About

(in the center, blue dress)

I am the creator and writer here at Low Stress Motherhood, and I welcome you.

I’m a twin preschooler mom, children’s book author, owner of a Montessori-inspired playschool, deep thinker, and conscious and responsive parenting advocate who is on a journey of self-awareness, healing my own childhood wounds, and breaking old habits that inhibit my ability to live my most content life. 

And I created this blog for moms who are on a similar journey in their own lives.

I struggle with my kids, just like you.

I struggle in my relationships, just like you.

I struggle with my anxiety, just like you.

I struggle in my job, just like you.

These struggles guided me to trial, error, research and discover wonderful methods and practices (like Montessori teaching, slow living, and conscious parenting) that allow me to show up as the mother and person I want to be in my life, getting desirable outcomes with the children I work with as well as my own, and I share it all with you here on my blog so that you can too.

Our lives may never be entirely free of stress, but by adopting a mindset and lifestyle of self awareness and intention, and actively recalibrating ourselves when life seems to get hectic, we can keep it low stress… 

Born on Kaua’i and raised on Maui, I am most inspired and at peace with sunshine, blue skies and lush plants around me, yet anything over 65 degrees is too hot for me. Give me a ski slope with fresh powder, crisp air and sun-drenched blue skies, and I’m in heaven. Or, maybe a coastal beach house on a slightly stormy winter night with a fireplace, waves crashing in the background, and a cup of hot cocoa in hand – aw, yes.

My goal here at Low Stress Motherhood is to help moms tune into their calmer, more peaceful, and connected selves, so that they can be the mom they want to be, even in the hard moments.

Through my daily work with ages 3 months to 5 year olds over the past almost-decade, I have had the unique opportunity to observe and learn so much about young children including, different behaviors, routines, temperaments, learning styles, and dynamics.

Offline, I have been the confidant, the sounding board, the partner in teaching, the advice-giver, and part of the ‘village’ for so many moms.

So, in 2020, when the pandemic hit and shut everything down, I felt a deep and strong calling to create this website and bring that same support to moms all over the world, online. 

Moms everywhere, including the moms I work with here at my Playschool, were spending more time than ever with their children, in an extraordinarily stressful situation, and struggling. Really struggling. Myself as a new mom of twins, included. 

We needed all the support we could get.

Especially to keep things as calm and balanced as we could at home.

During the pandemic, there was such a lack of connection, a loss of routine that once brought balance, the added stress to an already roaring sea of stress…

I wanted to be a force that helped bring more peace and light in moms’ lives during the emotional chaos. An anchor in the storm, a helpful hand to hold on this windy walk of parenting.

So I began writing.

All the years of notes I had saved in my phone from being a caregiver of littles, I started transforming those endless lists of bullet-pointed tips into organized blog posts for moms to read.

The low-stress, routine-based potty training process I found worked best for most toddlers, I turned that into a potty training video course for moms to follow.

The way I talk to toddlers to prep them for potty training (or as I prefer to refer to it – potty practicing – practice makes progress, right?!), I turned those words into a toddler book for moms to read to their toddlers in preparation for the big change.

The positive affirmations that I say to the little ones I work with to empower and encourage them – that my younger self would have flourished from hearing – I put each affirmation on its own page in a playful coloring book for kids for moms to gift to their precious little one.

For all the nervous moms trying to figure out the most wholesome and safe way to start their baby on solids, I wrote a comprehensive baby led weaning blog post of all the must-know facts, my experience with it, and found the best, most holistic baby led weaning course that guides hesitant moms through this major milestone.

I wanted to create calming, reassuring, and empowering tools and spaces where moms who were experiencing overwhelm, confusion, frustration, and burnout in their daily lives with their babies and toddlers, could turn to find some relief and create more calm and ease in their homes. 

A place where moms who wanted to parent differently – with more calm and more connection – could find the resources to do so.

I know sometimes, especially in times of heightened and ongoing stress or crisis, like we experienced with the pandemic, that it doesn’t feel like our life, schedules, and routines allow us any space to be the parent we want to be. 

So, we must look further within ourselves, listen to that inner voice – our compass – and make the adjustments to our habits, beliefs, and settings, so that we can be a closer version of the parent we want to be; the person we want to be.

See, as a new mom myself, to fresh little baby twins in 2020, I was learning and struggling through painful postpartum symptoms, difficulty breastfeeding, feeling deeply saddened no one was able to spend time with my babies at this special age, getting to know my new life as a mother of twins, with a new body, a new host of responsibilities, and a new relationship dynamic, so this website was not only my purpose, but also part of my healing journey.

My struggle was my motivation, and my passion to help others who felt the way I felt, was my purpose. 

It’s quite beautiful that helping others, helped me too. 

What a truly wonderful thing.

Even more about me….

I’ve been working with babies and toddlers for just under a decade, in a one-on-one, small group setting (3-6 children, ages 0-5yrs) and I believe observation, implementation, intentional spaces, and emotional regulation are key to living a harmonious life with our babies and toddlers. 

Thus, through my work as a licensed childcare provider who follows a Montessori-inspired approach, experience as a twin toddler mom who consciously parents, and continued learning from workshops, conferences, reading and research, I am constantly absorbing and adapting to each child’s unique set of needs, and sharing the knowledge I gain from those intimate experiences, with other moms here on this website. 

My goal is to be a part of the voice that makes conscious parenting practices and Montessori approaches more accessibly mainstream, because the parenting experience with these tools is so wildly and completely different than the fast-paced, burnt out traditional parenting, for both parent(s) and child.

I want as many moms as possible to experience the ease, the peace, the joy, the fulfillment of parenting that these inner tools can bring.

I’m also an adamant advocate for prioritizing boundaries and self-care because I believe practicing this allows for a more balanced, passionate and fulfilled life, and it models a healthy lifestyle for our children.