Hi, I am Kathryn.
This is going to be imperfect but that is the best way to show up for something as complex as parenthood. This is the audio introduction for the Mindful Mom in the Mud newsletter, which can be found at mindfulinmud.substack.com.
Introductions first
I am a psychologist. I am a mother to 4 kids. We are a neurodiverse family. I have been a working parent and a stay-at-home parent and now I find myself somewhere in-between. I am writer. I love coffee.
Do you ever…
find yourself falling down the parenting information rabbit hole, only to emerge with less clarity than when you started?
find that after reading a parenting book, listening to podcast or scrolling parent-gram you think that advice sounds great…but not for your family?
find that your family was somehow left out of the mix of parenting advice?
feel unsure about what is really important for your kid(s)?
feel tired of a lot of the stuff? Not even sure what the stuff is but just exhausted with it all.
It’s a fantastic mess
It’s so noisy out there in the parent-scape. So many voices, so many choices. If your house is anything like mine, it’s already loud enough. This newsletter started out of frustration, exhaustion and hope. Even as a child and adolescent psychologist, it felt hit or miss when it came to finding what I needed for this wild ride of raising humans. That is where a hope was planted, that this newsletter could be a space for all of this fantastically messy adventure. A place for parents to connect, for stories and tools to support your unique parenthood.
This is not a place…
For all the answers. I can’t promise your kids will do their chores or become a successful adult(whatever that is???). No one can make those types of promises.
For shoulds or prescriptions. There will be some recommendations but you get to decide if that works for you and your family.
To transform. This isn’t about changing you or your family. Let’s embrace where we are and find our choices for today.
This is a place for…
Laughter (let’s do a lot of that)
Storytelling and all types of stories (not just mine)
Practical tools for parenthood (things that we can actually do when we have been woken up hourly since 1AM)
Mindfulness (no mountaintops needed)
Kindness (being kind can be pretty badass)
Imperfection and mistakes (Lots of those)
Shared wisdom (not to be confused with information)
Whole people (not just the “parent you”)
Creativity (in many forms)
Collaboration (makes it all the more fun)
Expectations
When you subscribe and you will find something waiting for you once a week.
A Monday essay about a whole lot of different things related to parenthood, mindfulness, neurodiversity, imperfection and life’s curiosities. Along with some practical tips, recommendations and resources.
A once-a-month post with a round up of links for reading, watching and listening and other random fun.
Paid subscribers get paid-only content on the Trending in Parenting series and the occasional paid only post as well as access to all the audio recordings of the weekly newsletters.
Introduction to Mindful Mom in the Mud