Family Matters Newsletter — February 2021
February is the month of Valentine’s Day. But are you showing love to yourself?
Parents struggle to be kind to themselves. And it’s no wonder, with statistics showing that 90% of moms and 80% of dads feel judged for their parenting.
If this sounds like you, then you may want to enter our February writing prompt which challenges you to write a love letter to your parenting self. You can find out more here.
The Winner of January’s Writing Prompt
Last month we challenged you to write about what changes you planned on bringing to 2021 in terms of your parenting.
The winning entry is Challenging Life Lessons 2020 Taught Me About Being A Mother by Keri Anne Johnson.
“This crazy year has ended, and a new one is starting. It’s a clean slate to be our best, do our best. I will still strive to be the best mother I can be, but I understand now that my kids need me more than they need all the things that I thought meant being a good mother. I don’t have to beat myself up about not being the perfect Pinterest mom. I can just be, and that’s ok.”
Congratulations, Keri!
Best of January
These are the standout stories for the month of January and will be featured in our Best Of section of the Homepage.
I Finally Refused to Accept the Blame as a Struggling New Mom by Barb Summers
4 Things My Toddler Says That Make Me Want to Put My Head in a Blender by Matthew R
It’s Okay For Girls To Be Angry, And For Boys To Be Sad by Chloe Cuthbert
A Year of Homeschooling, or Unschooling, or Existing or Whatever by Caroline Mellor
The Case for Unfriending Your Relatives by Molly Coyle Shibley
Yes, You Are More Than Just a Mom- No, You Shouldn’t Feel Guilty by Terin Benavente
Author Spotlight
Family Matters is a family-run publication, and we want to make our writers also feel part of a family. Every month we dedicate space in the newsletter to promote a writer and thank them for their work.
This month, the spotlight is on Darcy Reeder
Darcy has been contributing to Family Matters for some time. Her work is always to a high standard and beautifully written. Here is an excerpt from her latest piece Honor Black History Month with These Awesome Kids’ Books:
“Books are inspiration, education, and often conversation starters. It’s tough to talk to little kids about the hard parts of history; like slavery, Jim Crow, and ongoing racism. It’s so tough that many parents attempt to avoid those conversations altogether. But books provide the tools we need to start talking.”
Thank you for writing for us, Darcy.
If you would like to connect with other writers and readers of Family Matters, you can join our Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter.
Thank you for supporting our publication. It means so much to us. We are at almost 2k followers and that’s because of you!
Have a good February
Laura & David
