It’s Okay Not to Be Okay — Family Matters Newsletter March 2021
Hello everyone,
This newsletter is a little more personal than previous ones. I have been struggling to run Family Matters and take care of my mental health at the same time. The publication hit 2k followers this month. We are a family-run publication and I did not expect such growth. Whilst I am so happy that people like our articles and want to write for us, I have been incredibly stressed trying to run the publication successfully and it has been affecting my mental health.
I work at a hospital and I am a mother. I am also studying part-time. Writing and editing on Medium is a hobby and I never expected it to take off. I have had to make the decision to put my mental health first so I can continue to run Family Matters successfully. This means the following changes will go live as soon as this newsletter is sent out.
- If you are sending a draft to my email requesting to be a new writer, please allow up to 14 days for me to get back to you. I have a lot of submissions every day and I can no longer get back to people in 7 days when the publication was smaller.
- If you are an existing writer/I have added you as a writer and you are not submitting directly to Family Matters, please allow up to 72 hours for your work to be reviewed by an editor. This excludes weekends.
- I will be taking a break from running the Monthly Prompt. This will resume when I feel better in my mental health.
I have amended the submission guidelines to reflect the changes. You can view them here.
Thank you for being understanding. Hopefully, this illustrates that it is okay to set boundaries and admit you are struggling. I want Family Matters to be the best publication it can be, but I cannot achieve that if I am not the best version of myself.
The Winner of the February Prompt
Last month, you were challenged to write a love letter to your parenting self. All of the entries were inspiring and extremely touching. Please check out the Prompt section of the Homepage to read them!
The stand out entry was by Paulo Costeri. You can read his piece, A Letter to You, First Time Dad, here.
Best of February
Here are the best stories from last month. They will appear on the “Best of” section of the Homepage.
My 4-Year-Old Said ‘F*ck’ — and I’m Not Even Mad by Melissa-Jane Nguyen
I Suffer With A Dissociative Disorder — Here’s How I’m Surviving Motherhood In A Pandemic by Kat Morris
I’m Teaching My Daughter to Love Her Body by Cassandra Anderson
My Mom Used Empty Threats to Control Her Kids by Adrienne Parkhurst
I Don’t Yell at My Kids for the Same Reason I Don’t Yell at Yours by Jenny Mundy-Castle, M.S.T, Ed.Spec, ENL, Ed.Lead
My Stepmom Dislikes My ADHD Son Because I Won’t Discipline Him With Force by Elle Silver
Look after yourselves and remember it’s okay to prioritise your mental health!
Laura
