Mom Crush Monday: Meet Rachael Fritz, founder of coaching program Parenting on Mars
1.) You’re a mother, parenting coach and founder of Parenting on Mars. What gets you out of bed in the morning? What keeps you up at night?
Quite literally my kids and my kids! As in “Why are you not sleeping yet?” and “Why are you up so early?”
Ok it sounds heavy but it’s actually the future lineage of my family and the role I play in that. We are all a product of a long long line of ancestors who parented and were parented themselves. I am at the end of that. I have this brief window of time in that position, and then it will be with my children. I want to feel good about what I do with this opportunity and the type of inner voice that’s growing within my kids. No pressure.
2.) You founded Parenting on Mars, a coaching program that helps people parent their children through peace, connection, and authenticity. What’s your motivation behind starting it?
I was like so many parents looking for answers to challenges I was facing as a parent. We’re all out here trying to figure out sleep schedules, solid foods, potty training, and (of course) child behaviors. Oftentimes the advice we find has us memorizing scripts to say to our kids, or half-listening to a course we purchased, and then finally, when none of that “works,” scrolling parenting memes that sum up how utterly impossible it all is.
I think support for your parenting should be better than this. And ultimately, it should lead to the parents themselves coming up with the answers. I don’t believe that it happens passively through 15 sec instagram or tiktok videos. I think real growth and healing happens in partnerships. My coaching offers that partnership, support, and guidance. I often tell clients that when we finish working together they’ll probably stop following all those parenting influencers out there – and be happier for it.
3.) What is your best piece of parenting advice?
Lead with curiosity. If we can take a brief pause to get curious about our child’s behavior, we’ll save ourselves a whole lot of time and anguish. All behavior is communicating something. Consider a few things:
- What need does my child have that isn’t being met? This could be as basic as food, sleep, or warmth. Or it could be a little harder to see like connection, autonomy, or to be heard and understood.
- What skill might my child be missing? Perhaps it’s something pretty tangible like the ability to break a big task into smaller more manageable pieces. Or maybe it’s the ability to identify their feelings and communicate them.
4.) If you had to share 3 things with our readers about how to pursue your dreams, goals and aspirations while being a present mother, what would you share?
- Being a mother is your superpower: The qualities that make you a good mom are also what make you a good human. Use that maternal wisdom in all that you do.
- Expect it to be hard: There won’t be overnight success. What will you need when it gets really tough? Communicate that early to your family and friends so they can support you.
- Dive in: There will be time to prepare and plan – perfectionism has no place here. You don’t have to have it all figured out before you say “yes.” Say yes and then trust that the rest will come.
5.) What is your favorite song lyric? Why?
I love the way that the Maasai people in Africa traditionally greet one another. They say, “Kasserian ingera” which translates to “And how are the children.” The response is then, “The children are well.” I learned about this many years ago and it has always stuck with me. How beautiful it is to hold the well being of children front and center in one’s life.
Follow Rachael on Instagram at @parentingonmars
