Raising Public Awareness of ACEs with Help from Parenting Bloggers
One mom wrote about the ghosts she battled after turning in her combat boots for a diaper bag. A parent in upstate New York discusses the ongoing challenge of parenting with ACEs. A Georgia blogger wrote about the way her husband learned to cope with the toxic stress and turmoil of a childhood on the move in a family of drinkers.
Over the last six months, Stress Health has partnered with parenting bloggers nationwide to spread the word about childhood adversity and its impact on children.
As part of this campaign, parent bloggers learned more about research on Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs. Some used what they learned to write poignant personal accounts of trauma and resilience, such as this post from the blog Our Whiskey Lullaby. In the post, north Georgia blogger Katherine Bartlett traced the mystery of her family’s frequent, disruptive moves:
“Growing up, my husband had a very dysfunctional household. His dad was a bad drinker and would beat his mom and also yell at all the kids. Because of his instability, his family moved around a lot. His dad had a bad temper, so if he got upset at work, he would just quit, come home and tell everyone to pack what they could in the car. Then they would leave everything else behind and go somewhere new. This chaos forced them live in hotels, motels, and the projects; they were even homeless in the woods.
“My husband was always switching schools and never had a chance to date in high school or have friends. He became very antisocial, and then as an adult, he started following the pattern of his father. He would move away quickly if someone offended him and just start over with the clothes on his back. After all the years of moving in his childhood, he had accepted this as normal.
“When we first got married, even we started moving around a lot. In a year's time, we had already lived in more than five places. It took years for him to start getting rid of the baggage that his toxic stress had given him…But I am happy to say that now our daughter has lived in the same town her whole life….”
She and other bloggers were gratified to learn that the right kind of care and support can help mitigate the impact of toxic stress and help children bounce back. In the blog Embracing Imperfect, for example, a mom whose daughters have disabilities talks about six science-based ways to make children secure and connected.
The campaign produced more than 85 blogs with an estimated reach of 25 million, with many readers writing to thank the bloggers for what one called “this invaluable information that I’m hearing for the first time.” Among the campaign’s posts:
Nashville mom Scarlet Paolicchi discusses how to recognize symptoms of toxic stress in her Family Focus Blog
In their popular blog Evie+Sarah, two military wives write the joy – and stress -- of homecoming day as the long-awaited ship carrying their husbands pulls up to the pier: “It’s two minutes of perfect–it’s my husband dropping to his knees and my kids running toward him in a scene repeated in every military homecoming film. Now that he’s home, the stress is over, right? Not at all….”
In A Nation of Moms, a mother in upstate New York discusses the special challenges of parenting with ACEs
In the blog Airman Turned Mom, a mom in southern California talks returning from Afghanistan, self-care for her PTSD and the struggle to prevent toxic stress in her kids
In Whimsical September, an Alabama blogger talks about how excited she is to be spreading the news about ACEs, toxic stress and interventions.
