Introducing our newest members!
This year we’ve hired 2 new parent leaders to join our team!!! During COVID we’ve increased our programming and in order to meet the demand hiring 2 new parent leaders to help us do this important work was the best and only solution.
Meet Erika Rodriguez, hailing from Dorchester. Erika Joined the FT movement through our first virtual Family Play Week (FPW) during covid (which was a big success). During FPW we partner with several organizations (including Countdown 2 Kindergarten, Vital Village, Boston Children’s Museum and Acton Discovery Museum) and families to spend a week learning through play. From there, Erika joined our larger First Teacher community where we’ve had the opportunity to build with her as a participant during a stressful year.... and still she was inspired to join our movement, and eventually become a member of our parent leader team.
She had heard about the First Teacher movement from other parents who encouraged her to join and experience it for herself. “My first encounter [with First Teacher] was during the pandemic and it was great. My family was supplied not only with materials to keep us busy and sane - we were also provided with support and communication, which supported our willingness to keep going. What kept me coming back was the attention to detail (remembering our names), communication, creativity, supplies and fun activities. I also enjoy the activities and books as much as my kids do.”
In the First Teacher community we’ve normalized being honest about our experiences with parenting, including how hard it can be. Erika admits “The hardest part of parenting is having the patience, drive, and support to actually be a parent” and also that “doing it alone is a bit harder.” Lot’s of parents can relate to this, I'm sure.
Our experiences as brain builders can be challenging, but parents and caregivers manage to make lemonade out of lemons, Erika is no exception. What she likes most about parenting is being able to create [her] own routines and traditions as a family. Witnessing the growth and development of her children, as they become more expressive and being able to create memorable moments are among the joys of parenthood for this mother of 4.
And while joy can sometimes seem nowhere in sight, Erika offers this piece of advice to parents struggling right now:
“As a parent I know it’s hard but things don’t stay that way forever. Appreciate being a parent and do what you can so that you and your family can be happy and successful. Life is full of lessons that teach us what we deserve and who we are. Parenting is hard but try to find support and ways to get your mind off the struggle. Taking care of yourself is not only self love but a way to show your children that you care for them too. We are blessed to have children and because of them we are also who we are. And to them we give thanks for the precious gift of being a parent.”
- Erika Rodriguez, Parent Leader 2021
We also welcomed Latisha Burns from Roxbury to our Parent Leader team. Prior to joining the team Latisha helped us create our first Adult Book Club which she continues to facilitate to this day!
Her relationship with the FT community began during the fall of 2019 when we facilitated programming for families at Haynes EEC, “I loved the workshop and the sense of community and even from my first time I felt like family”.
Our Parent Virtual Commiseration Parties (PVCP’s) certainly do feel like a family reunion that takes place every week virtually and is a space where families discuss some of the highs and lows of parenting. PVCPs started at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 when parents had little time away from their children and since, have continued every Tuesday until today. Latisha, an OG member of this group (she’s never missed a Tuesday) admits that the hardest part of parenting is “Not giving up when things get hard and challenging. Being Ok that [I] don't have all the answers”. At First Teacher we can agree that “we don’t have all the answers” but that being in community makes this journey easier to get through.
As parents/caregivers we can often feel the weight and responsibility to make our children school and world ready but forget that the laughter and growth that our little ones experience are because of the simple things we’ve done to engage with them. For Latisha, watching the smiles on her children's faces as they learn new things and seeing them grow is her reward as her children’s First Teacher and those moments become a piece of sunshine during difficult moments.
Admittedly we are all struggling in some way right now, but this mother of 2 is encouraging parents in the community to understand that “There is no handbook on parenting. There is no right or wrong way to parent your child. We are doing the best we can with the tools we have. You are doing better than you think you are.” Maybe end with ….
As we continue to work through these challenging times, we are grateful to have the opportunity to create new experiences with Erika and Latisha and share them with the community. These wise mamas have reminded us that supportive community makes all the difference in our parenting journeys; sharing tools, time, laughter and tears we can get through the toughest of days together.