The parent culture has changed dramatically in the last 15-20 years since raising my own four children. As a professional consultant, educator and coach, my job and my goal is to guide and support new parents. This business never would have made it fifteen years ago, but it’s thriving today. Why is this?
In spite of all of the advances in care, baby gear, safety standards, and education resources for parents today, I think they (especially mothers) have it much more difficult than my mother, my grandmother, or I did. The new and greatest threat and challenge to new and expecting moms today is too much information.
A mother can’t develop her own instincts for her child if every time she turns on the TV, computer, iPhone, or even heads out the door to her Mommy and Me group, she is frightened, confused, shamed, and bombarded with 200 different opinions from bloggers, other moms, or even some “experts.”
Those of us who provide education and “expertise” need to remember one very important thing: if we don’t want to be among the reasons why moms are losing confidence in their instincts, then we had better learn how to coach, rather than tell what to do. Listening and asking powerful questions that help them determine what is best for their children is the most important work we will ever do.