— About
Thanna
Hello there
I am Thanna…
. . .a mama, partner, daughter, sister, an aunt, fairy godmother, friend and community member. I am a cisgender, white, able-bodied woman with many privileges. And, yes, I am a certified Peaceful Parent Coach and a Playful Parenting Leader. It is my honor to have been guiding and supporting parents all over the world since 2016. I LOVE it.
Becoming a mama changed my life in ways I never expected. Motherhood came late. When I finally held my baby in my arms, I promised I would Choose Love. Easy to do as we rocked and nursed in a love-filled, sleepy haze. Then he began walking and talking with opinions and desires and…I found myself asking:
Was I a bad mom to feel frustrated and overwhelmed?
How could this adorable little being bring up such big feelings – in me?
Would he be okay with me as his mother?
Why was I hiding in the bathroom crying?
Had I fooled everyone who had told me I was born to be a mother?
Wasn’t being a mama supposed to come naturally?
What if I ruined him and he grew up to be an axe murderer?
What was I thinking?
Turns out it wasn’t so easy to just Choose Love.
It became clear to me that I knew a lot of what I didn’t want to do, but I didn’t know what to do instead. My search for answers led me to the work of Dr. Laura Markham and Dr. Lawrence Cohen. Gaining an understanding of child development, brain science and the importance of connection was the support I needed (corroborated by the research of Dan Siegel, M.D., Tina Bryson, PhD and Patty Wipfler). In the process, I found my life’s work and am thrilled and honored to have trained and been certified by them both.
Motherhood opened my eyes and heart to see the world in a whole new way. Our interconnectedness to each other and Mother Earth becomes clearer and more important to me as we raise the future.
It is my mission to help parents follow their inner wisdom and to see their children through their hearts. Together we will make room for more joy and laughter in our homes and the world. It is my honor to walk this path with you, supporting and guiding you, while we learn and grow together.
Things I Know To Be True
All parents love their children and are doing the best that they can with the information, tools and resources they have in any given moment.
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” ― Maya Angelou
Humans, like all mammals, learn in two ways - Modeling + Practice.
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. ― James Baldwin
Discipline is Teaching Skills.
Too often we forget that discipline really means to teach, not to punish. A disciple is a student, not a recipient of behavioral consequences. - Tina Bryson, PhD
Empathy is not something we try, it is a way of being and connecting.
Empathy isn’t a tactic. It is a way of connecting that must be pure and genuine. It is the opposite of calming tantrums, soothing sadness, squelching feelings. It is all about accepting, allowing, and even encouraging feelings to be expressed, however strong they are and long they last. – Janet Lansbury
Whether or not we want to admit it, parenting is political. We are literally raising the future.
Children learn values by what you do, not the lectures you give. Be the change you wish to see in children. – Chazz Lewis
Choosing Love is a Radical Act
Respecting a child teaches them that even the smallest, most powerless, most vulnerable person is worthy of respect, and that is a lesson our world desperately needs to learn. – LR Knost
All children are our children. Every child matters. We are all interconnected.
The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.
– James Baldwin
I believe together we can dream in a new reality that is based in love, true liberation for all people that is in right relationship with our Mother Earth. And I believe that the best place to begin is with ourselves and the way we treat and guide our children.
A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.
— Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Band of the Dakota Sioux
Land Acknowledgement
Thanna and Choose Love Parenting acknowledge we live and work on land originally and still inhabited and cared for by Gabrielino Tongva, Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, San Fernando Band of Mission Indians, and the Serrano, Kizh, Chumash, Kumeyaay, Luiseño, and Cahuilla peoples. We honor generations of the First Peoples for their enduring stewardship of these lands and waters. We recognize that settler colonization resulted in stolen land, forced displacement, broken promises, and lasting trauma.
I also acknowledge that my family and I are financial beneficiaries of a system that was built by the labor of enslaved people and that Black people continue to be disadvantaged by the economic and social systems we have today.
Accordingly, I commit to making a monthly donation to each of the following: Acjachemen Tongva Land Conservancy and The Well-Being Alliance.