we called a pandemic and life will never be the same again and even though we know that the stresses hasn't gone away coming back from a holiday you realize how different and at times how difficult it has been um to just do ordinary things I mean to walk into a supermarket while we don't have shoes on but we have to wear a mask you know because we're close to the beach or just ordinary things that before we took for granted is very different and so I want to direct your attention to back to school and a pandemic all you need to know. I think there's some practical examples that you can still use in this new year in order to help you prepare better for the school year.

Do you think our children will remember coronavirus and germs and sanitizers. I think they will remember it but I don't think it will be any more monumental than other things they remember I think sadly what they may remember is the fear of it, because for me that's been the biggest thing I  think the biggest sadness about this whole thing is that parents have communicated the fear of it to their children. Is it important to feel that feeling and just go okay so it's going to be part of life you know this feeling of fear and I ask that because we've had a lot of conversations on our baby brunch podcast around feelings and how to recognize it and how to not run away from it completely you know so perhaps if mommy and daddy is fearful or scared of something you know how do we communicate it to our kids, is it something that we even mention and is this part of getting our children ready for school? I do think that it's important to acknowledge feelings and fears but I think it's important for them also to see that we are not overwhelmed by them and these days I think we're just so lucky to be parenting in an age when there's so much professional help available they help us formulate ways of talking to children about feelings and dealing with those feelings and letting children talk about how they feel when adults feelings are puzzling to them and so I think it's very important to talk about them but also to understand that um we need to be able to show that we're in control and that those feelings may feel overwhelming but we are there to help them make a plan not to be overwhelmed.

I think my hardest moment last year was when I took my children to the theatre which was lovely and I feel really lucky that we can afford to take our children outdoors and out to places and as we came back from the theatre my uh then six-year-old says to me we went to this amazing pantomime and this is what I saw and it was just and at some stage she looks at me and she goes oh wait you were there I didn't realize she says because you're usually at work and I felt really guilty and part of it was really my heart was so because I’m a working mom and we want to think that we do everything for our children right but we're also doing it for us because we need to look after our old own mental bandwidth and mental health as well and it's great if you're a working mom and it's great if you're a stay-at-home mom and we all qualify we do, but there is a podcast that I want to highlight and this one is called mommy has to go back to work it's called that mommy has to go has to go back to doing things so that you can have nice things. This is uh the podcast that we did on that.

You're a mom and I want to know what it what did you do when you had your babies I mean were you knowledgeable in this field to know where to turn to and to go especially when it comes to work? So sadly my journey with starting my own business was because I had a really bad experience with my previous employer when my baby was really small, so I was in a position where I couldn't be there when my child had to take her tonsils out because I already used my three days when I had to take her to the doctor when she had tonsillitis and then when I started my business I was very determined that I was only going to employ mothers the people that work for me doesn't actually have to be in my office they can work from home and still be a mom, and I find that it's worked so well in my business that I want to use every opportunity that I can to fight for moms and talk about ways that moms can still be moms but also work at the same time, so I’m very passionate about that but let's say that you are looking how do you even start looking for a job what do you?

Okay so first of all I need to say that it is extremely tough for moms to re-enter the workplace this is something that I also want to shout on the top of the rooftops to employers who are specifically asking us to not send them moms or to not send them recently married individuals who are still looking for to have children or who are asking us we don't want somebody who has got children less than seven years old. Wow! Yes! So this is very frustrating and it's very hard for moms who have decided to take the foundation years and be with their children but before they took that time off majority used to be in decent positions in their businesses they are all educated they have got the work experience they decided to take a break why is it so hard for them to go back into the workplace?

Most people's mentality still in our day and age is that moms belong at home and dads belong out there in the world and I think that there are so many unhappy moms that sit at home thinking I was not made for this, I want to be more I want to work I want to learn I want to study so just to give a platform where I can empower moms to say if you want to do it do it and here is how I can help you to position yourself to get back into the job market.

And then when it comes to my own list all I want to say is take on this year bit by bit like an elephant uh the feelings and emotions that you're going through now is not completely new, um and even if they are don't judge them uh a wonderful Baby Brunch a psychologist once said that if you feel a feeling whether it is disappointment guilt being afraid or scared sit with it and call it that we are all at times terrified for a new year especially when we don't know what lies ahead keep a diary and write a to-do list, Laurie Milner is going to kill me for saying to-do list write some form of list down even if it's a list of things that you manage to get done um a to-do list can sometimes feel very daunting I’ve learned so maybe call it a chase list or something that you really want to achieve in that day and mark it off right at the end of the day it might help also for our gratitude to show that there are some things that we're just really grateful for that had happened in the day, and then the one thing that I do with my goals is I keep what I call a radical list a radical list I draw up one every week on a Sunday night when everyone goes to bed and we're going to start the new week I drop a list of things that I would really want and some of them are totally ridiculous and other things are normal things that most moms and dads have time for like reading a book before bed time or even making sure that I spend an hour with her or sitting down and building Lego, things that um we wouldn't normally write a diarise but that we would really want to do with our children and I call that my radical list and run at the end of the week I can see oh wow I did have time for those moments. 

May 2022 bring you many successes and may you be safe and healthy please god and may your family always be a priority and may people around you understand that and to the mom and dad that feels like they're not coping, we are here for you and remember we all who watches this channel and who is in the situation have been in some kind of circumstance like that before and you're not alone and we're you to support you to tell you that parenting is hard and it is rewarding and they are our biggest gifts and they're my biggest achievement and you can always put your hand up for help right, and we here for you find support through our podcast and our conversations I really hope that it will help you as it has helped many other people and you can find it on our non-subscription platform called babybrunch.co.ca. Baby Brunch will never ask you for your money because we're not interested in that we're interested in you feeling that you are supported and that is what I live for happy New Year and May 2022 be fantastic!