Jet: Stay-at-home moms: from boardrooms to baby bottles - Lifestyles
Jet: Stay-at-home moms: from boardrooms to baby bottles - Lifestyles:
"Jolene Ivey's parenting experience is not that different from Howell's or Mattox's. As a child, Ivey, 42, was a latchkey kid until junior high school, when her stepmother retired.
"It was an amazing thing for me to come home to her. She would have dinner cooking and be there to talk. It was great! I decided then that my kids would have me at home instead of going to a baby sitter," explains Ivey.
"When I started dating my husband, I told him that I wanted to get married, have kids and stay home, and if he wasn't interested, then we didn't need to keep dating. He was comfortable with that, and it has worked out great for us." Today, Ivey and her husband Glenn, state's attorney for Prince George's County, MD, are the parents of five boys: Alex, 13, David, 10, Julian, 8, Troy, 5, and Aaron, 3.
After some time of only having her boys to keep her company, Ivey, once a press secretary on Capitol Hill, longed for the conversation of other mothers in her situation.
"Sometimes I just felt lonely for other women who were experiencing the same kind of life I was living," says Ivey.
"White moms don't necessarily look at things the way [we] do."
In the spring of 1997 Ivey and friend Karla Chustz had the idea to publish a newsletter, Mocha Moms, in hopes of connecting with other mothers of color across the country who were taking time off from their careers to raise their children. That April the first newsletter was published and the first support meeting followed in January of 1998.
The word about the newsletter and the organization spread fast.
"Word of mouth was also critical," says Ivey, who lives in Cheverly, MD. "We mailed or gave [the newsletter] to anyone we thought would be interested. I also posted notices at online bulletin boards that targeted African-American mothers. Black at-home moms just started coming out of the woodwork!"
Today Mocha Moms, Inc. has 120 chapters all across the United States with a membership of more than 1,000, including Howell, who serves as the Atlanta chapter's co-president and Mattox who is Essex County, NJ, president and the director of national media relations.
The organization has become well known and takes pride in its community service projects and volunteerism as well as its support for its fellow stay-at-home moms.
Ivey is pleased with the fact that what once started out as a simple supportive newsletter has grown into something far greater than she expected.
"Believe me," Ivey says, "I'm not lonely anymore!"
COPYRIGHT 2003 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group"
"Jolene Ivey's parenting experience is not that different from Howell's or Mattox's. As a child, Ivey, 42, was a latchkey kid until junior high school, when her stepmother retired.
"It was an amazing thing for me to come home to her. She would have dinner cooking and be there to talk. It was great! I decided then that my kids would have me at home instead of going to a baby sitter," explains Ivey.
"When I started dating my husband, I told him that I wanted to get married, have kids and stay home, and if he wasn't interested, then we didn't need to keep dating. He was comfortable with that, and it has worked out great for us." Today, Ivey and her husband Glenn, state's attorney for Prince George's County, MD, are the parents of five boys: Alex, 13, David, 10, Julian, 8, Troy, 5, and Aaron, 3.
After some time of only having her boys to keep her company, Ivey, once a press secretary on Capitol Hill, longed for the conversation of other mothers in her situation.
"Sometimes I just felt lonely for other women who were experiencing the same kind of life I was living," says Ivey.
"White moms don't necessarily look at things the way [we] do."
In the spring of 1997 Ivey and friend Karla Chustz had the idea to publish a newsletter, Mocha Moms, in hopes of connecting with other mothers of color across the country who were taking time off from their careers to raise their children. That April the first newsletter was published and the first support meeting followed in January of 1998.
The word about the newsletter and the organization spread fast.
"Word of mouth was also critical," says Ivey, who lives in Cheverly, MD. "We mailed or gave [the newsletter] to anyone we thought would be interested. I also posted notices at online bulletin boards that targeted African-American mothers. Black at-home moms just started coming out of the woodwork!"
Today Mocha Moms, Inc. has 120 chapters all across the United States with a membership of more than 1,000, including Howell, who serves as the Atlanta chapter's co-president and Mattox who is Essex County, NJ, president and the director of national media relations.
The organization has become well known and takes pride in its community service projects and volunteerism as well as its support for its fellow stay-at-home moms.
Ivey is pleased with the fact that what once started out as a simple supportive newsletter has grown into something far greater than she expected.
"Believe me," Ivey says, "I'm not lonely anymore!"
COPYRIGHT 2003 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group"
posted by Barry O'Connell at 2:57 PM
<< Home