This past summer, I was invited by Drs. McDermid and Vo to recruit Ronald McDonald House families to participate in their Mindful Awareness and Resilience Skills for Parents and Caregivers (MARS-PC).

An interesting concept and opportunity for our families, I thought. As I read more about their mindfulness program and began inviting families to participate, I became more intrigued.

When a parent was unable to attend, I jumped at the opportunity to join in. As a parent of 2 teens, both with whom have received services at BCCH, I was open to the opportunity of learning more about how I could benefit as a parent.

Following several sessions, we learned different “tools” that we could use to be more “present” every day and how this could help us as caregivers to support our kids and those around us.

Throughout the sessions, we were encouraged to try techniques including:

• focusing our attention
• observing our thoughts and feelings without judgement
• finding new ways to be in the moment

I tried my first mindful moment while walking my dog in the morning. The first morning, I noticed how many crows were in the park and observed what they were doing. This is something I had never stopped to observe or think about.

Stopping to think and teaching my mind how to (re-)focus and be present, I find is challenging as I’m often trying to multitask to get more done throughout the day.

I now look forward to finding a moment each day to try to be more in the moment; to be more observant and try to “let go” of the multi-tasking so I can actively give my children and those in my life my focused attention. This is work in progress. 

My key take-aways:

• Mindfulness takes practice
• Being present in my life and in relation to my children will help me be more responsive (vs. reactive)

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in Mars-PC. I hope that more parents and caregivers have the chance to participate in this wonderful program!

***The BC Children’s Hospital Centre for Mindfulness team is very grateful to have partnered with Leslie Louie, Senior Director, Family Services, Ronald McDonald House British Columbia and Yukon. We're delighted that Leslie has since joined the BC Children’s Hospital Centre for Mindfulness Council as a parent/caregiver representative.***