Why Join Us at Hollyhock #2: We Won’t Talk about our Children
Have you ever managed to arrange for a glorious outing with dear mama friends and found yourselves just talking about your kids? It seems that when we’re together with other parents we can’t help ourselves. I remember coming home from my first baby playgroup and feeling thrilled to have spent 2 hours talking about cloth diapers.
Motherhood has a tremendous capacity to bring women together. The daily life of loving and raising our children brings a sense of shared experience that transcends cultural, economic and social barriers. Yet there is more to talk about than just our children…
Renewal: A Retreat for Mothers is unique in that we will bring together a circle of women at all stages in the journey of motherhood. Mothers of toddlers, tweens, teens, and empty nesters are all welcome. So far those registered have children ages 2 – 24. We have much to learn from one another.
Here’s the catch: We won’t actually talk about our children.
You’ll have the opportunity to introduce them to the group, share a photo and a symbol of their place in your life and heart. And then we’ll set them aside, knowing they are in good hands at home. Our focus for the 4 days and 3 nights will be all about You.
We will explore your journey as a woman and mother – who you’ve become, how you’ve grown, what you’ve set aside, what you celebrate and what you miss. Just you and a circle of mothers who have taken the same bold step as you.
As shared so movingly in this video by Kelly Corrigan, we live our life as mothers in circles, surrounded by others who offer us support, perspective, love, and understanding. We hope our time together will offer a powerful reflection of this shared journey we’re on.
See you there? Space is limited!
For mothers of todders, tweens, teens & empty nesters
Visit the Mama Renew and Hollyhock websites to Learn More
or call Sarah at 604.254.1100
and Hollyhock at 1-800-933-6339 x232
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nourishing ourselves right after birthing…
permission to ask for help without guilt
permission to cry and talk about birth, to digest the miracle, takes time
enjoy the love that surrounds without having to fix, change, or redirect anything..
to accept what is and when it doesn’t feel good to voice it and make the changes necessary
enjoy the good food,
enjoy keeping clean and taking a bath with epson salts
learn to enjoy the new sleep pattern by allowing yourself to sleep during the day
eat some chocolate with no guilt
drink yummy juices..
it;s ok to keep wanting to digest the birth from different angles and perspectives…
take your time on how and what you want to share, your friends will wait and can wait – they care
drink lots of water
make something creative, like knitting, or read a good book,
enjoy the quiet and the crying
[Reply]
Mamma c Reply:
May 29th, 2010 at 8:36 PM
woops meant to put this in the holly hock renewal page!!
[Reply]
[...] I shared the groundrules. One of our core rules in Mama Renew groups is no talking about our children. Now this is hard. Sometimes it’s really hard. Another ground rule is to not [...]