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A couple times a month throughout 2022, our Marketing Communications Leader is connecting with parents of young children at our partner organizations to lift up the insights of these hard-working parents and the work of our amazing partners. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest story delivered right to your inbox and share the inspiring nuggets from these dedicated parents on social media when they resonate with you.
FAST FACTS
- Name: Tina Sherman
- Pronouns: she/her
- Location: Apex, NC
- Year when she became a parent: 2005
- Where Tina works: Senior Campaign Director at @MomsRising
- Organizations she’s involved in: MomsRising, U.S. Breastfeeding Committee, Town of Apex Planning Board
- When she got started in advocacy: 1992
- About her kids: 16 year old, 7 year old, and 13 year old twins
6 Questions with Tina, the Super Woman
Lindsay Q1: What issues, policies and/or programs are you passionate about?
Tina A1: Supporting and empowering parents in their journey of parenthood. What that looks like is ensuring they have all the information that they need to make the best choices for their family, that they have access to lawmakers and decision makers when they want to see a change in policies that affect their families; and allowing them a platform to share their experiences and their stories with other parents and other decision makers.
Lindsay Q2: What are your biggest challenges or worries as a parent of a child in early childhood?
Tina A2: Right now, coming out [hopefully] of the pandemic, I see so many opportunities… Before it was “cool” to talk about Build Back Better, I was talking about that. Very early on in the pandemic, the whole world appeared to be falling apart. From my vantage point, the pandemic has shone a light on policies that are failing families. Child care. Health care costs. Access to transportation. These did not come out of the blue. We have to build back better. It’s not about the President’s agenda. We have had a once in a lifetime, once in a century global pandemic, so we DO have to rebuild and build back better. There are holes and I don’t see how they’re being addressed. My biggest fear is that we will come out on the other side of this pandemic, not refilling those holes, when we absolutely had the opportunity to. That’s my biggest fear. But it takes courage. We’re all tired, but our children deserve that.
Lindsay Q3: You’ve raised kids from birth to teen ages now. What was both the most magical and the hardest about early childhood, birth to age eight, time frame for you as a parent?
Tina A3: My most challenging times – whether it was potty training twins, not sleeping through the night, having to show up for work and be on whether I felt like I could or not – were all really hard, but I try to keep them in check, with the perspective that they’re short-lived moments. Once that passes, a new, different challenge will come. That challenge, in that moment, wasn’t that big of a challenge that it felt like it was. Kind of like the adage, “the years are long, but the days are short.” While this moment is hard, it does not last forever. That challenge will dissipate. I still do that to this day.
Lindsay Q4: What shifted in your perspective since becoming a parent?
Tina A4: How important it is to take care of yourself. I am a better mother, wife, colleague, and better person when I am balanced and able to be fully present and be me. It’s so important in parenting – where we focus so much on the children — to focus on ourselves.
Lindsay Q5: Black Maternal Health is highlighted in April. I know that you support moms with MomsRising, but have also worked as a doula. What do you think could most improve Black maternal health outcomes?
Tina A5: Listening to Black moms. If we start there, there is so much we can learn. If we just listened, Black families have the answer.
(Note the Hear Her concerns CDC Campaign.)
Lindsay Q6: What brings the most joy to your family?
Tina A6: We like to go on trips, whether that’s a quick trip to the beach that’s two hours away, a cruise, or something fun and whimsical – together.
Tina Sherman is the Senior Campaigns Director for MomsRising. Follow her on Twitter. MomsRising is an online, on-the-ground movement for Moms and the people who love them. Follow MomsRising on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. MomsRising is a partner between NC Early Childhood Foundation and Family Forward NC, Pathways to Grade-Level Reading, and Care and Learning initiatives.