Just a Mama Gator:

Kiesha, I am a proud mama of two wonderful little girls, who never stop amazing me.  Along with my husband, we are a family who loves the outdoors, fire pits, roasting marshmallows, an occasional game of volleyball, and good ole’ fashioned board games.  Our goal as parents is to raise well rounded, emotionally intelligent human beings.

Positive Parenting and Mama Struggles:

When I stumbled across a recommendation to read “No Bad Kids” by Janet Lansbury, I was brought to tears. I had found a style of parenting which made sense to me; appealing to the natural abilities of a child, encouraging  them to explore, grow, learn, and allowing them to get dirty…all within a boundary that is safe.   My journey led me to read “No Drama Discipline” and “The Whole Brain Child” by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson, again a style/a plan which made sense to me.

This “positive parenting” style, with no punishments, natural consequences, teaching the ability to talk through emotions and feelings, a style to help children grow into fully functioning human beings, had me overjoyed! The struggle I have found is convincing others this style works.  Seems many hold on to “the tried and true” methods of punishments/reward and/or the idea parents are smarter and bigger than their children, therefore hold all power.  The struggle of trying to convince those of opposite thinking, children and adults are all human, we all deal with strong emotions, we all deal with overwhelming situations, we all deal with the same issues, so why not treat children with the same respect, we as adults crave?

Just a Mama Gator and Her struggles:

We have all heard of the “Mama Bear”, “Unicorn Mom”, “Mama llama”, I know the list can go on, but none of these depicted how I felt as a mom. I was a little bit of all these. I always try to be calm on the surface, but I will protect my children and their abilities, I didn’t feel I fit a typical stereotype.

While watching an episode of “The Wild Kratts”, I (as well as my children) learned Crocodilian mothers are misunderstood, often judged on their outward appearance, when in fact they are wonderful mothers. They protect their nests from predators, carry the hatchlings to the water in their mouths (no they aren’t eating the babies), and stay with the babies for the first several years. This was my ah-ha moment! I felt judged for how my style/skills appeared to “outsiders”, and felt a kinship with the crocodilian mothers.   

Welcome to “The Swamp”

Mama Gators are a misunderstood breed. We allow our children to explore, learn from their mistakes, all while we have a watchful eye, along with listening ears. We hold a cool demeanor, while inside we may be screaming or crying, like a gator, we show the collected versions of ourselves above water because “still waters run deep”.

Read and converse with me, as we wade through the swamps of parenting, the battles of defending our choices, and allowing our children to thrive on being wild, but not out of control.

“Because Motherhood Requires a Thick Skin,

but a Soft Under Belly”