October marks one year since I launched the Child and Parent Resilience Blog on my website, R.M. Couse. I have learned so much over the last year, about myself, about blog writing, search engine optimization (still learning) and social media. I still don’t understand algorithms and I'm not sure I ever will.
One of the things I am most proud of is that I actually did it! And I kept doing it consistently for 12 months. I am usually pretty good at coming up with big ideas but my follow through is often lacking or time limited. Initially, I set myself up for success by hiring The Brandwitch to design my website, launch my blog and social media sites. This was my way of committing to a timeline even though I didn’t have everything figured out yet. Megan’s support and guidance were so helpful in narrowing down my vision and plan and figuring out things I had not yet considered.
As a child I did not learn emotional awareness and regulation skills. When I had big feelings I felt alone and broken, like something was wrong with me. The adults in my life were doing the best they could with what they knew. As an adolescent I had a brief hospital stay after ingesting too many of the pills prescribed to help keep me calm. I don’t want any child to feel that alone, that hopeless.
Through my Early Childhood Education courses and my BA in Psychology, I started to learn about child development, social emotional learning, thought patterns, resilience and how to support children’s emotional development.
As a parent, I thought my background in early childhood education would provide everything I needed. Honestly, I was a bit (or a lot) judgy. I often thought, my children won’t act like that or I will never do that as a parent.
Guess what??
As an early childhood educator I loved working with the children that everyone else considered challenging and tried to avoid. As a parent, there were times I would pick my children up from the child care provider after work and when my husband arrived home, 2 hours later, I would be in tears because of the meltdowns and tantrums, the children’s and mine. In hindsight, their behavior was developmentally appropriate, mine not so much. I had not developed healthy emotional awareness and regulation. Parenting triggered unresolved issues from my childhood. With awareness and the patience of a very supportive and caring husband and co-parent, I was able to become the responsive, aware parent that I wanted to be, most of the time.
Parenting is hard and wonderful. I want parents to have the information and support they need for the hard times so they can fully enjoy and embrace the wonderful times.
Then my husband died suddenly and I became the sole parent of our 6 and 9 year olds as we all navigated the tragic loss in our lives. It had always been my priority that my children felt loved, safe and secure in our family. Now I wondered if I could provide that for them. How would I support their intense emotions while dealing with my own grief?
During this time and since, I have learnt a great deal about grief, resilience and well-being.
I want to offer strategies and hope for families dealing with daily and life altering challenges.
Through the many years in the field of early childhood education, both in the classroom and as a supervisor I witnessed the power of relationship and connection in supporting children’s development and learning. I came to embrace the importance of resilience and well-being for children and their caregivers.
And then there was a global pandemic. As the supervisor of a child care center that was pivoting daily to meet the needs and ever changing requirements, I embraced the need for an understanding of resilience and well-being and practical tools and strategies for nurturing resilience and well-being for children, parents and caregivers. During this time, I also had lots of time for learning. I started reading and taking advantage of all the virtual learning opportunities that were popping up about brain development, neuroplasticity, emotional regulation, resilience and well-being. I made resilience and well-being a priority as I supported early childhood educators and families. Some families thrived and some struggled during this time. It was evident that resilience and well-being of the adults was a factor for how the children managed the changes and challenges of the pandemic.
Then the child care centre I worked at closed and I retired. I needed an outlet for my passion of nurturing resilience and well-being for children and their caregivers. I wanted to share the most recent research in a way that was relevant and practical for day to day interactions with children.
As I start into year 2 of the Child and Parent Resilience Blog, I want to say thank you to those that have provided support and encouragement, subscribed on the website, followed on Facebook or Instagram, liked, shared and commented. It all matters more than words can express, to me and the algorithm.
I am working on some new ways to share content and encourage engagement so stay tuned. Better yet, subscribe, then notices of new blog posts and changes, new opportunities will be sent directly to your inbox.
If you have topic or format suggestions, drop them in the comments below, send a DM on facebook or instagram, or email at rosecouse@gmail.com.
Resilience and well-being are not a destination but an ongoing journey. I hope you will join me on this journey as we enhance our own coping skills and guide children towards a path of resilience and well-being for their best life.
~R.M. Couse~
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Congratulations Rose on a Very Sucessful 1st Year . Happy Anniversary. The information you share I wish I had when my children were little, and when I babysat for so may years, and families. My Grandpa used to tell me, that you are never too old to learn something new every day. By reading your posts and information you share, it helps me realize I could and should have been a better parent, but like you commented, we did the best we could with the knowledge and information we had at the time. Looking forward to what Year #2 brings. Janice G.