Hi! Your friendly, neighborhood Transwoman here! My name is Allanah Raas-Bergquist, and I am the Operations Coordinator at PEPS. I use she/her pronouns and am Dad/Dadda/Daddy to my 5-year-old daughter Svea (her pronouns vacillate between she/they/fancylady/poopadoop). March 31st is International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDoV), which for me is the most important of the few trans* holidays that are on the…
Article by Bright Horizons One of the interesting things about being a parent is the great variation in how we raise our children. At the same time, there are many commonalities from one parent to another. In fact, there is enough similarity that some researchers have tried to group parents by their parenting styles. A parenting style refers to the…
Most of us support PEPS for similar reasons. Maybe we were in a PEPS group ourselves, know and love someone who was, or lead PEPS groups in our spare time. Digging down, though, beyond our own experiences, I bet we are all compelled by the belief that no parent deserves to be alone. We want every new parent to find…
Popular now is a book titled, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, which focuses on the joy brought to us by our material possessions. Recently, I watched both Marie Kondo and the documentary Minimalism. The Minimalist’s mantra goes like this: “Minimalism is a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives” and is one…
Being a new parent can be challenging. No matter how much research you do before your little one joins your family, it’s still common to feel isolated, ill-equipped, or unsupported once they arrive. The Program for Early Parent Support (fondly known as PEPS) and Valley Medical Center’s Children’s Therapy team have partnered to ease some of the worry for new…
5 Basics This Pediatrician Wants Every New Parent to Know Vanessa Raymond, a writer for Right as Rain, a digital publication which provides health and wellness news, tips and information brought to you by the experts at UW Medicine. Pregnancy and Birth in Puerto Rico as an Expat Anjelica Malone, author of Milk Boss 101: The Modern Breastfeeding Journal and Guide shares what it’s like to…
It’s that time of year again! During this cold, rainy season that Seattle is best known for, what can mean for our kids, their allergies, and their overall health? This season, children will likely have a sniffly nose, and the question is: is it a cold or is it allergies? That’s right! Sniffles might not be a cold or a…
We’ve heard from PEPS parents who head to their group meetings without a car. Some families are using transit all the time, some of the time, or want to give it a try and aren’t sure how to get started. “Our ability to use the bus has allowed us to be a one-car household. Not owning a second car saves…
Last month, we gathered to hear an engaging and relevant topic from Shanna Donhauser, a clinically trained social worker and psychotherapist and infant mental health expert. PEPS Grandparents learned how best to support their adult children when they become parents. Parenting changes all the time, and today’s parents experience different demands and expectations. Today there are high expectations for parenting…
This spring, Open Arms Perinatal Services and PEPS started a peer support group for Spanish-speaking families. Open Arms hosted these meetings at El Centro de la Raza and coordinated additional support for the mothers who attended. Maria, Community Connector at PEPS, and Betty Hernandez, a doula at Open Arms, led this first-time pilot group. Betty is also an obstetrical nurse and acts…
