Parent Connection: Molly

Family Members? 

It’s me, my husband Nate, our daughter June who is two and half and our dog Hippo!

Where are you from?

I am from Atlanta, Georgia, and I moved here about 10 years ago! It was a big change, and a career change coincided with it— I went from working corporate to working with nonprofits.

What’s your Occupation? 

I am a freelance consultant and producer!

I also co-host a podcast called Totes Recall, and I have since the summer of 2014. The podcast was born out of a conversation with friends about the movie ET. I first saw that movie when I was little, maybe 6 or 7. At the end of the movie, ET is greeted and picked up by his mom. When I watch the movie now, there is no gender to these creatures, but of course when I was little, it made sense to me that the creature picking up and caring for ET would be his mom! That’s what the podcast talks about, how our memory affects movies. The first half of the podcast is how we remember movies (usually very poorly!). Then we re-watch the movie, and come back for the second half, where we dissect our memories and compare it to the truth.

Dream Vacation?

I have so many dream vacations! This time of year, it’s very unspecific— anywhere warm. More specifically,  I would love to go back to Argentina. I got to go there a couple of times for work, it’s the most complex and interesting (and fun) place!

Book You’re Currently Reading or Show You’re Currently Watching: 

Truthfully, the book I’m reading now is called Oh Crap! Potty Training. I used to be a big reader, a book a week, but since I’ve become a mom that’s not as realistic. I’m a big consumer of news now— I recently counted — and I’m subscribed to 5 different news outlets, some local and some national.

On TV,  I’m in the middle of Search Party on HBO Max— it’s a low-key comedy with some mystery! I’ve also been into a documentary  about LuLaRoe—  a company that preyed on stay-at-home moms, a pyramid scheme of sorts.

Do you speak Spanish- or have you learned any in the time you’ve been a part of the Tierra community?

I took Spanish in school, but my greatest education was in taxi cabs in Argentina. No one slowed their Spanish down for me, and I was surprised by how much we could understand. 

For June, I’ve been surprised how quickly she has picked up in Spanish. She knows all of her colors, numbers, and animals. There was a day a few months ago she just started to count out loud to 10 in Spanish. She seems surprised whenever I talk Spanish— in a “mom that’s for school!” way.

When you were looking for childcare, what specifics were you looking for (or what led you to Tierra Encantada)? 

Choosing a daycare felt incredibly hard at the time. Up until we considered daycare centers, we had had our daughter in in-home daycare with a family we loved. That family moved out of state, and as we were looking around, it led us to the realization that it might be time to consider a center, so she could be around more kids and have that experience.

We had heard about TE, we went on a tour, and we felt comfortable. As it turned out, we could not have made a better choice. After the first couple of weeks, seeing my daughter run into the arms of her teacher really helped us feel good about our decision.

There were other things we didn’t know to value when we were looking- eating food, and a great variety of it, every single day. Not having to pack her breakfast, lunch and a snack has been a huge relief. I know this joke is made a lot, but when I read the menus each week I always think to myself I wish I was eating that for lunch!

Favorite memories/stories involving Tierra Encantada/TE Staff/the greater TE Community?

I have a couple!

One is about Ms. Vivian. She has been my child’s teacher since she was an infant (and she is now a toddler). Ms. Vivian tuned into behavioral changes in June very quickly— and when a couple things had changed, she was pretty adamant about that “this isn’t normal for her [June]”. We took her to a doctor and it turned out she was developing an ear infection. I really credit her for noticing that!

There are small things too— whenever we go to parent teacher conferences, my child sits on her teacher’s lap. I think that speaks to the trust she has in them.

At the Fall Festival, there was an activity to paint little pumpkins. I sat June down at the table— and I think she was the youngest one at that table. She had one color to paint with, and the Windom director, he kept circling back to her and asking if she wanted to try a new color. He was saying things like “well you’re such a good artist, I think you should try more colors!”, in a way that was so caring. It was such a vivid illustration of a teacher seeing more potential in pushing harder than it would occur to me to do, knowing what she can do and helping her get there. It’s reassuring to know that teachers and leaders are encouraging her and pushing her in ways she really enjoys and thrives in.