Imagine if you could remove yourself from the everyday stresses of life for just a couple days to regroup.
If you were given time to…
- Finish a sentence, complete your thoughts and surround yourself with support
- Connect with other women who share similar parenting challenges as you
- Learn more about creating a supportive, non-judgmental space for all mothers
What if you were given a few days to remember and validate the importance of mothering and your role as a mother?
And, what if you had a few extra moments to recognize and remember that what you do (whether it is caring for little ones, doing ten-million loads of laundry, driving kids to activities, working to support your family or supporting other mothers through their parenting journey), whatever it may be that fills your busy day as a mother – IS IMPORTANT.
Bring together a community of mothers who support the job of mothering, who recognize the challenges that mothers face and who fearlessly embrace these challenges day after day – and you’ll have a good idea of what this past weekend looked like during the 2013 National Association of Mothers’ Centers Leadership Council Retreat.
Over the weekend the NAMC was able to gather Mothers’ Center Group leaders from across the nation in Manhassett, New York for a weekend without children in tow, without the need to constantly be picking up messes, without the worry of what’s for dinner, without a thought of what needs to get done at work or what “fire” needs putting out next.
Leaders from across the country - from Georgia, Colorado, Ohio, Kentucky, New York, Michigan and New Jersey – came to share, learn and connect with other Mothers’ Center members and NAMC staff and board members.
And this is what it looked like.*
The Venue
Our Lady of Grace Retreat Center in Manhasset, New York on Long Island.
~
The living room of the grand home was the location of our main gathering area.
A Time for Learning
Left: NAMC Staff, Board and Mothers’ Center Members participated in hands on discussions and training all day Saturday.
Right: Lisa Kaplan Miller (NAMC Staff) kicked off Saturday morning with a session on Creating a Welcoming Environment.
~
Left: NAMC Board Members Gay Novack and Lori Zlotoff coordinated a session on Modeling the Unique Mothers’ Center Culture.
Center: Lorri Slepian, NAMC Founder and Visionary Leader, shared her thoughts on the Mothers’ Center Movement.
Right: Kate Fineske (yep, that’s me!) presented on Growing and Maintaining Leadership within a Mothers’ Center Group.
Left : A skyped conversation with NAMC Advocacy Coordinator Valerie Young, a.k.a. Your (Wo)Man in Washington.
Right: Eileen Marriott & Karen Buckley introduced Mind in the Making - a new discussion curriculum on child development.
~
A Time for Connecting
Time for friendship and fun (and food!)
From top to bottom left to right: 1.) Sunday morning yoga session
2.) Staff Member Ellen Kramer attempting to snap a shot of everyone’s shoes for this year’s NAMC Mile for Mothers Campaign.
3.) Lots and lots of delicious food! 4.) Mothers’ Center members touring the retreat house grounds.
5.) NAMC Executive Director Linda Lisi Juergens (top center) and Staff Member Viviana Russel (left)
with the cast of The Vagina Monologues - whose performance we attended on Saturday evening.
Just imagine a weekend filled with all that AND more. Yes, it was truly amazing.
Leave a Comment: As a mother, how do you make time time for yourself and your own personal growth? If you were able to attend the retreat, what was your most memorable moment?
~
* Special thanks to the unique and amazing creative talents of Mothers’ Center of Central New Jersey member Staci d’Olier-Lees who inadvertently became the weekend photographer and supplied us with all the photos above.
The National Association of Mothers’ Centers strives to create a community of women who through mutual support and public advocacy, explore, enrich and value the maternal experience. Our Mothers’ Center Groups are meant to be communities across the nation for parents which create a safe, comfortable space in which to talk openly about the joys, the frustrations and the challenges of motherhood.
Are you interested in finding the type of support a
Mothers’ Center offers but don’t have a Mothers’ Center nearby?
Learn more about the Mothers’ Center culture by downloading
and reading our New Group Start-up Guide here!
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Great recap, Kate! It’s so hard to condense everything that went on over the whole weekend. It was so great to get to meet everyone in person and now when I see emails in my inbox I know who they’re from. My brain is overflowing with ideas for our center and I’m excited for the future of MCCNJ. It certainly reinvigorated my commitment to our center, as well as being relaxing and rejuvenating for me.
My most memorable moment occurred during that staircase shot when, having to look up my dress while I was leaning over the railing to take it, someone made a comment about seeing “Vagina Monologues” again.
Oh Staci, I missed that “staircase comment” – TOO funny! So happy to have meet you and the other mothers from the Mothers’ Center of Central New Jersey. And thanks again for the amazing photos which helped to capture the weekend. You have a wonderful talent in journalistic photography.
I knew I was going somewhere special from the moment I got in the car and drove (by myself) to an unfamiliar place where I would say I personally knew about 1% of the people there: Not a knot of anxiety, not a worry or concern or even a second thought about how tired I looked, that I didn’t have time to put on any makeup. I was going to be with people familiar with the most amazing cultural standard I have ever encountered! A culture that instantaneously provides a feeling of warmth, comfort, understanding, compassion and empathy, recognizes our commonalities and is free from judgment.
Needless to say, I was not let down and found just what I expected (maybe even more?). I thank each and every woman who attended for what was shared in our discussions and conversations. I left with much more than I came with because of you.
Well said Daniela. I too left this weekend with so much more than I came with. As a newer NAMC staff member (I have only been on staff for 2 years now) who also works remotely from Ohio, I remember having those same feelings and emotions last year when I flew to New York by myself to meet the rest of the staff and the board members in person for the 1st time. I was anxious to be traveling by myself (and without my family) yet was met with instant feelings of “warmth, comfort, understanding, compassion and empathy” from every single board and staff member. I feel so fortunate to work with so many amazing women on our staff and board and also to work with all the amazing leaders and members of the local centers nationwide. Thank YOU for taking time away from your family to share yourself with us this weekend.
I wish I had been there. It brings back many memories of conferences when I was a new mother. It also brings back the memory of the culture of caring for each other, the non-judgmental ideal and the friends I think of often but have lost touch with too many. Here’s to many more decades for the NAMC and local Mothers’ Centers.
Former member of the Merrick/Bellmore Mothers’ Center and NAMC steering committee.
Here, here Teresa! So glad we have Facebook and other new ways to assist us now in keeping contact with those who have helped to touch our lives. Thank you for your part as a former member and leader at the Merrick/Bellmore MC!
Wonderful post. Really captures the essence of the Retreat. I’m already looking forward to the next one. I hope it encourages even more attendees in the future. Thanks also for the great photos.
Karen, we were so fortunate to have Staci there to inadvertently capture moments from the weekend - next year we will need to make sure we remember to consciously give someone that job. Thanks again to Staci for the great shots!
Wow! The memories of all the retreats I attended with this wonderful group of women and the incredible culture of caring came rushing back to me as I scrolled through these photos. I am very glad to learn that these events still happen (and at the same retreat house, where we were so pampered!) so that others can benefit from these experiences too.
Lisa, thank you for tagging me in the post.
This was my 1st experience at an NAMC retreat or conference Phyllis, at the last large conference I was pregnant and nearly due with my 3rd child (and since I would be traveling from Ohio this made it impossible to consider attendance). This past weekend’s experience was amazing and it is so wonderful to hear that in the past the group experiences were similar and just as memorable. Thanks for stopping by to visit and leave your thoughts here. And thanks to Lisa for sending you! You’ll have to stop back since we spotlight centers, members and the mothers’ center culture weekly here on our blog.
Phyllis-we were there together!
The wonderful photos and recap do a great job of capturing the insightfulness, sisterhood and camaraderie of this special weekend retreat. Moms are so busy with and devoted to giving of themselves… to their children, families, careers, homes….the NAMC is about moms giving to one another-And that is a truly precious gift. I value all the ideas, laughs and inspiration this experience has given me and look forward to bringing it back to my mothers’ center. Thank you!
Christine - SO thrilled to have made more connections with the Mothers’ Center Library programs and to get to connect with even more women of the Middle County Library. This weekend WAS a gift! What a great way to describe both the weekend and the NAMC.
This is absolutely wonderful!!! It was an amazing retreat, well needed, well deserved by all Moms. So many friends were made and I can not wait until the next one. I miss everyone! I honestly can’t thank everyone enough for such a wonderful experience. I am so lucky to be part of this AMAZING family
And we are lucky to have you Jen. Good luck as you begin your move back to New Jersey and your pursuit to begin a new Center there. Toledo will miss you - but your new community will be so blessed to have your resources, compassion, and leadership. So glad you could make it this weekend!
As the only woman there that is not a mother, I want to thank everyone for welcoming me and helping me to feel at home. The only really difficult momtne for me was in out discussion group when we were to share our names and out childrens names and ages and how we felt about our names. I shared my name and the names of the children I care for as a nurse and waited for the next person to share, since I had no “mother moment” to share, and the facilitator said, “And how do you feel about your name?” Somehow that question opened me up because she focused on how I belong instead of how I dont belong. Later in the group I was able to share my own mother’s wisdom, when t the age of 80 I brought her to the mothers I had organized and they asked her what was the hardest thing about being a mother. I expected to hear about when we were naughty or sick or how hard she had to work caring for the 5 or us or being at home with us all day while dad worked or helping my learning disabled brothers with their homework, but she did not mention any of that. The two words she said explained so much to me about mothering. She said the hardest thing for her about being a mother was … letting go.
My mother has been dead for 7 years now, and her wisdom touched the women in the group through me. All mother’s wisdom and love touches others through their children. Thank you for what you all do for the world by showing your children how important mothering them is, and how vital it is to be supported while you are doing it.
Thanks for joining us last weekend and also for sharing your own mother’s stories Louise. Sharing our stories as mothers AND as women is important. I really liked the wording that Gay (one of the NAMC board members who helped to lead the afternoon facilitated discussions) used. Gay used the word “researching” in the context that by sharing stories and listening to other women’s stories without judgements we are “researching” what might work best for our own parenting and life strategies. That word really connected and resonated with me. I am certain there are many women their who did some great “research” through your words and stories - I am so glad you where there to share your own experiences with us!
Wow! The post and comments are fantastic. I wish I could have been there as it sounds like an amazing experience.
My family and I will always be incredibly thankful for having found Mothers’ Center of Greater Toledo and the NAMC. The friendships we’ve made and support we have been given since joining have enriched our lives in more ways than we could have possibly imagined.
It WAS such an amazing experience. Hopefully one of these years you might be able to join us Tatum?