By Angela Johnson

Photo by Karen Haberberg

When California native Latham Thomas first arrived in New York, she couldn’t help but feel that the city could use a little of the warmth she was used to back home.

“There were no trees and people were so much less open. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m needed here!’” Latham recalls. “So I decided to stay.”

After graduating from Columbia University and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Latham thought she’d be using her skills in a laboratory. Instead, this vibrant Manhattan mom is coaching women through one of the most important times in their lives: pregnancy.

To read the full article, please visit newyorkfamily.com.

Parenting is as much about the journey as it is about the memories you make along the way. And just in time for Mother’s Day, nearly twenty local mamas tell all, sharing their favorite moments, insights, lessons and laughter.

Baby Genius

Like most mothers, from the day my son was born, I knew he was special.

So, on a Tuesday afternoon, when he was 18 months old, I wasn’t shocked when I saw him reading Curious George out loud from across the room. I immediately ran to get the video camera.

“He’s a genius!” I exclaimed.

It wasn’t until I got close up that I realized he was reading the book upside-down.   

—Lauren Maslin, Founder and Owner of Encore Maternity

Let The Great World Stop

Recently, at the end of a lousy day during what had been my most trying month in my almost-decade as a parent, my daughter asked me, “Mommy, how do you stop the whole world?”

“Nobody can stop the whole world,” I told her. “It keeps spinning no matter what.” Then I turned off the light and shut the door before Maggie could formulate her follow-up.

But her question stayed with me as I slumped onto the couch. I picked up the remote, and stopped. What if I could press a pause button? What if I could live suspended in that moment before returning to the challenges of my life? And if I could do that for myself, could I not show my children how to do the same?

I have found renewed energy for tackling my own motherhood mountain by stopping. By breathing. And by taking all the stuff out of my backpack that was too heavy for the next part of the climb.

Volunteer breakfasts and auctions and making thirty phone calls by tomorrow? No. Sorry, I’m not available.

“Mommy, can you read just one more story? Mommy, can you answer just one more question? Mommy, can you stop the whole world?”

Yes. Yes, I can.

—Amy Wilson, Author of When Did I Get Like This? and Director of Listen To Your Mother NYC (listentoyourmothershow.com/nyc)

Taking The High Road

Just yesterday my eldest son, who’s ten and a half, came home with a check minus on an assignment. I had helped him with that homework, so WE got a check minus!

I went to Vassar, I have a Masters in French and I have a law degree…and I often can’t understand my son’s homework.

The assignment was a map of Europe and he had to fill in three countries. He received a check minus because the instructions said to fill in the countries with a color and we only labeled them.

So I was up in arms…and I called the school—which is really out of character for me because I usually don’t get involved. But I never had the chance to speak with the teacher.

That day my son came home and said that his teacher knew that I had called the school. I told him that I would call her the very next day.

My ten-and-a-half-year-old looked at me and said: “Mom, don’t call her. Be the bigger person.”

—Aviva Drescher of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City. She is on the Advisory Board of Cancer Schmancer/Trash Cancer and Spokesperson for One Step Ahead Foundation.

To read the full article at New York Family click here.

Our favorite family events for each day of the week

Reduce, reuse and recycle is the motto of the week as we prepare for Earth Day. Check out these creative events that reduce boredom, such as a band that reuses kitchen tools as instruments and art projects that use recycled materials.

Monday, April 16
Mama Glow Salon Series Presents East Coast Premiere of More Business of Being Born at Scandinavia House
58 Park Avenue
6-9:30pm

Maternity lifestyle brand Mama Glow presents Ricki Lake’s More Business of Being Born. The film takes a practical look at birthing options and features celebrity birth stories from Alanis Morissette, Gisele Bundchen and more. Don’t miss the cocktails beforehand and the film discussion afterward! New York Family is a proud media sponsor.

Tuesday, April 17
Launch Party for The Very Fairy Princess: Here Comes the Flower Girl at Books of Wonder
18 West 18th Street
4-6pm

Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton launch the third book in their The Very Fairy Princess series, Here Comes the Flower Girl. Fairy princess Gerry is going to be a flower girl at her Aunt Sue’s wedding, but she must save the day when bad weather threatens to ruin it! Recommended for ages 3-8. For this event, Books of Wonder requests that no books be brought from home.

Wednesday, April 18
McKenna Mirror Craft or “Take the Challenge” Scavenger Hunt at the American Girl Place
609 Fifth Avenue
3:30-5pm

Girls ages eight and older can have an American Girl-filled afternoon! Celebrate the American Girl of the Year, McKenna, by doing a paper mirror craft with inspiring messages or going on a scavenger hunt throughout the Fifth Avenue flagship store.

To see the full listings visit New York Family by clicking here.

By Eric Messinger

Have you met Latham?

Latham Thomas, a local specialist in maternal and child well-being, helps NYC families achieve optimal health through her new holistic lifestyle hub, Mama Glow. We sat down with the wellness expert to ask all about the Mama Glow philosophy and to get the scoop on the upcoming Mama Glow Salon Series taking place on April 16th. The event will feature Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein’s acclaimed documentary, More Business of Being Born, along with a panel discussion held by Rebecca Minkoff, Lyss Stern of Diva Moms, Denise Albert and Melissa Gerstein from The MOMS and Dee Poku of the WIE Network. Be sure to show up early for cocktail hour at 6pm – the film will begin shortly after! (Click here for tickets!)

Tell us about your professional background and how Mama Glow grows out of that.

Well, I’m a graduate of Columbia University and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. My passion lies in women’s wellness particularly in and around pregnancy. I had such an incredible experience being pregnant and it was largely due to lifestyle factors. I first launched Tender Shoots Wellness in 2005 to offer culinary, nutrition and yoga services for busy moms-to-be. The outgrowth of that work and a new vision for events, products, etc. resulted in Mama Glow. I empower expectant and new moms and help them ignite their glow power through nutrition, yoga, lifestyle and labor support. I also co-founded Mama Glow Film Festival, which is a platform for maternal advocacy through film and philanthropy. I’m an author, too–my first book on pregnancy and wellness comes out this November.   

The graphics on your website are gorgeous—and of course it’s no a coincidence that the main silhouettes are of women with graceful bumps—baby bumps. Do you see Mama Glow as exclusively for expectant and new moms, or primarily?

Thank you. Mama Glow is a lifestyle hub that was conceived specifically with mothers and mamas-to-be in mind, but we offer a range of services and events for women outside of that demographic. Mama Glow is about harnessing your creative power, and integrating self care–before, during and after pregnancy. We primarily serve this population but all women can certainly join in the conversation.

You have a background in integrative nutrition and you’re a holistic health coach. How did your particular interest in pre-natal health and maternal well-being  grow out of that? Was it there from the start? Did it start when you became a mom?

My interest in maternal health peaked when I became pregnant with Fulano. I was always interested in food as medicine and using healthy lifestyle practices like yoga, meditation and organic living to create an abundant and balanced life. It wasn’t until I was pregnant that I saw this space was wide open and our unique needs as expectant mothers just weren’t being met. I had an amazing pregnancy and birth and I wanted to do my best to ensure I could help other mothers feel the way I did. My mission is to make moms feel luminous and help them harness the lifestyle practices that work for them to optimize their glow power.

To read the rest of this New York Family article click here.