What do you know about parenting, not being a parent?

SAMPLE SIZE

Parents often have a sample of 1 or 2 to draw from. I have been in 100s of homes and have worked with 1000s of children at home, schools, daycares, camps and in every other environment children spend time. I have also experience working with children in several states and countries (China, France, Ecuador, and Ireland) and in different cultural contexts.

While parents can offer loving advice and empathetic responses, I know that the same strategy does not work for every child. A swing that one parent swears by does not necessarily work for another. Feeding strategies that work for one, may not work for another. Parents often find this out when they have a second or third child and the same techniques that worked for #1 may not work for #2. I am not attached to one strategy, gadget or way, as I have seen 1000s of different ways to parent. I bring a vast knowledge from many different experiences and with dozens of 6- month or 3 year-olds, not just one. 

RESPECT

Whereas some parents [I have found] are worried about being judged by other parents or feel self-conscious next to someone making it look easy, you will never be judged by me.  I have the utmost respect for the difficult and important job you do as a parent. I know that coming in for 1 hour or a few hours at a time is very different than being "on" 24-7. I also respect you as a valuable resource of knowledge on your individual child. Every child is different, and you are the expert in yours and the primary teacher of your child. I draw on your unique expertise and intimate knowledge of your child and help meet you and your child where you are at. 

I love working with parents. Parent education and collaboration is one of the most exciting parts of my job. I have friends and clients around the globe who call for advice and consults, and I enjoy every minute of brainstorming and problem-solving with them. I hope to partner with you and share tools to help in your journey as a parent.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE

I am an expert in child development with experience and knowledge in both typical and atypical development. I studied Psychology as an undergraduate at Williams College. I went on to complete graduate work in child development, child assessment, social development and language development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and received a Masters in occupational therapy at Tufts University.

Understanding and working with children has always been my passion, and I bring over 15 years and 10000 hours of experience into your home. While others in college and grad school were at clubs or internships, I was working in nurseries, homes and classrooms. I have been a full-time nanny, a classroom teacher and a toddler camp counselor. As a pediatric occupational therapist, I have been on an assessment team evaluating babies and toddlers for Early Intervention, worked in homes with parents of children with diagnoses or graduating from the NICU, provided feeding consultation and therapy in the home and clinic settings and helped children reach motor milestones in the clinic.  

TIME 

Parenting takes time. Your time is not your own. I KNOW. I can work around you and your child's schedule. I have more flexibility and can be there for you when you need me.