TulipGirl

The Ezzo.info website has a great collection of stories from Babywise/Ezzo/GFI families on the Voices of Experience page. These stories represent a range of families — families who utilized Ezzo parenting ideas motivated by religious conviction, who simply wanted to Babywise their infants to get the promised sleeping through the night, or who were looking for some practical ideas for toddlers.

Of these stories, I’ve found especially valuable reading the reflections from the families with older children, those who stayed the course and truly understood and implemented the Ezzo materials as intended. One example of this is ChewyMom and her family. ChewyMom was qualified as what is termed a “Contact Mom.” These Contact Moms are not directly related to to Growing Families International, but are under the umbrella of a sister-organization. (This is a little confusing, I know — my understanding is this division is related to legal liability and tax reasons, so the Contact Moms can be part of a legally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit while Gary Ezzo’s organization is a for-profit “ministry”.) But the Contact Moms program — about which we’ll be talking later this week — are comprised of the mothers who are recognized as knowing, understanding, and utilizing the material with such proficiency that they are recommended to new Ezzo moms to provide support and advice. Clearly, anyone qualified to be a Contact Mom is speaking from “the inside” of the Ezzo philosophical mindset.

I’d encourage you to read through the series ChewyMom wrote on her journey through Ezzo parenting and what she learned along the way. I think you’ll find great encouragement whether you are a new moms starting out or if you are reflecting on your parenting years.

How I Got Involved with GFI
Why I Loved GFI
Becoming a Contact Mom for GFI
Red Flags with GFI
Disassociating Myself from the Ezzos and GFI
My Parenting Post-GFI

In a similar vein, other mothers have written on Ezzo parenting from a “gone the distance” perspective. This includes another contact mom, Laurie, who has a collection of essays she wrote partly while she was utilizing during her Ezzo years and a few from shortly thereafter.

Kim had older children when she started to pull from the Ezzo parenting philosophy. Her posts are less of a chronology of events than Chewy’s but very clearly illustrate the impact of these ideas:
The Right Equipment
Random Thoughts on Mothering
Merciful Parenting

And again, I invite you to read through the archives of the Ezzo.info Voices of Experiences collection, and if you want to tell your story, you can email the editor (who isn’t me!) at ezzo.info AT gmail DOT com.

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This post is part of the Ezzo Week 2010 series. As a reminder, we are looking closely at a set of ideas, or “philosophy” as Gary Ezzo terms it – but not being critical of parents who are raising their children with love and the resources which they have.