MOTHERS DISCUSS DAILY CHALLENGES

Oxford Observer

OXFORD, CT - November 15, 2005, 7:00 pm

Millie Grenough, Author of "OASIS in the Overwhelm: 60-second strategies for balance in a busy world" met with eight women last night at the home of Renee O'Connell to gather ideas for her new book. The women who attended came from several different towns; Mimi Houston of North Haven, Kristina Leffingwell of Wallingford, Vicki Marchitto, Dianne Varga and Laura Manning of Milford, Lisa Barre and Renee O'Connell of Oxford and Carrie Stirk of Southbury. All of the women who gathered have children under the age of ten. Besides their full-time jobs as wives and mothers, many of them have other part-time or full-time jobs.

Millie Grenough is in the process of writing a book especially to help parents deal with their daily challenges. The women talked about such things as what they most liked about their child(ren), what some of their favorite things about being a parent were and the least favorite things about being a parent. Several women commented the favorite things about being a parent were the "unconditional love", "helping their child learn" and "spending time with their child". Another mother, Lisa Barre, commented "when my children say I love you Mommy, can you snuggle with me". The least favorite for many mothers was the lack of time for themselves. Carrie Stirk commented "No me time, No me stuff, but would not trade it for the world".

The gathering of mothers was successful and several of the women expressed interest in having a night "just for fathers". The tentative date is set for December 6, 2005 at 7:00pm at 3 Old Country Road, Oxford. If anyone is interested in attending, please email Renee O'Connell at renee@oasisintheoverwhelm.com or call 888-4733.

The ladies encouraged Millie to bring her strategies to PTA's and other parent groups. Millie taught one of the 60-second strategies from her book "OASIS in the Overwhelm" to the women and signed copies of her book.

Millie Grenough is President of Grenough LLC, a New-Haven based coaching and training center. She is an international workshop presenter, a Personal/Profession Coach and a Clinical Instructor in Social Work of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine. Millie is also an author, the wife of Paul Bloom, a furniture designer - Bloom Design in New Haven and a mother of three stepsons.