Parenting is hard. But being a parent doesn’t mean you have to stifle your most basic wants and needs. It doesn’t mean it has to consume you to the degree of self-sacrifice and martyrdom and you definitely don’t need to lose yourself to be a good parent. In fact, studies show how parental happiness and children’s well-being are correlated. If you are not happy, your children know it, moreover children suffer if the people taking care of them are not taking care of themselves.
Mothers who feel depressed are more likely to have children who act out or have other behavioral problems.
Researchers say that a mom’s satisfaction with her life is more important to a child’s social and emotional skills than how much money she has, the amount of time she spends with them, or whether she is working or a stay-at-home mom. Being good for our kids has to become synonymous with being good to ourselves.
Some key points
- Why you need a village and how to cultivate support for yourself
- When it comes to friendships quality over quantity
- The 3 conditions for lasting relationships
- The surprising truth about sexless marriages and how to have more sex
- How despite progress, women still bear heavier load than men in balancing work and family
- How not having a child should be an option too
- What do women talk about at NotMom Summit
- Why the parents in US proved to be the most miserable in the world
About my guest
Ericka Sóuter is a nationally recognized voice in the realm of parenting news and parenting advice, regularly featured on Good Morning America. She is author of How to Have a Kid and a Life: A Survival Guide, which explores the 21st Century parenting dilemma: when did being a good mom become synonymous with giving up everything that makes you, you? Her work also appears on Parents.com, Mom.com, CafeMom, The Bump and What To Expect, all high traffic parenting sites that reach millions of moms each month. It’s her job to speak to parents across the country to stay on top of the issues, controversies and trends most affecting families today.
A journalist with over 20 years of experience, she has been on staff at both People Magazine and Us Weekly where she has written cover stories on everything from the Sexiest Man Alive to the untimely death of Michael Jackson. Before becoming a magazine writer, Ms. Sóuter took a short detour into the world of advertising, accepting a post at the Chicago based agency Leo Burnett as an account executive on the Kellogg’s account. Her ad world claim to fame: she was on the team that created the talking Frosted Mini-Wheat.
Ericka received a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University and a Master of Science from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has also written for WebMD, Self, Cosmopolitan, Cosmo for Latinas, Essence and Huffington Post. A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, she currently lives in Manhattan with her college sweetheart husband, Caleb, and sons Lex and Aidan.
Mentioned links and resources
- Ericka’s website
- Follow her on Instagram
- How to Have a Baby and a Life by Ericka Souter
Other episode you may enjoy
- 64: Why You Should Let it Go And Be Happy
- 72: From Coping to Thriving: How to turn Self-Care into a Way of Life
- 97: Why You Might Be Feeling Tired, Negative and Overwhelmed
- 147: What Does Self-Care Really Mean
- 144: Mommy Burnout
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