Happy New Year, readers!! 2022 has come to an end and 2023 has already kicked off relatively strong. My family and I filmed The Parent Test for ABC all summer long; it was wonderful for our family.
Real estate, makeup artistry, and being a wife and mother to three little children under 9 years old weren't enough for this gal. In pure Sara fashion, I need to have a lot going on, and what better experience than to document our lives in 2022? I do very well under pressure, I think it has a lot to do with how I was raised and the life I have lived. I can handle anything life throws my way, no matter how often I complain or stress out over the course. So what was otherwise insanity for other families was just a summer to remember for me.
2022 was a special year for our family because it marked 10 years that my husband Michael and I had been married and 222 is a very special number trio for us. 2/22 being the day we got married and our children were spaced out in birth 2-2-2 (2013-2015-2017). In many ways, I like to believe the universe had this gift for me. A visual snapshot of how life is/was.
We went through a series of psychological meetings and sessions of questions being asked in order to assess what type of parenting we are called. After about 2 weeks of these phone calls, zoom sessions, and email questions we were labeled as New Age parents.
What is New Age? It's ALL of the parenting styles we either have heard of, were raised in, or didn't even know about. Since life is ever-changing, so do the principles and practices we are familiar with that need to change. New Age is a combination of Disciplined, Free Range, High Achievement, Gentle, Attachment, Traditional, etc, the list goes on.
New Age parenting is being the parent needed at any time. Sometimes life calls for a strict parenting approach and other times a looser approach is best, like being your child's friend when they need one. The thought of "Im not your friend Im your parent" is gross to us. We believe you can guide like a parent and still be a friend when our children need one. Being your child's friend has nothing to do with respect or a lack thereof. It is about meeting your child where you can see they need to be met, putting your ego aside to help a less experienced and developed human work through what they are going through.
Since people think "No Rules" when they think of New Age, we were enthusiastic to prove that belief to be wrong. New Age is the Inclusion of everything that's needed to raise healthy, happy, wholesome children. New Age is about adaptability, being able to see that we don't live in the same world we were raised in and we certainly don't live in our parents' timeline. New Age is taking all the positive elements of our own upbringing and incorporating them into how we raise children. We were quite excited to show the world that you can have partners from different religions live in complete harmony. You can have an immigrant with a founding family pave their own path and still give it roots, a backbone, and wings.
The show was fun, exciting, and catering, and overall, it made my children so very happy all the time. We participated in so many challenges, but not all were shown on TV. Our challenges brought us closer as a family and exposed what areas we excel in. The last 9 days of filming were in-studio. During this time we had a chance to meet the other families in participation.
12 families from all over the nations ...putting their parenting to the test. Wait, what? test? judging? an outcome of results shown to the nation??
Yes and No-
We knew we were participating in an American version of an Australian show (another country is also filming now, yeah- it will be GLOBAL). We knew the basis of the show was about highlighting the different types of family life in America. We knew we would be in a series of "challenges" that will put our parenting to the test. Meaning, all parents raise with love and morals and ethics, but how do our children behave when we arent around? When we test their understanding? We were very interested to see how our children would respond.
We didn't know it was an elimination type of show where parents judge each other! Even though the thought of that felt a little off, we were all for it because we knew we were in the presence of a parenting expert, Doc Brown. We knew he would answer and guide any questions that would arise.
We were featured on Scary Mommy
We were also featured on
We were also featured on Good Morning America !!!!!
Here too on the New York Post
Weve been busy making memories and are really looking forward to what 2023 has in store. Im hoping more historical properties pop up, vacations, friend gatherings, children making friends, and health before all else.
If you're interested in watching The Parent Test you can stream all the episodes on HULU
Good family