From confused to confident: How Childreach’s programs helped me
Chelsea Hicks-Webster with her husband and their first child.
When I had my daughter, I knew nothing about raising humans.
I vividly remember the day she was born. My husband and I were alone in our recovery room with our daughter sleeping peacefully in a bassinet beside us when suddenly it hit me; I had no idea what came next.
“What do we do if she cries?” I asked my husband.
He just stared at me blankly. “Ahhhh… I don’t know.”
So, we pushed the call button to ask the nurse. She looked a little surprised by the question, as if it was obvious.
“You pick her up,” the nurse replied.
It makes perfect sense in hindsight, but when you are brand new to parenting nothing feels obvious.
That’s why I valued Childreach. Their programming gave me a space where I could pick up parenting tips and tricks while doing fun activities with my babies.
I didn’t know then that the lessons I learned would actually last me a lifetime. They made the birth of my twin boys feel much easier, and even now that my kids are 5, 5 and 7, the lessons I learned still guide me.
Chelsea's two sons (as toddlers) playing outdoors in a wooded area, navigating with sticks through fallen logs.
Here are just a few of the powerful lessons that I learned from Childreach:
Connection through touch
The first class I ever took was infant massage. Admittedly, I didn’t even know that ‘infant massage’ was a thing until I learned about the program Childreach was running. And I certainly would not have understood the power of touch in helping my infant feel loved, safe, and secure.
My daughter is now 7 and she still regularly asks for a massage. Loving touch has become a powerful way that we connect.
Chelsea’s daughter (as an infant) laying on a blanket and looking up at the camera.
Connection through song
I am not a singer by nature. To be honest, the first time I joined a Songs & Stories class, I felt a little ridiculous as I started to sing along. But soon, singing became something I couldn’t live without.
When I wanted to talk with my babe but didn’t have anything to say, I would sing a lullaby.
When I wanted to make my baby laugh, I would sing ‘The Grand Old Duke of York” and toss them into the air.
When my babies cried in the back seat while I drove, I would sing a gentle version of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” to soothe them.
Song became a great tool for everything.
My job is to spot my child – not carry them
From the moment my daughter was born, I felt external pressure from society to bubble wrap her. To keep her clean and proper. While I didn’t share that view, I felt shame about my desire to give my children more freedom.
Wild Child lifted a lot of that shame for me. The facilitators brought families into the forest and encouraged parents to let their kids explore and take risks. I learned that children who take healthy risks when they are young become more self-aware, independent, and resilient.
(Because picking yourself up from the mud after you’ve fallen off a tree stump builds the same skills your child will need to dust themselves off after they fail a math test.)
As a bonus, it also brought me intense joy to watch my three children climb hills, wade through streams, and come home dirty.
Chelsea's daughter playing in a wooded area, standing in a puddle.
Be firm and kind
Childreach also introduced me to Positive Parenting. This approach to parenting offers many tools, grounded in child psychology, that make all sorts of parenting moments easier.
But I think what stuck with me most from Positive Parenting was the idea that I can be firm and kind at the same time. That’s now become my parenting mantra. I try and find ways to handle parenting challenges, from dinner rules to sibling fights, in a way that balances firm boundaries with kindness and respect. I think this has been the one thing that has most helped me build strong relationships with my kids as they grow up.
Career change
Honestly, the support I received through Childreach was also the first of many sparks that eventually resulted in career change for me. I left my career in research and re-trained as a life and parenting coach. I get great joy in paying forward the learnings I received from Childreach, which were anything but obvious at the time!
Chelsea Hicks-Webster is a London area parent and attended Childreach programs regularly when her children were small. Today, she is a life and parenting coach and the force behind The Kick Ass Mom Academy.