I’ve been listening to an interview series by the founder of Mothercraft Coaching, Carley Knobloch. The profiles of the moms she interviews are fascinating. I’ve synthesized the information in these interviews and applied it to traveling with young children. The first interview is with Carley Roney, the editor-in-chief and co-founder of TheKnot.com, a hip one-stop wedding planning solution, and its sister sites, TheNest.com for newlyweds, and TheBump.com, for first-time parents.
She is the author of 10 books including inspiration guides and how-tos for those getting married, setting up a home, and having a baby in “the real world”, including the recently released, The Knot Book of Lists. She appears regularly on Oprah, Today and The View, and has been featured in InStyle, Vogue, The New York Times, and USA Today among many others. Carley lives in New York with her husband and three children, ages 1 to 11.
Here are some lessons I learned from the interview with Carley:
1) Don’t beat yourself up. Nobody wins when you do that. Whether it’s the forgotten sippy cup or missing your flight’s departure, beating yourself up never makes it better. In fact, it probably makes things worse. Develop an inner voice that is loving and compassionate.
2) With access to so much information on the internet, it’s easy to be confused by conflicting advice. Carley’s recommendation is to develop a keen awareness of your own instinct. This will help you navigate the waters in sorting through the various suggestions you get on the internet.
3) Be an example to your kids. Your kids will model what you do as opposed to what you say. If you let them see that you are enjoying travel days, they will start to think of travel days as fun days. In addition to doing things for the kids that are fun and special, do things for yourself that are fun and special.
4) When embarking on new adventures, take advantage of the wonderful resources available in the form of communities that share your perspective. Online communities like BabyTravel.com and TheBump.com provide a great starting point for discovering new useful tips and tools to make the journey smoother.
Stay tuned for interviews from other professional moms as our ProSeries continues.
