Welcome to our blog. Here you can find the most recent meetings minutes, features of local businesses and programs, and various other topics. Feel free to browse, or use the categories listed to the right to find what you are looking for. If you would like to suggest a post topic, or write one yourself, send me an email at spokanemindfulmamas@gmail.com
To get back to the main site, click “home” in the blogroll list to the right.
Thanks!
Breaking bread
Filed in Announcments, meetings, September 5, 2008, 7:46 pmWhat: Our first Family Potluck!
When: Saturday, Sept. 20th @ 2pm
Where: Member’s home, please contact me at {spokanemindfulmamas @ gmail . com} for address and directions
Details: Hot grill, water, ice and good company will be provided.
Your family needs to bring:
Your grillable item (meat, veggie burger, etc)
Napkins/silverware for your gang
Your drink of choice
Something to sit on
A dish to share (Salad, dessert, appetizer. Please contact if you are not sure what to bring, and label your foods with allergy concerns)
We’re excited to see you there!
Oh Nuts!
Filed in Announcments, links, , 9:30 amPlease be aware that one of our small members have a peanut allergy. We are asking that parents be aware of this, and do not bring snacks that contain peanuts (please read the labels and see the guide below about food additives) to meetings, since even peanut residue on hands eating peanuts can be dangerous for her. We will make reminders at each meeting. Thank you!
A couple of good articles about peanut allergies:
A handy guide to what foods (and food additives) to avoid
Why is the peanut allergy on the rise?
Help school age kids understand why a peanut allergy can be harmful (PDF workbook)
Can children outgrow allergies?
Filed in Uncategorized, August 30, 2008, 6:42 pm
Whew, are those cobwebs covering the last entry? It’s not quite Halloween yet, so that must mean I’ve been neglecting this little blog. Keep an eye out for regular posts soon.
Spokane Area Doula Training
Filed in Announcments, July 17, 2008, 3:54 pmToday at the meeting I mentioned that there will be both a birth doula and postpartum doula training this Fall, and that I would post the information I have. I hope to be able to attend both courses, and encourage you to attend as well, as we would normally need to travel across the state!
Postpartum Doula Training:
October 31, November 1 & 2.
Trainer - Ann Grauer, LCCE, FACCE, CD(DONA)
Contact MacKenzie Monroe (chic_kenz@yahoo.com, or http://www.chicsavvymamas.com) for more information.
From an email from MacKenzie:
This fall a DONA approved trainer will be coming to the Spokane area to teach a Postpartum Doula Training. As you probably know, there is a huge need for postpartum doulas in our area. I just started accepting clients last week, to gain experience, and I already have two! I think this is a wonderful opportunity for mamas in our area to learn how to come along side other mamas in the postpartum days and be able to make some money in the process.
Birth Doula Training:
Nov. 8-9, 2008 (Edit: Tammy just let me know that the location has been changed from Chewelah to here in Spokane! It will be held at the Clare Center Campus (7m south of downtown)) It will be held Saturday and Sunday 9:00-5:30.
Trainer: Tammy Ryan,CD(DONA),CCE, servanthands123@aol.com
Note: Tammy will be in Africa until Aug.13th, so if you would like a copy of the information packet & interview questions before that, please let me know and I can forward it to you. -Ivory
From email correspondence:
For the 16 hour DONA-Approved Birth Doula Workshop, we will be covering the following objectives:
* Introduction and interpretation of Penny Simkin’s research on the long-term significance of birth and Drs. Kennell and Klaus’ research on the effects of labor support and its relation to contemporary maternity care
* A description of the emotional needs of the laboring woman and hands-on techniques to meet those needs to enhance the birth experience
* Discussion of the unique needs of women during cesarean sections, VBAC or birth with abuse survivors
* Demonstration and hands-on applications of effective comfort measures and labor and birth positions
* Role-model and group role-play of workshop objectives
* Prenatal visits and postpartum concerns-including integration of the birth memory
* Ways to organize, promote and market a doula program or service
* Ideas to work with difficult variations of labor
* Breastfeeding and normal newborn appearances
This workshop is approved for the workshop requirement of the DONA International doula certification process. The workshop includes an extensive workbook.To get the most out of the workshop, it is best to come with a working knowledge of the birth process. Although there are no prerequisites other than the interview below, you can increase your knowledge by doing any of the following: 1) Being a child-birth educator, 2) Being a midwife, 3) Being a L & D nurse, 4) Attending a 12 hour series of childbirth education at a time when you are NOT pregnant (this will also count toward certification) OR 5) Reading a good childbirth education book like Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn by Penny Simkin or The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth by Shelia Kitzinger.
You will also need to interview a woman who is over the age of 60 about the birth of one of her children. An interview follows the registration form below. You can bring the interview with you to the first day of class.
To learn more about certification, see www.DONA.org and look under Professional Development then Certification Overview. We will also be going over all the requirements in the class. You do not have to be a member or purchase your certification packet before you come. You will have to purchase the certification packet before you begin attending births that count toward certification but you also have to take your workshop before your births count for certification. You can purchase them later if money is tight or you will not start attending births immediately. You can purchase membership any time before you turn in your completed certification packet.
The cost for the workshop is $350. If you need to arrange for a payment plan, please let me know. Save $25 by registering before Oct. 8, 2008.
Local Resources Contact Form
Filed in Uncategorized, July 11, 2008, 10:41 pmcforms contact form by delicious:days
Yahoo group up and running!
Filed in Announcments, , 9:53 pmDo you ever have questions midweek, know a fellow parent who could use a helping hand, or need one yourself? Wendy C, one of our lovely members, has recently set up a Yahoo Group for us where we can chat, share resources, ask questions and just get to know each other better. In an effort to keep the group free from spam we have the group set as “Invitation only” but don’t fear! To be invited, simply fill out the form below and we will have an invitation out to you ASAP.
cforms contact form by delicious:days
Get your blood moving.
Filed in Uncategorized, , 12:27 pmAnnouncing the Mindful Mama’s weekly walking and playgroup!
Who: Parents and kids of all ages.
When: Mondays through out the summer. 10am for the walking group, 11am for the playgroup
Please note: We have changed the time and day to Tuesdays at 10:30 (so 11:30 for the play group) starting Sept 2nd.
Where: For the walk, meet near the bathrooms at the Manito Park Duck Pond. We will loop back around and be at the lower playground at 11:30! You are welcome to come to either the walk, playgroup, or both!
Details: The walk is not meant to be a race, but rather just a fun and healthy way to justify having some ice cream later, and get some vitamin D. Feel free to bring wagons, slings, strollers, or backpacks. Our route will likely change depending on the day and weather. If I’m there, I’ll be with two little girls in a green wagon! Hope to see you there!
-Ivory
Keep on Keeping on
Filed in Uncategorized, June 11, 2008, 11:11 am(Taken from some of my own writing)
Here at Mindful Mamas, we get together on Thursday mornings and just talk. We have a lactation consultant who fields breastfeeding questions, and we sometimes have specific speakers and topics (fertility, slings, cooking, crafts, etc) but really one of the goals of the group is just to provide community and support to what can sometimes feel like the loneliest job in the world.
Last week we met a new member who is struggling with what I think all of us have felt at some point - she doesn’t feel valued by her partner, she misses her old friends and lifestyle, she is second guessing her parenting abilities… so basically, she is a mom. The conversation evolved into what one member dubbed “The dark side of motherhood” - that sometimes we are angry at our children; that we are insecure and anxious; that we buy into the “Clorox mom” standard of motherhood; that we sometimes have to lower our standards to save our sanity. But mostly we just talked about what a shock it is to the system when you realize that you are not a perfect mom, and that you never will be. Some people find that out in the first week home with a newborn who won’t stop crying; some of us are not hit with that 2×4 until the kid is a toddler and is a poop Picasso. But is is humbling, and if you don’t know it is normal, it can be crippling.
Even when we don’t feel like our job is valued by others, we know it is probably the most important thing we will ever do to raise another human being to be self confident, humble, giving, funny, creative… and damn it, we want to get it right. So, we all fumble our way through the day, hoping we are at least not doing any harm. Or that we can make up for it tomorrow. And if we are lucky, we have a group of friends that we can turn to and admit that this? Is hard.
All of this is to say: You are doing a great job. And yes, I will need you to remind me of this next week.
-Ivory
New features in the works!
Filed in Uncategorized, May 28, 2008, 12:11 pmHi all! At a recent meeting, we discussed what we wanted to see on the website, and I got some great feedback. I am working on the following things, and hope to have them functioning in the next week or so:
- A forum, where we can ask questions, discuss local issues, and support each other.
- Mindful Mamas Marketplace: We are surrounded by so many talented mamas, and this will be a place to showcase their goods.
- The Swapshop: Do you have bags of newborn clothes in the closet, but really need a 2T swimsuit? Connect with other mamas who may have just what you are looking for.
- An updated calender, topic list, and signup form for upcoming topics.
- Recipes, local food resources, and general cooking page
Let’s hope the girls nap well this week so I can get these things done! Ha! If you have ideas, concerns, or are a wiz at HTML, drop me a line at spokanemindfulmamas@gmail.com
-Ivory
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