Family Rx

"We first make our habits, then our habits make us."

- English Poet

I was born into a military family stationed at Plattsburgh AFB, NY. The first born of two daughters, I am the spitting image of my mother. If you’ve seen my picture, and my mother walks into the room, you know we are related and the older I get, the more we look like sisters.

 

The early years of my life we spent in New York, Georgia, Alabama, Arizona and South Carolina. During first grade, my father spent the year in Viet Nam. During this time I always dreamed of being a teacher; math or ballet. I liked the idea of helping people learn things.

 

In my teens, we lived in the Panama Canal Zone and California (midway between Sacramento and San Francisco). My strengths in school were math and science. At this point, I was still thinking I'd be a teacher; however, the summer between my junior and senior years, I met the older brother of one of my good friends. He was studying Chemical Engineering which he described as a mixture of math, chemistry and physics; my three favorite subjects. That's when I decided to become a Chemical Engineer.

I received my BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Davis (which is also where I met my husband) and joined the Semiconductor Industry. Actually doing chemical engiineering was not my cup of tea; I needed human contact. I worked as an applications engineer, which was a mixture of solving customer problems and teaching them how to use our equipment and product marketing before I landed in the technical training group. I loved teaching; the students were always bright and eager. However, this didn’t last too long because I soon became the manager of a group of instructors.

 

During this time, my husband and I became white water rafting guides. We traveled from Alaska to Chile rafting all we could. In fact, our wedding occurred during one of our rafting trips in Idaho. Of course this all slowed down when we became parents.

I began reading every book and attending every seminar on parenting I could. I figured even if I only get one idea out of each event, I'd be a better parent and my children will be better for it.

 

I also began volunteering in various capacities for a nonprofit organization called Las Madres; director, new member coordinator, and newsletter distribution (before email was prevalent). I love being a mom. I wish I had only known sooner how fulfilling it would be. I would have had kids sooner and more, though my husband may have a different spin on this. I find myself reading every parenting book and attending every parenting seminar to increase my knowledge about being a parent. I figure if I could get one nugget from each event, I can be a better parent.

 

I took a weekend introductory Coaching course. After the first day's long session, I called my husband immediately and told him “This is what I want to do for a living!” I love the ability to help someone by giving them clarity, a change in perspective or life tools. Coaching someone is like teaching someone how to fish instead of giving them a fish when they are hungry.

 

I have now completed the two programs at Comprehensive Coaching U; Life Coaching and the Physician Life Coaching. I have decided to focus on parenting since this is a passion of mine.

 

I’m also trained by the County of Santa Clara, CA as a volunteer for a program that goes to the schools and helps kids become empowered. I volunteer in my son’s school for all 5^th grade classes.