From the outside, your life looks pretty darn good, maybe even close to awesome. Healthy, happy kids. Supportive spouse. Work that pays well and recognizes and rewards you for your hard work – or maybe you’re staying home with the kids and you know you’re lucky enough to be able to do that.
But ...
• Do you feel like you’re losing your mind? That it just takes one unexpected bump in your jam-packed morning routine – like your three-year-old’s missing shoe – and you’re yelling and angry, even though you promised yourself you’d stop?
• Do you wonder if it's normal to feel like life is just rolling by and you’re just surviving one day to the next? You wake up so tired every morning, stumble to the shower, paste a smile on your face as you quickly dab on a bit of makeup, and fake it through yet another day.
• Do you feel guilty about not appreciating the life you have? Do you tell yourself that you’re ungrateful, you’re just not trying hard enough, that your complaints about feeling unhappy are really only First World problems? Do you say “Suck it up” so often to yourself that it’s become your mantra – a pretty crummy one but maybe it counts as meditating, which you’ve heard is good for you but who has the time to breathe?
• Do you feel like everyone else is enjoying life so much more than you? But you’re way too tired to coordinate playdates or date nights or – God forbid – a family trip (which is so not the same thing as a vacation).
• Do you feel like you missed an essential class of Motherhood 101?
• Do you wonder if it's normal to feel like life is just rolling by and you’re just surviving one day to the next? You wake up so tired every morning, stumble to the shower, paste a smile on your face as you quickly dab on a bit of makeup, and fake it through yet another day.
• Do you feel guilty about not appreciating the life you have? Do you tell yourself that you’re ungrateful, you’re just not trying hard enough, that your complaints about feeling unhappy are really only First World problems? Do you say “Suck it up” so often to yourself that it’s become your mantra – a pretty crummy one but maybe it counts as meditating, which you’ve heard is good for you but who has the time to breathe?
• Do you feel like everyone else is enjoying life so much more than you? But you’re way too tired to coordinate playdates or date nights or – God forbid – a family trip (which is so not the same thing as a vacation).
• Do you feel like you missed an essential class of Motherhood 101?
Imagine …
√ Feeling so full of patience and goodness that you can keep your cool through hell or high water – missing shoes, missing permission slips, bickering kids, the whole kit-and-kaboodle.
√ Enjoying inexplicable happiness that warms you up like a bright, sunshiney day, despite the fluctuating moods of others around you.
√ Possessing a full basket of new habits and systems to streamline your routines.
√ Having the self-knowledge, confidence, and well-established personal boundaries so that when it comes time to say, “That doesn’t work for me,” you know for certain that whatever that is – a volunteer opportunity, a work project, or some other request for your precious time, energy, and brainpower – you can say no.
√ Enjoying inexplicable happiness that warms you up like a bright, sunshiney day, despite the fluctuating moods of others around you.
√ Possessing a full basket of new habits and systems to streamline your routines.
√ Having the self-knowledge, confidence, and well-established personal boundaries so that when it comes time to say, “That doesn’t work for me,” you know for certain that whatever that is – a volunteer opportunity, a work project, or some other request for your precious time, energy, and brainpower – you can say no.
The Motherhood Survival Kit gives you exactly what you need to be your happiest self. Instead of a cookie cutter program, The Motherhood Survival Kit is personalized for what you need and how you learn and build new habits (and let go of old ones that aren’t helping). We’ll identify the obstacles that are in your way and create a unique plan to help you find your career/calling, strengthen your relationships, let go of old patterns of thinking and being, and get organized and build new habits that stick. Together, we’ll build a plan and map out the steps for making a life you love.
We’ll do crafts along the way, too. Because people learn best when they have hands-on reminders. Because making things reduces your stress, even if you don’t consider yourself to be artsy or craftsy. Because when else can you be creative when you’re so busy with everything you have to do in a day? Don’t worry – the projects are super simple and all the supplies are boxed up and ready to be sent to you.
We’ll do crafts along the way, too. Because people learn best when they have hands-on reminders. Because making things reduces your stress, even if you don’t consider yourself to be artsy or craftsy. Because when else can you be creative when you’re so busy with everything you have to do in a day? Don’t worry – the projects are super simple and all the supplies are boxed up and ready to be sent to you.
“You change my life for the better every time I talk to you.”
Kristina M, San Jose, California
Here’s what You'll Get in your Motherhood Survival Kit:
Create the life you desire using proven ideas, resources, and tools. You’ll be expertly guided through 11 one-on-one weekly sessions with me, a certified life coach and mommy mentor, and the the author of the book, The Well-Crafted Mom. Your individual sessions can take place in person in San Mateo or via video conference call.
Reduce stress and increase happiness by making and learning from coaching + craft projects. Every other week, you’ll create a craft project during your one-on-one session with me. Hands-on projects help you to easily put into practice the new self-coaching techniques you’re learning. Making and using the six craft projects is a simple but powerful experience. No arts and crafts experience is necessary.
Enjoy the fact that everything you need is included in your kit. Your Motherhood Survival Craft Kit includes all of the supplies you need for the six coaching + craft projects. No need to go to the store or hunt for items online (because I know your time is precious).
Build a personalized plan to create and sustain your very best life. You’ll have access to personal quizzes and questionnaires to learn more about who you are, the best way for you to build new habits, and understand what’s most important for you. The Motherhood Survival Plan we create together for you is based on what’s ideal for you – and only you – not a one-size-fits-most plan that doesn’t take your individuality into account.
Reduce stress and increase happiness by making and learning from coaching + craft projects. Every other week, you’ll create a craft project during your one-on-one session with me. Hands-on projects help you to easily put into practice the new self-coaching techniques you’re learning. Making and using the six craft projects is a simple but powerful experience. No arts and crafts experience is necessary.
Enjoy the fact that everything you need is included in your kit. Your Motherhood Survival Craft Kit includes all of the supplies you need for the six coaching + craft projects. No need to go to the store or hunt for items online (because I know your time is precious).
Build a personalized plan to create and sustain your very best life. You’ll have access to personal quizzes and questionnaires to learn more about who you are, the best way for you to build new habits, and understand what’s most important for you. The Motherhood Survival Plan we create together for you is based on what’s ideal for you – and only you – not a one-size-fits-most plan that doesn’t take your individuality into account.
"Just being in her presence is comforting already. Kathleen never judges and always finds a way to help me feel better about myself and whatever it is I’m struggling with at the moment.”
JM, Menlo Park, California
This is where I am now
Contentment – after years of sitting in live and online workshops, researching and reading stacks and stacks of books, and spilling my guts with counselors and coaches. When my boys were little, I lost my cool so easily. One of the boys would drop a plate, hit his brother, throw a full-on temper tantrum, and I’d start stomping around the room, muttering angrily, even shouting at my kids. I hated feeling like this but didn’t know how to stop.
Once I started feeding my soul the kind of nourishment I longed for – like time with friends, moments alone, and creative opportunities – I had so much more to give to my family. I had more energy to build better routines which reduced my frustration and created more time. I had more patience to handle whatever came my way. The problems haven’t magically vanished – bigger kids often leads to bigger problems – but my ability to handle them is strong.
The learning curve for building more patience, managing my time and energy, and learning how to love my life was steep. It took years to create a life that feels as good on the inside as it looks from the outside.
But what I learned the hard way led me to building The Motherhood Survival Kit, a program that will teach you a unique-to-you, step-by-step guide for making a life you love.
Once I started feeding my soul the kind of nourishment I longed for – like time with friends, moments alone, and creative opportunities – I had so much more to give to my family. I had more energy to build better routines which reduced my frustration and created more time. I had more patience to handle whatever came my way. The problems haven’t magically vanished – bigger kids often leads to bigger problems – but my ability to handle them is strong.
The learning curve for building more patience, managing my time and energy, and learning how to love my life was steep. It took years to create a life that feels as good on the inside as it looks from the outside.
But what I learned the hard way led me to building The Motherhood Survival Kit, a program that will teach you a unique-to-you, step-by-step guide for making a life you love.
Your commitment in the program:
It’s so hard to think about adding more meetings, more to do’s, more of anything when you’re already feeling so overloaded. The Motherhood Survival Plan program is built for busy moms; the homework is streamlined for you to get the most out of every minute.
Your coaching sessions last 90 minutes and can be scheduled either in person at my San Mateo office or held via video conferencing or even by phone if you'd like. Most of your homework will be about noticing – noticing what makes you feel happiest; noticing what happens when you say yes to a commitment when you really meant to say no; noticing how little changes in your habits, thinking, and language add up to big changes in your mood and circumstances, and allow you to fall in love with your life. You'll then be guided, using proven coaching techniques, to take small steps for making big changes.
All of your supplies will arrive in a great big box (if we’re meeting virtually) so you won’t have to go shopping or hunt for craft supplies on your own. If we're meeting in my office, I can store your supplies here so you're good to go when we meet for your sessions.
Your coaching sessions last 90 minutes and can be scheduled either in person at my San Mateo office or held via video conferencing or even by phone if you'd like. Most of your homework will be about noticing – noticing what makes you feel happiest; noticing what happens when you say yes to a commitment when you really meant to say no; noticing how little changes in your habits, thinking, and language add up to big changes in your mood and circumstances, and allow you to fall in love with your life. You'll then be guided, using proven coaching techniques, to take small steps for making big changes.
All of your supplies will arrive in a great big box (if we’re meeting virtually) so you won’t have to go shopping or hunt for craft supplies on your own. If we're meeting in my office, I can store your supplies here so you're good to go when we meet for your sessions.
HERE’S WHAT YOUR WEEK-TO-WEEK WILL LOOK LIKE:
Week One (coaching + craft session = vision board):
Learn how to listen to your inner guide so that you can build your plan based on what you truly want, not what you think you’re supposed to have (or what others want you to do or be).
Week Two:
Figure out what obstacles are in the way of your vision board-inspired life and learn self-coaching strategies to get unstuck.
Learn how to listen to your inner guide so that you can build your plan based on what you truly want, not what you think you’re supposed to have (or what others want you to do or be).
Week Two:
Figure out what obstacles are in the way of your vision board-inspired life and learn self-coaching strategies to get unstuck.
Week Three (coaching + craft session = me necklace):
Use the results of quizzes you took as homework to determine the best way that you learn and build new habits, and to figure out what are the things that are most important to you.
Week Four:
Based on your new knowledge about yourself and the way you learn, we’ll map out the steps to building a new habit. The more knowledge and awareness you have about yourself and the way you naturally like to learn and do activities, the more likely you are to be successful – now and in the future.
Use the results of quizzes you took as homework to determine the best way that you learn and build new habits, and to figure out what are the things that are most important to you.
Week Four:
Based on your new knowledge about yourself and the way you learn, we’ll map out the steps to building a new habit. The more knowledge and awareness you have about yourself and the way you naturally like to learn and do activities, the more likely you are to be successful – now and in the future.
Week Five (coaching + craft session = joy bowl):
In order to make room for what you want to say yes to, you need to develop skills on how to say no. We’ll use real life examples to hone your boundary-setting abilities.
Week Six:
We’ll follow up on the Joy Bowl exercise and find ways to ensure that you’re finding time for what brings you happiness so that your life looks and feels amazing.
In order to make room for what you want to say yes to, you need to develop skills on how to say no. We’ll use real life examples to hone your boundary-setting abilities.
Week Six:
We’ll follow up on the Joy Bowl exercise and find ways to ensure that you’re finding time for what brings you happiness so that your life looks and feels amazing.
Week Seven (coaching + craft session = enough box):
You'll learn techniques and strategies for managing how mommy guilt shows up in your life so you can take better care of yourself and your family.
Week Eight:
Discover shortcuts to a happy relationship and/or happy connections with friends and family so that you can strengthen your relationships even when you don't have much time to spare.
You'll learn techniques and strategies for managing how mommy guilt shows up in your life so you can take better care of yourself and your family.
Week Eight:
Discover shortcuts to a happy relationship and/or happy connections with friends and family so that you can strengthen your relationships even when you don't have much time to spare.
Week Nine (coaching + craft session = clean up soap dispenser):
Develop new techniques for dealing with subtle and sometimes more obvious opposition from other people in your life so that you can continue to follow your joys and passions.
Week Ten:
Learn how to use self-coaching tools from Positive Psychology and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). You’ll determine what makes you happiest and know how to hold onto your inner strength so that no matter what challenges you encounter, you’ll have a strong foundation.
Develop new techniques for dealing with subtle and sometimes more obvious opposition from other people in your life so that you can continue to follow your joys and passions.
Week Ten:
Learn how to use self-coaching tools from Positive Psychology and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). You’ll determine what makes you happiest and know how to hold onto your inner strength so that no matter what challenges you encounter, you’ll have a strong foundation.
Week Eleven (coaching + craft session = life journal):
Finalize your ongoing plan and review your new toolset of self-coaching techniques so that you have a clear plan for what to do when life throws you for a loop.
Finalize your ongoing plan and review your new toolset of self-coaching techniques so that you have a clear plan for what to do when life throws you for a loop.
“Because of Kathleen's help, I'm better at listening to my own needs and making sure to take care of myself. I am also returning to some lifelong passions that had been on the back burner for a long time. What I like best about working with Kathleen is that she truly listens and acknowledges what I'm going through. At the same time, she is capable of asking exactly the right questions to help me change my perspective and find the solution I need to make things better.”
Aubri Tallent, Certified Life Coach, Burlingame, California