Where it all began, evolution of Nanny to Teacher to Parent coach.

The Kitchen Table - the place where I connect with my passion, my work, and my community.

All amongst the calm and the chaos of family life.

It's messy, it's imperfect and it's the daily realities of meeting my needs alongside my family.

Enjoy weekly stories, musings and anedotes of raising kids in emotionally attuned ways.

---

I wanted to share a little story on how I got here.

How I got to sharing these thoughts with you via this little newsletter of mine, and how I got to the work that I do, walking alongside parents, on their parenting journeys.

For those of you who don’t know my background I always knew I wanted to work with children and my very first job at 16 years of age was a nanny for a lovely family that became a big part of my teen years and early twenties.

Over the course of 20 years I have had the privilege to be a part of many families as a nanny, (I tried to count them all, but honestly there are too many). In every stage and phase of my life, both here and in London, I have had at least one family I was connected to as I nannied and took care of their children.

During this time it became clear I was to work with children and began my degree in Teaching. Some of the best years of my life, particularly the two spent in London, blessed with a school that felt much like a family, I absolutely loved what I did.

Returning to Australia was an incredibly mixed time for me. Personally I was on cloud nine, I had met the love of my life, I was literally head over heels, drunk on love - oh what hindsight can share with us! Of course I’m still blessed to be with that man, but I did somewhat loose myself in amongst that so called honeymoon phase and the years that followed!

Professionally I desired change. I couldn’t really articulate it at the time, but the work environment I found myself in was not supporting any part of my wellbeing.

I also felt disillusioned with the system I was working in and felt like there was this missing link.

And so it was that I left my teaching career not knowing then that I would never return again.

I wanted to remain working with children and it became really clear that parents needed more support.

So I channeled my energy to work directly with parents, empowering and equipping them to be the leading role in their child’s development. To help them feel resourced and competent was where I saw the greatest change. It just made sense to me, even without being a parent of my own then.

And I’m very much living with that same passion today.

The difference now being I can share my own experience of becoming a mother and have a deeper understanding and ability to offer what has supported me personally along the way.

I often look back at the ways I supported parents prior to becoming a mum and squirm at some of the things I would have said or expected from them, whilst holding that gently and giving myself compassion for doing the best I could in that moment, but oh how much I have evolved as a woman, a mother and a human.

I’ve had a turbulent time claiming space as a Parent Coach, undervaluing my skills and what I have to offer at times, and it’s been one of the greatest areas of growth for me (one which I continue to ride daily!)

I sometimes grapple with the fact that having to pay for support to feel held, heard and seen, (three things I value deeply as a space holder) is inherently wrong, as I believe all humans should have access to such support, just like it should be for housing and water.

And/But we are where we are, existing in this present moment in time.

So whether its a one off session, an online group offering or a longer series of 1:1 parent coaching... 

I wonder what comes up for you when you think of accessing parenting support?

Do you feel like you don’t need it currently? Or perhaps not sure of the value it would offer?

Maybe you run a story, like I did for many years, that “I should be able to do this, everyone else around me does.”

My big vision is for parents in my space to feel seen, heard and understood, even if that is simply through sharing the realities and imperfect ways I show up to the ever changing dynamics at play in a parent-child relationship.

But perhaps deeper than that, if you commit to yourself and I have the privilege to walk alongside you, that you can begin to untangle from the conditioned ways we live and how we have historically viewed children and behaviours in our society.

I would love to offer a space for you to unfurl and explore exactly how you want to live and parent in this one precious life.

---

If you missed it last week or have a slight pondering or curiosity in joining me and the other mammas registered for Nourish the Mother online Circle coming up, I would love you to jump on in.

Even if (and I promise you will not be the only one) you can’t be certain where you’ll be on the evening of Wednesday 22nd October, whether you’ll be smack bang in the middle of the messy chaos of the evening. I still would love you to register.

Claim your spot here

Take this as your sign. Maybe it means that you say to your partner, or your kids or anyone else living in your house, something along the lines of…

“Hey, I really want to attend this nourishing online space, but I have no idea how it’s going to pan out. I know evenings are tricky, I’m generally needed with the kids or other housey things, but I’m wondering how we can work together to make this happen?

I know when I feel like I have some space to breathe and to feel held and heard from the day and all that life is presenting right now, I really sense the benefits this will have for me and our whole family dynamic”

I look forward to holding space for you,

Much love, Emily x

Follow me on socials

Instagram

Facebook