Hi friend!
I’ve had this idea lurking in my brain ? for a while and it just won’t go away. I am super excited at the prospect of making this idea a reality for both of us. I’m being vulnerable and laying this out for you to see if you want to join forces with me!
Here’s where this all started…..
Now that both my boys are teens, I fondly remember our early days as a family. Because I was AMA (ahem…”advanced maternal age”) lots of tests were suggested. Probably because of my, ahem…, AMA, I was not taking any risks in order to test! So my doctor asked, “Are you prepared to deal with a child with special needs?”
“How the heckers would I know?” ?
Was I prepared when my first child slept 20 hours a day while I googled and diagnosed myself with “postpartum psychosis” which turned out to be garden-variety sleep deprivation? No.
Was I prepared to be hooked up to a breast pump like a dairy cow ? 10 times a day and literally have bodily fluids sucked from my body? Absolutely not.
And so much more!
So let’s reflect here. I obviously wasn’t prepared for any of the ding dang things that were happening to me!
But here’s what nobody ever tells you about becoming a mother. You’re going to need to suck it up and deal with your personal stuff. Like all that stuff. I recall fondly the luxury of impatience with a side of snark and a pinch of emotional disregulation.
And as I fully expected, we were blessed again when my second son was born perfectly healthy, squishy, and snuggly.
But here’s the thing. I was confident and I knew I would figure out whatever life chucked at me because I had a community…
Unfortunately, when our kids hit about 10-ish…our entire support system gets thrown out like a spy with a burn notice. Kids forbid us from sharing their latest “hysterical teachable moments” and they’ve vowed to replace the coffee with decaf if we so much as whisper a peep about them to our friends.
Through the years, we have shared everything with our babies –even alone time on the toilet, the last sip of water, and food from our plates.
But these days it’s wi-fi, laundry, and endless supply of snacks, and taxi service or flat out just the car, money, and car keys. They want their privacy.
They don’t want us sharing detailed antics and anxieties of how we’re making it through each day of ridiculous eye rolls. ? And I totally get it! I didn’t want my epic quest to master poor decision-making shared with my mom’s friends either.
But we still need a supportive, non-judgey community of moms who support us and keep us from feeling isolated and scared. Knowing that everyone is going through some version of your unique poo storm is freakishly reassuring. ?⛈️Sharing experiences, situations, solutions, and stories with each other is how we keep ourselves emotionally stable. And it’s how we can have confidence that we are making the right choices as parents.
Before now, I never seriously considered being the one to create such a space. Of course, I’ve wanted a community like that for myself – and for you too. I just didn’t think about actually creating it.
But the deeper and deeper I am swallowed by the great unknown of raising teens, I began to ask myself, “Why not? Yeah! Why the actual heck not????” This idea is new. But…you see where this could go, right?? What if you could come to our safe place and ask what this “thing” was that you found in your son’s drawer? What if you could come to your trusted friends and ask about a text thread your daughter was involved in? Where she was called a “snack?” What if you could come to a non-judgey safe space and ask moms to share how they intervened to stop their child from being bullied? Maybe you just want to find out if it’s weird that your son wants to do his own laundry… (answer: no ?)
I seriously wonder how many moms of tweens and teens would feel more friendship and connection, emotional support and validation, and humor and encouragement instead of isolation, anxiety, and a lack of confidence in our group of like-minded moms in similar stages of parenting. And because supporting and caring for ourselves benefits our kids, I also wonder how many kids would have a drastically better childhood with parents who feel supported and confident? How many would feel they have a strong support system, safe environments and healthy relationships – not to mention positive role models????
And while I wonder about all of those positive outcomes, one thing I don’t wonder about is that… I can’t do this alone and I don’t have all the answers. It’s (obviously) not perfect yet and there are many things we still need to work out. But the vision is there. And that’s why I’d love to extend an early invitation to you.
I want you to be part of this… especially if you’re willing to help me shape this idea. Meaning, if you join me as a founding member and you’re willing to help contribute ideas on how we can make this THE best online community to support like-minded moms of tweens and teens in getting the connection, validation, and support they need to be the best mom to their kids, I’m willing to extend a very favorable “founding member” price. When this offer is extended to the general public, I anticipate the starting price for this to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $19.99/month which will be a no brainer given that we’ll be helping moms get support and insights that they need to help their kids through the tween and teen years. Here’s the best part though… Join me today as a founding member and your price will be $9.99/month. Locked in. Forever. So even when we do roll this out to the general public at the higher price, you’ll have locked in the founding member price.
As I said, all the details for this are not figured out yet. Nothing has officially been created. And I expect some of the best ideas will come from you and others who join me as a founding member. The goal is to officially launch this on April 15, 2025. So between now and then, things will be happening fast and furious based on the ideas flowing back and forth between us.
If you’re interested, click below and I’ll add you to the list.
If you have questions or just want to chat about some of your thoughts on this – hit me up at karen@intentionalfamilylife.com
We can do this!
