About

Crazy Good Parent was born out of my frustration at looking for support as a parent with a mental illness. There are plenty of parenting resources if I’m looking to learn how to snoop on my teen or when to talk to my daughter about, you know, that. And there are lots of resources for dealing with my mental health. Whether I’m interested in nutrition, drug interactions, meditation for stress management, or want to find a new therapist, I’m covered.

But there wasn’t anywhere to turn when I wondered how much my kids should know about my illness. Or how to deal with my son’s reaction to learning I’ve been suicidal. And there wasn’t any place to hang out with other people like me, moms and dads trying to be the best parent they can be while managing a sometimes unruly mind. People who want to be crazy good parents.

This is meant to be a supportive place, but also one with a sense of humor. No need to be stiff or formal. Let me know who you are, how you got here, how you deal with being a crazy good parent.

Janice

31 responses to “About”

  1. Janice,
    Great idea! And you have all my support. Le Clown would even offer you a contribution, this is how much he believes in this. Now can I go back and watch some Walter White?
    Le Clown

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    • I cannot tell you how humbled I am to have all your support. I would be honored to have a contribution from you and was secretly hoping you’d volunteer! So, this is an excellent first day. Let me know what you’d like to contribute and when. I have one contribution coming in for week of the 20th, but other than that, the schedule is yours. I believe the Ring Mistress qualifies as a crazy good parent as well and the invitation is extended to her of course.

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      • Janice,
        I can talk to the Ringmistress. She is on a blogging hiatus as she is struggling with the comment portion of blogging… As for me, give me a date and I will commit.

        Send me an email on FB please, I don’t get half of my messages on GMAIL for some reason.
        Le Clown

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  2. I just recently began my blog and have been going back and forth about weather or not to write about my struggles with depression and parenting. I’ve been upset with myself for shying away from it. I considered starting an anonymous blog so I could feel completely safe and honest with what I really need to say but to me that kind of defeated my whole intention in starting my blog. Thank you so much for having the empathy, insight and initiative to start such an honorable platform for people like me. I look forward to reading, sharing, learning and connecting.

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    • Thank you for the lovely compliments. I must tell you that being open about your diagnosis (that’s what the professionals call it! Isn’t that fun?) can create difficulties in your life. Do not beat yourself up for not going boldly into that territory. It would be reckless to do so until you knew it was the right thing to do.

      I decided to be open about my bipolar disorder because I had nothing to lose. I was hoping to work as a teacher, but the economy and my age conspired to make that nearly impossible. I went back to writing and it just seemed the right time to start telling people about my life.

      I am convinced that my openness has made it even more difficult for me to find a job. Employers google potential hires. You google me and find that I am bipolar. I completely understand not wanting to hire me but only if one doesn’t know anyone with bipolar disorder. I also realize that being open about my disorder pretty much locked the shut door on my public school career.

      I have scheduled a super fabulous educator and writer to put together a post on living “out” with mental illness. He’ll be posting after the first of the year. I hope you’ll be around for his post. I know I’m looking forward to it. I also encourage you to consider writing for Crazy Good Parent. I can set everything up so that you are completely anonymous.

      Again, thanks.
      Janice

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  5. Hey! Found you through Emily over at the waiting. I am a mom of three who deals with anxiety. I’ve been doing a LOT better lately due to more sleep (thanks to kid #3 realizing sleep is good), but there are still days where it is so so hard. Thanks for starting a great blog! Can’t wait to read more.

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  7. I just stumbled onto your delightful blog. I look forward to reading more. I come from a long line of people with various mental illnesses, and as a parent I’m figuring out how to handle my own and help my kids along the way. As a child, no one in my life was open about any of their struggles, vast as they were. I certainly knew that my parents were a bit “off” but I didn’t have language for my experiences and no one helped me understand what was going on because they didn’t know. After my father’s suicide I vowed that I would never allow myself to be caged by the stigma of mental illness, but I still struggle with that delicate balance of how much to keep under wraps and how much to share. Blogging anonymously has allowed me to be more open about my own struggles. At the same time, I do what I can to outwardly share my experiences when I feel safe. Personally, I have experience with ADHD, eating disorders, depression, and anxiety. I’ve been treated for all of these and my treatment has consisted of a combination of therapy, medication, homeopathic remedies, education, yoga, meditation, the list goes on and on. Thank you for providing space for such an important topic.

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    • Oh, you’re very welcome and thanks for following. I hope you’ll consider contributing a piece. I am planning to focus on rants and humor in April, but if that’s not up your alley, May’s focus will be on caring for ourselves physically. I think yoga could fit in there. I’m also considering a month on therapy. Meditation, anyone?

      I hope you’ll poke around and check out some of the other posts. One is from a man whose father committed suicide. It’s titled “What the grandchildren should know” or something close to that. We’ve also had a yoga post with some very simple poses that even my dog (and by that I mean me) could do. It’s a December post and intended for rank beginners for stress relief. If you’d like to write something for more advanced practitioners, that would be fabulous.

      So, you see, there are many ways you could add your voice to Crazy Good Parent! You can email me at crazygoodparent@comcast.net

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  9. This is such an important blog and community, destigmatizing a subject– and life experience– that drives many of us as writer-parents. Thanks for bringing so many of us out of the shadows. It will take more of this sort of openness to combat the shame associated with mental illness and, worse, mental illness as a parent.

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  10. I found out about your blog through my kindred spirit friend Kitt O’Malley’s Twitter feed. I am a mom with postpartum bipolar disorder and I have my own blog/book-in-progress, plus I write for the incredible website Stigmama.com (Stigmama accepts submissions from writers who discuss motherhood, stigma, & mental illness…and more!) and the International Bipolar Foundation. Looking forward to reading your blog! :))) Take care, Dyane

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    • So good of you to drop in and link to your blog. I love the name. I have been thinking of writing about stigma for a while, so I’ll definitely check out Stigmama. Thanks for the follow.

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  11. Great blog. I am not a parent and do not know if I will ever be one. However, this blog is so helpful. If I do get married and have kids, I will need people like you in my life. Thank you so much for being open and honest.

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  12. Fantastic idea for a blog! There really is very little information specifically on living with things like depression, schizophrenia (my dad), or autism (me)…as a parent. I couldn’t find anything encouraging or hardly any resources for parents with Asperger’s, so I had to start a blog and am looking for great links to add to my resources page. Definitely adding your blog!

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    • Thank you! I don’t have links on Crazy Good Parent, though I know I really should. As life gets calmer in the coming months, I’ll work on it! In the meantime, would you like to write for Crazy Good Parent??

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