My name is Marissa Howard.

 I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker by training. I'm also a Mom of two boys, an extrovert, and a lover of lifting heavy things. Since becoming a Mom, I've learned that I'm easily overstimulated by sounds and that tolerating my kids' distress is way harder than I'd expected it to be. I've also been reminded that by-the-water is always the most calming place for me to be, and embroidery gives me the sense of completed-project mastery that we all crave. Being a mom has been simultaneously magical and exhausting.

 I think in some ways, parenting has always been that way. In other ways, it's become much harder. The expectations of parents today are untenable and unsustainable. I'm on a mission to help change that - one parent, one workshop, one community at a time.

Marissa Howard, LCSW