Calling all Moms

Welcome!  The inaugural column of “Mom’s Talk” is off and running. 

I am (aka Nick, Ellie and John’s Mom); mother, wife, daughter, auntie, and the list goes on.  A fifth generation Healdsburg native, I am so grateful to be able to raise my own children in the town I love so much.

 My oldest, Nicolas, graduated from last year and now attends college in Southern California.  Ellie, our Wonder Girl, is an active sophomore at HHS, just starting to plot her path to the future.  And John, our 4-year-old, who has given us the gift to do this parenting thing from the ground up all over again.  

My husband and I have a home-based business and I work part-time outside of the home as well.  Needless to say, we are a busy family.  But aren’t we all? 

The more hectic our lives become, the more important it is to reach out to our peers and find some sanity together.  This is the purpose of “Mom's Talk.” Every Wednesday, we will be discussing, digesting and sorting through a “question of the week” which has been posed through the Healdsburg Patch website.

 You can e-mail the question or post one through the comments section of this article.  If you see me around town, at the grocery store, the preschool or HHS, please don’t hesitate to say “Hey, I was thinking about this situation that I have at home and would be interested to hear how other parents might handle the same situation.” 

I am in no way claiming to know everything about parenting.  My personal resources include my husband, parents, grandmother and strong core of girlfriends. For this column, we will also be reaching into the community via a “Mom’s Council.”

 The Mom's Council will meet Monday evenings at 9 p.m. in an online, private, password-protected chat room.  Once a month, we’ll forgo the online session and instead meet in person, giving everyone a chance to put a face with the name and develop relationships.  

We will review mom and parenting-related questions posted throughout the previous week.  We will then decide on one “question of the week,” discuss and dissect, and I will consolidate  all of the answers/opinions in Wednesday’s regular column.  If you are interested in joining the Mom’s Council, please e-mail me your interest and contact information at boosweeney@comcast.net.

With all of that said, here is the first question that I am personally throwing out there to you and which will be our topic for next week’s column: "How do we choose the right kindergarten for our child?"

I have been through this twice already and am now embarking on #3.  Hopefully, I have learned from past mistakes and triumphs.  Nonetheless, the search is on.

 Schools in our area will be holding kindergarten information meetings and open houses in the near future.  Representatives may be making an appearance at your child’s preschool.

 Healdsburg has a number of public and private options --but exactly which one is going to be right for your child?   There will be a tremendous amount of information to process; who best to sort it out with, but other Moms.