I am a parenting and life coach and mother to four, young adults, including twin, step sons who are both deaf.  I live in Vancouver Canada with my  husband of 24 years.  When we met he was the custodial parent of his twin boys who were 5 years old at the time.  We have 2 children of our own; a 22 year old daughter and a 20 year old son. All of our children are on their own with the exception of our youngest who is still at home with us. 

 I work from home but do a lot of contract work that takes me into the community.  Apart from my coaching work, I teach American Sign Language to babies.  I also do a lot of public speaking.

My husband is an architect and admits to being a workaholic.  It's something I've just accepted but it's also something I'm very familiar with.  My father was a lawyer and later a judge.  Working a 9-5 day was as foreign to him as it is to my husband.

Now that our children have grown my husband and I are doing a lot more travelling. I also have a life outside my marriage which has always been important to me.  I'm in a book club that has been going strong for over 8 years.  I enjoy regular exercise and love to scrapbook. 

How did you get to where you are now?

My present career is a culmination of my over 20 years working with parents in workshops and parenting groups, plus my 25 years being a parent.

I met my husband 25 years ago at a party where there were deaf people of all ages and people who work with the deaf.  I had been working with deaf children and adults for a number of years.  We were only together 3 weeks when we decided to get married; something I never thought I'd do.  We've had our share of ups and downs but have worked hard to sort out our differences. 

How do you see yourself differently now than you did 10 years ago?

I'm much more confident than I was 10 years ago and I attribute that to the difficulties I've had in my marriage that forced me to look at what my part was.  I learned to have clearer boundaries and to believe in myself.  My journey has helped me in my work, enormously. 

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I have a feeling my husband and I will probably be living in the same house, we will both still be working and our family will have grown.  I see myself still doing many of the things I do now but developed some new hobbies.

Getting married at 31 worked out very well for you even though you imagined yourself married by your mid-twenties.   There was lots of time for travel, fun with friends and living on your own.  It also gave you lots of time for to spin and weave. 

In marriage, let go of expectations and accept what is.  Put up clear boundaries for all the people in your life.  People will respect you more.

Your decision to stay home with the kids and just work part time will pay off.  You'll have no regrets that you missed out on so much of their childhood.  You were there for everything.