Because as a mother, and as an Aware Parenting Instructor, I've seen how emotive the subject of screens is.

On the one hand, we live in a culture where there isn't much support for parents.

Often a mother will spend long stretches of time alone at home with small children.

And screens can be really helpful in this nuclear family culture.

We can connect with like-minded people all over the world on Facebook, text a friend when we are feeling upset, or read an online article when we are longing for some mind-stimulation.

We can offer our child a screen so that they are entertained for a while, and we can get on with doing all the things that need to be done, or have some moments just to rest.

We can work from home and run online businesses in ways that weren't possible even five years ago.

And our children can learn all kinds of interesting things about the world.

And yet, the same things that make screens such a gift, their endless capacity to entertain and educate, can mean that they easily become control patterns...

For both us, and our children!

In my fourteen years of parenting, screens have evolved in incredible ways.

And those ways mean that the gifts, and the challenges, have both become bigger.

I have been through such a roller coaster ride of screens for myself and my children.

And I have talked to many parents on similar roller coasters.

So I created this course.

Not to give hard-and-fast rules about screen use for families.

Not to judge.

Not to add more fuel to the fire of self-judgment for parents.

Not to offer a one-size-fits-all approach.

But to give a supportive, empathic, compassionate space for each mother to explore this for herself.

A place to explore what needs are met and not met by screens.

A place to investigate thoughts and beliefs about screens.

A place to remember memories of screen use when we were children and teenagers.

A place to find our own unique ways of staying connected with our kids around screens.

A place to receive compassion for those challenging screen-days.

A place to find clarity about your own values, sweet spots, and strategies around screens.

I wish I had had this course five years ago.

I want to give you a platform so that you can come to your own, heartfelt, connected clarity!

I've had a lot of experience with screens!

I wrote my Ph.D. on the effects of post-natal depression on the mother-infant relationship on a very old screen, 25 years ago.

I worked as a Post-Doctoral Research fellow 23 years ago, learning about babies' cognitive abilities, and we recorded all the data on very old computers!

I finished training as a psychotherapist 21 years ago, and I wrote all my essays on a slightly less old screen!

I've developed Aware Parenting online communities.

I've written a lot of articles on computers!

Nowadays I love making online courses for mothers!

And screens were once a very big control pattern for me.

A few years ago, I was constantly checking Facebook.

As a child, I watched a lot of TV.

And with two homeschooled children aged 16 and 11, we've played a lot with their screen use.

I've explored screen use a lot, and have come to understand that screens have the capacity to meet many of our needs.

For connection, for community, for communication, for learning, for inspiration, for entertainment, for creativity, for clarity, for challenge, for competence.

And we can also use them to disconnect from ourselves and our children.

And our children can use them to meet many of their needs.

And they can also use them to disconnect from themselves and us.

I don't have a perfect plan.

What I do have is plenty of compassion, and a set of processes and reflections to help support mothers get clear about what is going on in their family, connect with their values, put these into practice, and be super-self-compassionate when things don't go to plan.

I've found that over the years, what has changed most is how I treat myself around screens.

The more I've freed myself from guilt, shame, self-judgment, comparison, and unwanted thoughts about my children and their future,

The more I can stay connected with my parenting values;

The more I can stay connected with my kids, before, during and after screen time;

And the more I can stay connected with myself, even when things go pear-shaped.

I'm not about finding perfect solutions.

I don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach.

I'm passionate about compassion for mothers and children (and dads too!)

I love helping mothers increasingly free themselves from past pain, and self-punishment,

so that you can more and more listen to,

and live from,

what feels TRUE FOR YOU.