8,228 miles away: cross continent parenting in COVID-19
This episode is about shaping and reshaping our families. Sometimes the paths that we forge result from external constraints. For Cristin Marona, that constraint was posed by the global COVID 19 Pandemic. As a result of the pandemic, Cristin’s first major decision as a new mom was to move to the United States, leaving her husband in Africa for an undefined period. As a public health professional, Cristin shares how her maternal instincts and risk assessment led her to leave their Tanzanian home, and the population she serves, to ensure better health care for her baby. Cristin returns to the place she grew up, Savannah, Georgia and parents her newborn from her childhood bedroom.
Cristin shares her relationship with her mother before and after having a baby, and how her mother steps in to co-parent and help with the overwhelm of raising a baby without her husband. Plus, we talk about parenting remotely, how Cristin approaches blending cultures with her husband, and her vision for raising a global citizen.
Takeaways:
Be okay with not being good at certain things; you will not do well at everything. Find the ability to say that you're doing the best you can.
When one partner has to travel, it’s harder to be the person left behind. Find ways to compromise each other’s comfort zones.
You don’t know how you’re going to feel as a mom until you have the baby.
It’s amazing when parents turn into grandparents and a support system
Living in a non-traditional way will expose your baby to vulnerability and other value systems.
Parenting often involves blending two or more cultures with their own traditions and values. It’s important for partners to be patient with each other and communicate as they develop their combined parenting style.
In This Episode:
[ 4:30 ] How the pandemic is reshaping motherhood
[ 7:30 ] The experience of moving a child through multiple countries as a brand new mom. The travel from Tanzania to Savanah, Georgia.
[ 11:10 ] How her work in public health influenced her decision to move to the U.S.
[ 16:29 ] Cristin’s co-parenting experience with her parents instead of with her partner
[ 19:10 ] Cristin’s relationship with her mother before and after having a baby.
[ 24:50 ] What co-parenting looks like for Cristin, plus different parenting styles from different upbringings
[ 26:48 ] Cultural differences on what outside help means to her vs her husband
[ 32:16 ] Raising a family with 3 cultures of influence
Bio:
Cristin comes to us as first and foremost a new mama, but also a pubic heath practitioner, designer, academic and yogi. Cristin Marona works as the Director of Positive Change at Matchboxology, focused in Social and Behavioral Change. (IG @matchboxology_ website: www.matchboxology.com) She brings 15+ years of experience in the global public health sector, social work and development, with over a decade on the African continent, as a social worker and with a MPH focused in global health. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, specializing in practiced based program design and a DrPH candidate at the London School of Tropical Medicine. Cristin also has a penchant for pencil skirts and is the founder and creative director of Bow Bow Ink, an African based ethical clothing company.
Bow Bow Ink infuses ethics, transparency, fair trade and accountability into every step of creating our beautiful designs. (IG: @bowbowink website: www.bowbowink.com) A devout yogi, Cristin bring her lessons to the mat weekly (IG: yujmukti) Yoga for Wellness Africa, an initiative that focuses on offering yoga & meditation to challenged populations. Cristin thrives in working with challenges & finding solutions, enjoys serving on a number of local boards, & is a bookworm of note. Cristin lives with her husband, daughter & beagle in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Links
