Meet Elizabeth Green

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elizabeth Green a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, so great to have you on the platform. There’s so much we want to ask you, but let’s start with the topic of self-care. Do you do anything for self-care and if so, do you think it’s had a meaningful impact on your effectiveness?

What does self-care really mean? I suppose it’s different for everyone. In my mind, self-care isn’t about doing any one particular thing like taking a bath or exercising, but more about the intention behind the action. It’s about caring enough about your well-being to make time to find ways to fill your own cup. A lot us nurturing types are really good at responding to what others need, but may not make room for our own needs. I put my own needs on the back-burner until I finally couldn’t anymore. Once I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer my focus shifted from caring for everyone else to needing to make time and space for my own care. I needed to rest. A lot. I needed quiet and less stress in my life. I needed to find ways to live without overextending all the time. For me, this meant more down time than I had previously allowed myself. It meant making time each morning for creative dance while listening to music. It meant watching the trees and birds in a quiet place. It meant not pushing myself to be productive all the damn time. As I recovered from three surgeries in three years I found I needed to remind myself that self-care is not an indulgence, but a necessity. The more I allowed myself to create a balance between work and rest, the more effective I became in the work I was doing. It’s a life-long lesson I’m still trying to learn.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I became interested in early childhood development, and parent education over 40 years ago. I wanted to understand how babies learn and grow, starting from in-utero development to acquiring language. How does a newborn go from reflexive movements to standing and walking all in one year? How do they learn how to fall asleep on their own? What helps a child feel safe to explore their world? What can a parent do to foster close connections and resilience? Throughout my work in this field, I have learned the most from the parents who have shared with me their joys and struggles along their parenting journey, as well as from my own experience as an infant and toddler care provider, sleep consultant, mother, and grandmother. I continue to ponder the big questions surrounding the early parenting years and delight in the ongoing pursuit of understanding our little ones. I work closely with families of varying needs to help answer parenting questions and provide support, specializing in the sleep, feeding, and behavior of children under four. I continue to learn and grow with each family I work with.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Being a good listener. This is harder than it seems! It can be easy to get caught up in trying to share all the knowledge you have learned along the way, so you sound like you know what you are doing. But listening to what someone else is saying with an open mind and heart and without needing to “fix” anything is a gift. The suggestions will come, but if you can really listen first, whatever you suggest will land with greater meaning and appreciation.

2. Be a discerning reader of information on the internet. Not all of it is true or accurate. Be careful to not get swept up in the latest trend. Dig deeper and do the research needed to make an informed decision.

3. Be open to changing your mind. There are many ways to look at something if you are willing to be open to another perspective. Sometimes you may find that what you once believed was the right way to do something isn’t the only way. It’s important to consider other points of view.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

I think about this question a lot. I’m at an age where there’s more years behind me than in front of me, so 10 years could be all that’s left. One never knows. I would like to spend my time enjoying simple pleasures like gardening, dancing, taking walks in the woods, reading and listening to books, hanging out with my family and friends, as well as continuing to support parents with little ones. I still love my work and don’t see that changing. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to say that! I’d like to relax into doing less, but I would like to continue to share what my many years in the early parenting field has taught me so that parents feel better equipped to make choices that work best for their family.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.earlyparentingsleepsupport.com
• Instagram: earlyparentingsleepsupport
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-green