Thursday, January 28, 2010

Improv--ing parenting

I've been a mother for almost three years. It's crazy to think that three years ago, my husband and I were enjoying our final days of being child-free as we toured Beijing for several days before meeting our first beautiful daughter for the first time (and six months before meeting our second beautiful daughter.)

Before becoming a mom, I remember reading parenting books, magazines and even taking a "new parents" course. The books and magazine were kind of useful in calming my fears about what to expect. The course taught me how to change a diaper, clean a baby, what to feed her, etc. It wasn't until recently, though, that I discovered what helped better than any parenting book or course (or part-time nanny, which, by the way, helps immensely too if you have no family nearby).

The thing that every parent-to-be or frenzied parent should do is take an improv class or two or, in my case, a year and counting. Improv has taught me how to be patient, live in the moment, listen, tell more creative stories, be spontaneous, stop saying 'no' and much more. I just finished my year of beginning improv at the Second City Training Center, and now I'm taking improv classes at iO Chicago.

My daughters love being silly with me...now I just need them to let me practice my accents and characters...they only want me to sound like "Mommy."

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