As we look to 2024, December is the perfect time to reflect on a year well lived. Several of the local women featured in our Hello, Happy Mama this year shared their thoughts on three key parenting questions. Here is a selection of their answers.

Q. Looking back on 2023, what is your best parenting advice?

Stacy Kuwahara:

Give yourself some grace and appreciate you are doing the best you can.  Parenting isn’t easy for anyone, regardless of how it looks to the outsider.  Make time for yourself so that you can make time to be fully present and enjoy your family.  These moments go back, enjoy them as they are occurring.

Jenny Frank:

Looking back on 2023, I think the best advice I can give is to “respect the process.” All four of my children went through significant life changes during 2023, which inherently affected me. I found that when I let a little time pass and did not try to over-control the situation, many issues resolved themselves. Life is a process. Communication is important but timing is key.

Arleana Waller:

Rethink the way you spend time with your children. Often being  a leader requires you to wear many hats. Take them all off and just be present with your kids, phone down, emails shut off. Just present creating memories and loving them fully and present. The world can wait.

Katherine Wolf:  My best parenting advice is to give yourself grace. No parent is perfect and no parenting moment is perfect. Parenting is hard and we have to be willing to give ourselves grace, especially in some of the toughest moments.

Q. Considering the year it has been, do you have a new parenting hashtag to share?  

Stacy Kuwahara:

I don’t really do hashtags so I’m not sure if I’m doing this right.  If I did create one, it would be #perfectly imperfect.

Jenny Frank:

#blessingsindisguise

Arleana Waller:

#BoyMomforTheWin

#MomisANoJudgementZone

#JustSayNofortheKid

#LoveKidsUnconditionally

#SafeSpaceSafeMom

#JustAMomWhoLoves

#IWillBeYourMom

#LOVEWinsWhenHateisLOUD

Katherine Wolf: 

#age3isonly365days (My daughter turned 4 in mid-November and the 3 year-old year has been one of the hardest.)

Q. The holidays can be a stressful time for families. What’s making you laugh

lately?

Stacy Kuwahara:

Animal videos.  Their silliness always makes me smile.

Jenny Frank:

Every time I’m on the phone with my son who is away at Air Force Tech School in Texas, he has some witty comment that gets me belly laughing. He is in the Air Force and I am a Marine, so the banter is hilarious. What a wonderful thing to laugh with your children.

Arleana Waller:

Little random babies in the nail salon being super loud. Good food makes me happy, which makes me laugh in my happy conversation at the table with the kids.

Having 54 games between Kadar and Bentley’s basketball schedule.

Katherine Wolf: 

My kids have some -isms that have us laughing so hard these days. They say kids say the darndest things and boy, aren't they right?!?