“It’s worth doing, I would do it 20 times over and still learn something new in the twentieth session.”
Hi, my name is Tash. When I was first told to come to Kids Matter by the health visitor, I was in a real mess – I was really upset and angry, and I had no patience. My parenting wasn’t the best because I was feeling really rubbish in myself. I think my pregnancy triggered some sort of PTSD. The night I gave birth to my son, I opened up to my sister-in-law about my childhood experiences. And then, when my son was 4 months old, I started coming to Kids Matter. I was really struggling but learning from others in the Kids Matter group changed my life, and made me a new person.
I’ve learned so much patience and now I am helping facilitate a Kids Matter group. Being able to help others has helped me to be more confident in my parenting. Just coming here to a safe place has been so welcoming, so calming, and has helped me to find who I am again. I’ve started a Facebook group and we’ve started a local Kids Matter friendship group so the people who finished the programme can stay connected and keep on helping each other. I’ve also started a cloth-nappy group; I’m helping wherever I can here at the Salvation Army in Stafford (where Kids Matter groups meet) when I’ve got the time. I’m also working.
I would recommend Kids Matter to other parents because every day is a new challenge when you’re a parent; even if you’ve had a week of parenting wins, something will trip you up. And we know that nobody’s perfect, none of us are perfect parents, but supporting each other and learning new things to put in your parenting toolbox is so beneficial. At Kids Matter, there are so many unique things to be learnt because not only are there these amazing booklets to learn from but the facilitators have such great insights (their own experiences of parenting and their own experiences of life) but also each person who comes to Kids Matter, each separate parent, has things to add. So, it’s not that we’re being told what to learn; we’re learning from each other and bouncing ideas around and helping each other.
It’s worth doing, I would do it 20 times over and still learn something new in the twentieth session.