Wow.

It is hard to believe the Surviving Early Childhood Summit is coming to an end.  It is hard to adequately explain the odd combination of emotions that I'm experiencing as this is wrapping up!  But I will try.  🙂

Gratitude - For all of the amazing experts that gave of their time and energy to share their knowledge with all of you and help me to bring this amazing community of women (and a few men!) together.  For each and every one of the summit attendees - whether you listened to one interview or all of them - for taking time out of your day to listen in.  For those who purchased the summit digital download package. For sharing this event with your friends.  For the kind words and participation in the Facebook group.  My heart is overflowing with gratitude for how this all came together!

Sadness - That this big, big project that has been my baby for over 6 months is ending!  It truly has been such a blast putting it together and hasn't felt like work at all... I'm a little sad that it's over!

Nervousness - Because I don't want to lose the momentum of the summit, and I have a little bit of work to do to bring the next chapter of my work together... which leads into:

Excitement - I've been inspired to continue the sentiment and mission of the Surviving Early Childhood Summit in a podcast format.  I already have a list of ten or so additional topics I'd like to cover, and I'm sure that list will continue to grow.   I'd also love your input and suggestions for topics that you'd like to hear more about!

I have another idea that I'd like to explore and expand into and that is sharing Real Mom stories.   Being a mom is hard.  Always has been. But being a mom in today's day and age is exceptionally hard.  I feel like with the interconnectedness of life with the web and social media, we get caught in this crazy tangle of unreasonably high expectations of parenthood.   Everyone has an opinion of what motherhood should look and what "right" looks like and there's so much pressure to achieve this unachievable, unrealistic version of being a "perfect" mom.  As a result, I think more often than not we put on this facade of what we think motherhood should look like rather than being honest and open about what our experience of being a mom actually is.

We have what I like to call the "Facebook Version" of life as a mom, which is what most people see of us: happy smiling kids, vacations, first days at school, the Halloween costumes, kids in front of the Christmas tree, when they're doing kid things that are annoying or frustrating but funny to post about...

Then there's the reality version:  you haven't showered for a few days, are wearing yoga pants like a uniform, the house looks like a bomb hit a majority of the time, the kids fighting with each other, putting stickers on the furniture, refuse to sit at the dinner table the entire meal (that was us last night), battle you at every turn when you ask them to do anything, play with their annoying electronic toys, constantly whining for snacks, to watch TV, and to play with your phone or iPad, and leave a wake of stuff and food crumbs behind them everywhere they go... [I know this is not just my reality...]

So, I'd like to break down some of those walls and start sharing the stories of Real Moms - the hardships, the joys, the messiness, the sadness. Bring us all down to a common ground as humans caring for other little humans who can be really annoying sometimes!

My ask of you....

Please let me know:

• If you have anything you're struggling with that you'd like me to find an expert on and interview for the podcast.
  • What keeps you up at night worrying about?
  • What your biggest pain point, frustration, headache or fear right now?
  • Oh, and it doesn't have to be specific to the toddler/preschooler set - for the podcast, I'm expanding it out to all areas of motherhood/parenting
• If you are a mom entrepreneur or you know of one who would be great to share with this community as an expert in your field
• If you would like to be featured as a Real Mom, and get some one on one time with me to talk through what's going on with you and share your story about your reality of motherhood.  We can do it totally anonymously if that would make it more appealing for you.  I haven't quite decided if the Real Mom stories will be in blog format or podcast format as of yet.

Please fill out the survey here to share your thoughts about the summit and ideas for my next project, and in thanks, I will share a pdf handout of my 15 picky eater tips and a handout of my favorite healthy snack ideas!

Take survey & get your free gifts here!

I've so loved getting to know you on this journey in the summit and I'm so excited to get started on this next chapter!!

With love and gratitude,

Carrie