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The Mothertime concept was established over 15 years ago by mother of six and parenting guru, Terri Hardwick
who saw a real need in the community for Mum’s to reach out to other
Mums, share their experiences, encourage and support each other in
their mothering and provide time for Mum’s to focus on being mothers.
It was set up by Terri to help fill the void of isolation, emptiness
and confusion that many mothers experience and as a response to the
decline of traditional maternal support networks in the community.
Northside’s Mothertime group has been running for over six
years, it meets monthly at Northside Community Church on a Monday from
10am-11.30am (approx) and includes a regular group of Mum’s and
Mum’s-to-be from both the local Crows Nest, Lane Cove, Chatswood area
and from other areas of Sydney. The group is lucky enough to have
volunteer carers for the children (ladies from the Church) to enable
the Mum’s to have a good chat without having to worry about their
children! Each month we share morning tea and discuss a topic that
Terri has prepared for the month. The topics focus on a different
aspect of parenting and mothering each month and provide insight,
encouragement and recognition of value and worth of what being a
mother.
There
is an annual Mothertime retreat where the mums get to escape for a
weekend or rest and rejuvenation. There is also and a Mothertime web
site www.mothertime.com.au that provides information on the group, discussion topics and a chat area for Mum’s.
There are five key aims for Mothertime:
1. To encourage mothers to see the value, worth and significance of all that they do.
2. To create a network of care and support for mothers in the community, through the formation of Mothertime groups.
3. To provide a place of warmth and acceptance, to gain mothering skills, share problems, and find appropriate help.
4. To facilitate the formation of new friendships between mothers.
5. To link mothers who are at risk or experiencing difficulty with the appropriate professional help.
TERRI HARWICK’S VISION FOR MOTHERTIME
“I have a big vision for Mothertime. I dream of seeing a Mothertime
group in every community in Australia, and even beyond! Mothers today
are encountering such intense stress and pressure, as they attempt to
find a balance between work and family time. I want to encourage
mothers to recognize that at the end of the day, when the dust settles
and the perspective clears, nothing will ever be more important than
investing in young lives and happy families. Mothertime supports and
upholds the one who holds the very fabric of society together, in her
very capable (and very busy) hands! I am not saying the job will be
easy, but I AM saying that it will be worth it!”
Terri Harwick, Mothertime Founder
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Mothertime 
