Mothers on stilts and then some

Emily and I just returned from the ARM "MotherLode" Conference (Association for Research on Mothering) in Toronto. It was extraordinary.

First, read this great cover article from Canada's National Post, it's gives a very good feel for the event, and you will recognize some names in it!

Then, look at the delightful Andrea's awesome Flickr slideshow. Be sure to enjoy the photo of us with our dear, beautiful friend DaniGirl, one of our first blog buddies -way back in 2004!- and a truly magical person!

This was one of those moments in time, an experience that will have Emily and me talking for weeks and months to come, and we are so motivated by the many ideas and stories we heard from these talented and brilliant women.

We had the honor of representing MomsRising, and distributing Joan and Kristin's amazing book and documentary, both titled The MotherHood Manifesto. Everyone LOVED them.

On behalf of the Huffington Post, we also made sure the group got copies of Arianna Huffington's book, On Becoming Fearless. The conference attendees loved that too.

Some of the other bright moments:

Ann Crittenden is a fantastic and mind-blowingly effective speaker, and I am going out today to buy her latest book, If You've Raised Kids, You Can Manage Anything.  She also likes falafel, which we had great fun buying in a hole-in-the-wall downtown Toronto falafel shop. Not only that, Emily and Ann had the unique experience of being partners in an "acting" exercise (that none of us in this particular session knew was coming!)designed to prepare mothers to speak out to lawmakers and press on advocacy issues. The exercises included staring into your partner's eyes in a meaningful way; breathing deeply; and grunting. That was one experience for the books, that's for sure! Everyone had a good chuckle over it too. My partner was a newspaper reporter who looked like she wanted to die. "I am just here to cover the story!" she kept saying.    

Beth Osnes from Mothers Acting Up was the person conducting the "acting" seminar, and this is one person to keep your eyes on, not just because she launches surprise acting classes on unsuspecting conference-goers. She and her group are leading a charge to raise awareness of issues affecting children, and to get attention she has organized parades with mothers on stilts wearing suffragette costumes; filled school buses with moms and children for trips to state capitols; and writes press releases for just about everything she does, which gets her group LOTs of coverage. She is a remarkable woman, and we encourage you to visit her site, find out what you can do, and buy their very cool calendar. I got one, and it is wonderful.  Beth is a very powerful public speaker, by the way, if you are ever looking for speakers.

Debra Levy and Joanne Brundage of Mothers and More conducted a valuable session on mothers and advocacy. It was so informative, and it was especially exciting to meet up with Debra. She has helped with the Pennsylvania campaign in such amazing and significant ways. She is a very special, smart person and it was a delight to meet her. I also encourage all of you to read up on the history of Mothers and More and the inspiring leadership of Joanne.

Another great honor was meeting Judith Stadtman Tucker of Mothers Movement Online. Judy has been an incredible resource for us in the Pennsylvania campaign, and she has also become someone I value as an adviser. She is one of the wisest women out there, a guru, and I am eager for our next brainstorming session. 

I am so excited that we also got to meet Amy Tiemann, of Mojo Mom. Wow, she is another incredible woman. Amy said that she has a retreat center and mother activists need to meet there soon. I completely agree. Hey, Amy - when? Sign us up!

The lovely and oh so smart Jen from MUBAR was on a very compelling panel on mom bloggers. It was the best panel on the subject I have ever seen. If we could have, I think the group would have stayed all night - the discussion was that good. The panel included:

The thoughtful and very well prepared Andrea from Beanie Baby and The Whole Mom 

Sweet, right-on-the-mark Dani, from Postcards from the Mothership

The very smart, insightful  Ann Douglas

And Marla from Hello Josephine who had some of the best quotes in her remarks that I have ever heard.

In the audience and contributing to a tremendously powerful and productive Q & A session was:

Catherine, from Her Bad Mother

Andi Buchanan from MotherShock and Mother Talk, who was on several panels at the conference

Nadine from Blogging Baby and Martinis for Milk and

Andrea (a fellow DotMom!)

Whew. What a conference! Andrea O'Reilly and Renee Knapp from ARM did a fantastic job. I hope we get the chance to meet again soon, and I also hope we keep all this exicitng conversation going through the high speed, motherhood neighborhood we share.   

Comments

[Amy Tiemann -- Mojo Mom]

Hey Cooper and Emily, It was great to meet you, too. I am sorry we didn't get to spend more time together but I hope to see you again. Yes, let's think about a retreat here in North Carolina. Let's bookmark a conversation for the near future after I get my head around the experience of the last four days at the conference, and re-entry shock back into home life.

[DaniGirl]

Oh wow - I didn't think I had any regrets about this past weekend, but after reading your summary, I do regret that I didn't have the chance to catch any of the other sessions. Wow!

And can I say that meeting you two was really one of the highlights of a weekend filled with highlights? I hope I didn't babble too foolishly at you - I was just blown away by your presence! How amazing to finally meet you both in person, and to discover that you're nicer and smarter and more dynamic in real life than in your blogs. Did I mention "wow!"???

[Amy Tiemann -- Mojo Mom]

Hey Cooper and Emily, It was great to meet you, too. I am sorry we didn't get to spend more time together but I hope to see you again. Yes, let's think about a retreat here in North Carolina. Let's bookmark a conversation for the near future after I get my head around the experience of the last four days at the conference, and re-entry shock back into home life.

[Marla]

It was fantastic to meet you too! I was thrilled to receive the book - you can see how "found" objects like that matter so much to me, especially when the sources are so much a part of why I enjoy them.

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me after!

[BeachMama]

How sorry I am that I missed the conference. I would have loved to go, just to meet both of you and get to chat with you in person. Another time.

[andrea from the fishbowl]

I have gushed elsewhere, so I will attempt to keep this to the bare minimum. It was *ssssooooo* nice to meet you both. I do admire both of you so much.

Thank you as well for your kind shout-out re: the pics. I wish I had shot more. Talked more. And had more time overall!

Ah well. Next time, okay? ?)

[Cynthia Samuels]

You two are just remarkable! It does one's heart good to have our constituency represented by such fine, smart and talented women. I'm proud to know you!

[Nadine AKA scarbiedoll]

Hey gals, I've been trying to get a photo of Nate reading the Huffington book (he keeps picking it up and pretend reading and it the CUTEST thing ever) to send to you, but every time he sees the camera, he drops the book. As soon as I manage to capture it, I'll be posting about On Becoming Fearless and my own battles with fear. Thanks for tipping me to the book.