Tag: transition

The transition to middle school can feel like quite a gut check for parents. Mature topics that seem years away are suddenly front and center. In fact, many parents I work with claim that in hindsight, middle school was a tougher transition than high school.

From budding romantic relationships to the reality that experimenting with substances in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades is quite common; middle school is a strange time warp where kids feel too young for this, but too old for that and parents long for those easy elementary school years.

The story of the "white picket fence" family, riding off into the sunset with Prince(ss) Charming, or living Happily Ever After with our one true love is changing. Actually, the truth is that it has changed.

Old stories, like the one that has defined divorce as a failure or the one that led us to believe that we are somehow "less than" if we are single, are begging to be rewritten. Dear reader, resistance to these changes is futile and this is your invitation into the New Relationship Paradigm.

I initiated a radical social concept in the 1970s with my friends to support new families in our community. We were feminists and activists. We believed men and women shared equally in the conception, birthing and raising of our children. There was a community gap, however, in our transition from couple-hood to parenthood. We wanted change.

Our existing community where we lived, worked, learned, prayed, and played was disrupted when our babies were born. We were struggling young parents, away from our families, and inundated with professional advice. What we lacked was a supportive environment where we could share our highs and lows, and not be judged or criticized when we admitted to feeling overwhelmed, scared, or inadequate.