Unbabbled
Unbabbled
Elizabeth Elder: Finding Community and Support | Season 6, Episode 6
In this episode we speak with Elizabeth Elder about finding a community and support system as a mother of children with special needs. Elizabeth is the founder of Steel Magnolia Moms, a Houston based support group for Mothers of children with special needs. Steel Magnolia Moms offers a variety of programs, events, and an online community designed to share knowledge, resources and, most importantly, encourage moms to find themselves again. Throughout the episode Elizabeth discusses her journey to starting Steel Magnolia Moms, shares how finding a community of other special needs Moms has positively changed her life and provides resources offered by Steel Magnolia Moms. Elizabeth also encourages everyone to reach out to others and take small steps toward building a supportive community wherever you are.
Elizabeth Elder, is the founder and Executive Director of Steel Magnolia Moms in Houston, Texas. She is a Houston native and mother of three. Elizabeth’s two oldest children, Annabelle and Blair, were diagnosed with Lee Syndrome, a neurodegenerative disease, in 2015. Shortly after Elizabeth was inspired to create a facebook support group for Moms in Houston. Over the past 9 years the group has grown to include thousands of Moms across the country. Steel Magnolia Moms now offers a variety of programs, in person events, and an online community designed to share knowledge, resources and, most importantly, encourage moms to find themselves again.
Links:
Steel Magnolia Moms Facebook Group
Stephanie Landis (00:06):
Hello and welcome to Babbled, a podcast that navigates the world of special education, communication, delays and learning differences. We are your host, Stephanie Landis and Meredith Krummel, and we're certified speech language pathologist who spend our days at the parish school in Houston helping children find their voices and connect with the world around them. For my family, Tex-Mex is the way to go. It pleases everyone in the family, and that is one of the reasons we are so excited to have this episode sponsored by the original Mexican Cafe. The original Mexican cafe is the longest continually operating restaurant on Galveston Island, still at its original location. It's located on the corner of 14th and Market in Galveston's, beautiful historic district. They have two stories of dining area perfect for casual dining, business lunches, large groups, or a night out on the town. They also offer a full bar and catering.
(00:57):
To learn more about the original Mexican cafe, visit their website at www.theoriginalgalveston.com or come and visit them in person for some delicious Tex-Mex. Your family will leave happy as well. Gateway Academy is a unique school in Houston, Texas, serving sixth through 12th grade students with academic and social challenges. Gateway's committed to teaching traditional academics while also meeting the social and emotional needs of their students with learning and social differences. Over the last 15 years, their work has been to provide students with opportunities for identity exploration, learning, self-awareness, and practicing self-advocacy, opening a path to personal significance in college, career and community. For more information, visit their website at www.thegatewayacademy.org. In this episode, we chat with Elizabeth Elder about finding a community and support system as a mother of children with special needs. Elizabeth is the founder of Steel Magnolia Moms a Houston based support group that offers a variety of programs, events, and an online community designed to share knowledge, resources, and most importantly, encourage moms to find themselves again. Throughout the episode, Elizabeth discusses her journey to starting Steel Magnolia Moms shares how finding a community of other special needs moms has positively changed her life and provides resources offered by steel Magnolia Moms. Elizabeth also encourages everyone to reach out to others and takes small steps toward building a supportive community wherever you are. We hope that you find this episode to be as encouraging and touching as we do
(02:41):
Welcome this week. We're really excited to speak with Elizabeth Elder here with Steel Magnolia Moms here in Houston, and she's going to talk to us about community and resources that are available right here in our own Houston community. So welcome. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk to you girls. Yeah. Well, we found out Steel Magnolia's moms because they are a great resource here for families, and we've been able to partner with you, and so we're excited to talk about all that you do and how you found a community and started a community. So we'll just jump right in, but first give us a little bit of information about you and what brought you down this path of starting and becoming a part of Steel Magnolia Moms. Yeah.
Elizabeth Elder (03:22):
Well, path is kind of a good word for it because it is a journey. There was never a day where I woke up and I was like, oh man, I'm a special needs mom and I need community. So I am a mother of three and my first child, Annabelle was born healthy pregnancy, healthy delivery. We went home with a healthy baby girl. She was just absolutely beautiful. And when she was 10 days old, she just totally regurgitated her entire feeding. And that was the tipping point. That was when things just started to kind of go, I wouldn't even say downwards, it was just something was off. And at first it was, oh, well, maybe she just has acid reflux. Okay, mama likes stop eating onions and careful with spicy foods. And long story short, she ended up having failure to thrive because she just could not keep the nutrition down.
(04:19):
So fast forward 10 months of age, she's getting a G button. Then I'm pregnant with my second Blair little boy. They were 14 months apart and when he was nine months old, he wasn't sitting up either. And I remember telling the pediatrician, well, maybe it's because he hasn't seen his older sister sit up. And thinking back on that, it sounds so ridiculous, but I was so naive. I was a new mom, of course, I was in denial. And so it really was a journey and it took years for us to figure out what was going on with Annabelle and Blair. And it turns out that they had a condition called Lee Syndrome, and it is a mitochondrial condition and it just affects their body's ability to create energy. And so when they were probably two or three, I was living here in Houston. I'm a Houstonian born and raised, and I have a wonderful support network of family and friends, but I still did not have a single mom that I could relate to and motherhood.
(05:30):
And of course, my mom and my sister and my friends are sitting there saying, oh, Elizabeth, how can we help you? And there was nothing they could do. And it almost made me angry, not being able to have anybody to relate to. It just made me feel so alone and my own little pity party. So I ended up by way of a situation at a nail salon. People love to hear the story. You all are laughing, but I was getting my self-care. I was getting a manicure and overheard two moms talking about their recent trip to Disney. One of 'em was talking about a recent trip to Disney and giving the other mom some tips on kind of how to do Disney in the most efficient way, which included hiring a very expensive concierge travel guide. Well, the other mom was like, well, I've heard if you have a kid in a wheelchair, then you can just go straight up to the front of the line and man, I wonder if I should rent one.
(06:29):
And y'all, it just absolutely broke my heart. I was in absolute shock. Annabel had actually just gotten a wheelchair and I was really struggling with it. In fact, the wheelchair was sitting unused in the corner of the formal dining room. And when the mom said that, I was so shocked that somebody could be so just ignorant and sensitive that I actually was speechless, which hardly ever happens. And afterwards I went onto a local Facebook group and kind of said, Hey, if you were two moms getting your nails done, this is what I heard. And your children are so lucky to have legs strong enough to wait in line. I have two children. And so kind of gave them that teachable moment. What was absolutely miraculous just gets in my throat, was how many people came out of the woodwork saying, oh my gosh, I also have a child with special needs.
(07:29):
Had I heard that I would have or, and I could not believe, guess what? I was not alone. There were moms all over my community that were also struggling. We just hadn't found each other yet. So I formed Steel Magnolia Moms and our first event was this social event with 18 moms, and it was, oh my gosh, it was so wonderful. I just remember leaving and thinking, I found my people. I have that network. I was so just inspired by these moms, and I felt strengthened by them because if they could do it, then I felt like I could do it. And we kind of recharged each other's batteries. So anyway, that was the start of steel magnolia moms, and gosh, it's just grown from there. Yeah,
Stephanie Landis (08:16):
That's crazy. So you said you started with 18. How many members do you have
Elizabeth Elder (08:19):
Now? Oh gosh. On our private Facebook group, we have over 2,400 moms, and then we have what we call a social membership, and that is for local moms who want full access to all of our programs and events, and we do it kind of a renewal every year. And so at the end of last year, we had 250 moms.
Stephanie Landis (08:40):
That's amazing. Yes. So your group specifically for moms of children with special needs, how do you categorize special needs? Is it like only these moms, or are you pretty wide and welcoming?
Elizabeth Elder (08:52):
That is a very good question. We are welcoming. You will never find another group that is quicker to open up their arms and welcome a mom in. We don't have a real way of defining it. It's really, if you are a mom and you have a child who requires extra attention or has some sort of special needs and you need support, then we are your tribe. And so we do have a very, very wide range of moms. We have some moms whose children are very medically fragile, and we have moms whose children have behavioral conditions. We have learning differences. So it really does run the gamut.
Meredith Krimmel (09:34):
When you founded it, it was really about finding a community for yourself and for these other moms. But then you mentioned you have an annual membership for programming. What kind of programming do you offer?
Elizabeth Elder (09:44):
Well, we have two of our biggest programs are called Head to Heart and Happy Campers. Head to Heart is a program that we develop to support moms mental health. And so we will cover the cost of private counseling for moms. And so we have partnered with about 10 wonderful therapists around the Houston area, and if one of our members feels as though she could benefit from speaking privately with a qualified therapist, and all she does is reach out to us and we provide her with our provider directory, and she takes a look at it and we have little bios and photos and what each therapist specializes in, and then she'll come back to us until she's interested. And it's that simple. She'll get six private sessions with that therapist, they do all the scheduling, that's none of our business. And then the clinic will send us the bill and we pay them directly.
(10:40):
So that's one of the ways in which head to heart supports moms. We also provide a, or host a weekly support group, which is just wonderful. It's very intimate, very, very casual. We cry, we laugh, we just kind of share whatever is on our hearts that day. And that's every Tuesday. It makes Tuesdays like my favorite day of the week. It really is just such a special group. And then we also provide quarterly heart talks and their lunch and learns, and we'll pull in a therapist that will lead a discussion on a topic that relates to raising a child with special needs. So we've done anger management, we've done PTSD, we've done so whatever we can do to support these moms and their mental health, we wrap into head to heart and then we have happy campers. And happy campers is a little bit different in the fact that we will send moms kids with disabilities to a fun summer camp and the happy campers, the logo, if you see it, it has on the camper's part, it has little parentheses that kind of indicates that it could be singular or it could be plural.
(11:51):
And that was very intentional because although the kid is the one who's technically the happy camper going to summer camp, the moms and the families are happy campers too because they're getting a chance for some respite and an opportunity for them to reconnect. So that's another one of our programs. And we have Magnolia Wellness where we'll do wellness workshops. We have some other programs in the pike. I mean, really as a mom of children with special needs. And our board members in the past have been special or steel magnolia moms, and many of our volunteers are leadership. We're all moms who understand we are on this path. So it's very easy for us to identify what is needed and how to help these moms because we need it. So really that's one of the things I love about Steel Magnolia moms is we are nimble and we are growing organically. And so we really listen to our mom's hearts and what they need, and then we'll try to develop a program to support that.
Stephanie Landis (12:57):
That's amazing. This kind of goes backwards, but you were talking about how there was just this shift from feeling like you had a great support network, but people who didn't quite understand to then suddenly realizing that you weren't alone. How did that change you? Oh
Elizabeth Elder (13:14):
Gosh. I mean this just right now, my heart's fluttering just because I'm so grateful for the friendships that I have formed through steel magnolia moms. None of us are walking in the same shoes. We all have very, as I said earlier, our children have different diagnosis, we have different home lives, we have different challenges outside of being a mom of a child with special needs, but we are on a similar path. And knowing that there are other moms who can truly understand the fears, the exhaustion, the what ifs, but also one of my favorite parts of being a mom of a child, children with special needs is the positive things that come out of that. And it's the perspective that you gain. It's understanding how the value of a person and who they authentically are, and it's beautiful. And when you really kind of strip down the society expectations of what makes a child successful or reaching a milestone, we celebrate in stones.
(14:30):
I mean, I feel like we are constantly clapping in our house because it recalibrates what is important to you, and it is a beautiful way to go through life, easily able to find life's simple pleasures and the beauty in people and knowing how important it's to just be kind to people because the reality is life is hard. We all have our challenges. So I am very, very appreciative to be connected to these women who have just a beautiful outlook on life and they're strong and they don't sweat the small stuff, and they've got a lot of grit and a lot of grace. And those are the type of friends that I want to have
Stephanie Landis (15:16):
For sure. My brother-in-law, husband's older brother, has cerebral palsy. He got meningitis when he was an itty bitty, bitty baby. And it is definitely something that I know that my mother-in-Law both had to work really hard for to find community. And even now as he's in his forties and she's having to find community of other adults her age, everyone else her age is empty nesters and traveling and other things. And so I think that something like this would've been so helpful and special and unique for her to have that community.
Elizabeth Elder (15:54):
Yeah, yeah. I've certainly met several women who have older children and they'll come to me and say, man, I wish I had had this, but really it's not too late because the reality is the challenges that you're face with, they change. They evolve over your child's lifespan. And so I think as a new mom, a young mom with a child with a new diagnosis or even pre-diagnosis, it is constant fear because your imagination is your worst enemy and you're going through down all these rabbit holes of what could this possibly be? And there is the acceptance, and that's when the grief starts. And then as your children get a little bit older, so you know what you're dealing with, and now you've become an expert in that disorder disease, and you kind of I think reach the empowerment phase where, all right, I got this.
(16:52):
We know we have our work cut out for us. And you get your child set up at a great school like the parish school and going to therapy and they're on a new diet or have supplements and you feel like you're successfully moving forward, and then something happens and there's a new diagnosis or there's a new challenge and they've gotten so big that it's difficult to lift him and care for him. That's where we are with my son Blair. He's 12. He's in a wheelchair, and I have had two back surgeries. My husband has back and neck issues. We've always had an au pair or somebody live with us, and that has been wonderful, but I feel like we're starting to age out of that program, these sweet young girls from around the world who want to come to United States for a fun experience and Oh yeah, sure, I'll take care of kids while I'm at it. They're not signing up to come over here and change diapers and do baths for a 12-year-old boy. So now I'm facing that new challenge of, oh man, how are we going to continue caring for him? So it always changes. And like you said, your mother-in-Law is now grieving over the fact she doesn't have the flexibility or independence that she thought she would at this age, and I get it. That's got to be so hard.
Stephanie Landis (18:09):
And at the same time, she celebrates the fact that she has a 45-year-old son who when he was younger, they'd be like, oh, you're lucky if he's going to live into his twenties. So like you said, the celebrating of the milestones, it's both.
Elizabeth Elder (18:25):
Well, and that is so true. And you know what, it's all about perspective and everything is relative because I don't know if you're aware of this, but our ELs Annabelle actually passed away two years ago. And oh, I mean, that obviously just completely rocked our world and the worst of ways. And I'm still dealing with that grief on a daily basis. And there are times where I think, God, I would do anything to be able to drive her to therapy or change her diaper or those things that at times seems so hard and too hard that you don't want to do it. I would do anything to be able to go back and have her back again. So it's a whole mix of emotions, but the reality is I have a lot to be grateful for. And as it relates to Annabel, I mean, we had 11 years with her and that at that time, she was the longest living person with her condition, and now it's her little brother at age 12. So I am so grateful to Annabelle and the fact that she made me a mom and she changed my perspective on life and opened up my eyes and really was the inspiration and catalyst to me starting Steel Magnolia moms. So as a mom, I'm so incredibly proud because I feel like Steel Magnolia Moms is her legacy, and she's continuing to change lives through that.
Stephanie Landis (19:49):
That is an incredible legacy. And I just want to say I really appreciate how open and vulnerable you've been throughout this whole conversation. And I think for me as a mom looking to talk to other moms, that's my biggest holdback is that I am always so afraid that if I tell them what's really going on at home, they're going to judge me, even my very best friends. So I feel like having a place like Steel Magnolia Moms where the other moms inherently already get it, and you can walk in and share your stories, even if it is just like, oh my gosh, we fail every single spelling test. Or if I have to get stuck in traffic on going to a therapy appointment one more time, I'm going to lose my mind. And people aren't going to judge you. They're going to support you and find other ways to help you that that's just such a blessing.
Elizabeth Elder (20:39):
Well, and you realize how liberating it is, number one to come out with your truth and it normalizes it because I think that that was kind of the big aha moment before I started still Magnolia Moms. I literally was thinking that I was the only mom living in the memorial area with a child in a wheelchair, which is so silly, but I wasn't seeing them at the grocery stores. But you know what weren't seeing me at the grocery store with my kids because I couldn't take two kids in wheelchairs by myself. So when I mentioned earlier that you realize just how important it's to be kind, I look at people and I just know that whether they are a mom of a child with special needs or they are a dad or a young child, we are all dealing with challenges on a daily basis.
(21:30):
And for whatever reason, we feel as though we ought to go out there with a smile on our face and act like none of that is there. And that's very problematic. That's not helping people. So I encourage you to tell your best friend what is going on at home, and I think that you will find how good it feels, and I guarantee you that your friend is probably going to go, Ugh, Stephanie, I'm so relieved you said that because that's been happening at my house too, some version of that. None of us are perfect. And then you got to have a sense of humor while you're at it, really. Although this life is hard, it is short, and it can be as fun and beautiful as we want to make it. And that all starts with ourselves and our perspective.
Stephanie Landis (22:22):
And I think that's like you said, having a child at a place like the Parish school. I think one of the beauties of it is that they do have a built in community and we work really hard to give that parent support. And I know that we can't be an everything to parent, so I'm so glad they have other resources out there. But I also think about many of our listeners here who aren't at a place like parish school. How do you suggest parents start finding things like steal Magnolia moms? Is there a way, do you just Google special needs moms groups or who wants to be my friend?
Elizabeth Elder (22:57):
Well, that's a good question. I think probably the first step is to be open and to let people know your truth because you will not make those connections if everybody is hiding behind closed doors. Still, Magnolia Moms, we intend to roll out with other community chapters, and that is something that we are really excited about doing. And so if you're listening and you're in a different market, I hope that you'll reach out to me at elizabeth@steelmagnoliamoms.com and let me know where you are. It's not going to happen immediately, but we're definitely keeping a list of the different markets where we have interested moms. In the meantime, you are welcome to join Steel Magnolia Moms on our private Facebook page, the 2,400 that I mentioned earlier. They're not all right here in Houston. In fact, we have moms from across the country who will say, I don't have anything like steel Magnolia moms in my community, and I would rather be connected to you online than not at all.
(23:59):
So they can certainly do that. I think if your child is plugged in at a school or a therapy center, talk to the mom that's sitting next to you in the waiting room. Just start there because again, both of you have a lot that you can relate on. And even if your children are different ages and have different diagnosis, I guarantee you that there are more things that you have in common than you think. And why not turn that time where you're used to waiting in the waiting room and reading a book or kind of going into your own little zone, reach out to that person and bring coffee for that person, do something and you'll get so much out of it.
Meredith Krimmel (24:47):
Yeah, back to having the community, one of the things that parish school parents say to us a lot is that birthday parties is something that was really, really challenging before. And then when they came to parish school and they went to the birthday parties of the other students in the class, it was like all the parents understood they all got it. And birthday parties felt so much more enjoyable because parents who are there get you and any sort of community thinking about being in the waiting room, even if the only thing you have in common is that you both have to pull your child out early on Wednesdays and drive across town to a therapy session that's already a community that maybe your other friends and you don't share. And so I love that you've built this whole community and it being online, it opens it up to so many other people who maybe aren't in the Houston area, but just a post or a message or anything that makes them feel connected can be life-changing. Oh,
Elizabeth Elder (25:41):
Absolutely.
Meredith Krimmel (25:42):
Still Magnolia moms. I assume it's moms. Have you found anything out there, or do you have anything out there for the dads? Is there anything out there for all the dads who are raising special needs children?
Elizabeth Elder (25:52):
Well, that's a good question. And if time and manpower was not an issue, then I would totally love to start a dads, we do joke that we have a group of dads, we call them our balls of steel, and so we do an annual dinner with dads. And that's just been a great way for these dads to get a chance to meet each other and because men just are, not to necessarily say social, but they certainly don't seek out those kinds of relationships. They're not as likely to open up and talk about the challenges. So I found that when we do the dinner with Dads event, all of us moms are really there as just little facilitators. So that's been something that we've done that's been a lot of fun. There have been some dads within that group who have gotten, they have an email list going, and they may go to Topgolf or meet at Kirby Ice House or do something on a quarterly basis or so. But it is true their dads need help. My mom reminds me all the time that grandparents need support. We all need it. It's just unfortunately, at the end of the day, we can only do so much. And we feel like we have to stay true to our mission, which is to support the moms. But the good thing is, of course, when we are supporting the moms, the children, the dads, the siblings, the extended families, they all benefit because what they say, if mama ain't happy, then nobody happy. Yeah,
Meredith Krimmel (27:28):
Yeah. Well, maybe there's a dad listening who would want to start something. You never know. But I imagine if there's a group of moms who are really connected to the group that it's likely that their husbands are benefiting either by proxy or they form their own group of friends with a lot of the other husbands in the group,
Elizabeth Elder (27:45):
Or in many cases, you end up having couple friends. I mean, some of my husbands and my closest couple friends have originated from still Magnolia moms. It's been a blessing to have friends who can really celebrate the joys and also be there for you when you fall quite literally and figuratively.
Meredith Krimmel (28:04):
Yeah, I mean, we all crave connection and we all crave understanding and connecting with a family who really understands what you're going to, I mean, everybody's different, but understanding the challenges and the fears, like you said, it's an incredible gift.
Stephanie Landis (28:19):
Do you have any words of advice if there are people out there listening that are like, this isn't in my community, but I want to start it, of how
Meredith Krimmel (28:26):
To just get started
Stephanie Landis (28:27):
Of community building?
Elizabeth Elder (28:29):
Like I said, I think the first step is just you have to be open and you have to be vulnerable. I think that that's one of the ways that I've been able to attract new members to steal Magnolia moms is I'm the first person to stand up and share my story and cry. I cry all the time. All the girls that come to the events, they're probably laughing if they're listening because it's true. But I think that to lead a group like this, it starts with you. And so you have to be open, you have to be vulnerable, but you also have to be positive. I really do try to focus on the positive things, and that does not mean at all that I do not have my hard times. I mean, just last night I was sitting there awake in the middle of the night thinking, golly, this is so hard.
(29:26):
I'm tired. I'm tired. I don't know where to go from here. I have those moments. But I think by sharing that, it's going to attract other moms who are going through the same thing. And so we're like little magnets. And so in order to attract something, another mom who's going through the same thing, you have to be open so that they know what they're looking for, and you have that commonality to bring you together. It doesn't have to be anything grandiose. I mean, start with a coffee. One of the things that was important to me when I started Steel Magnolia moms, and I still tried to kind of infiltrate the group with this, is I want to host events and gatherings that are fun. Moms are not going to want to get a babysitter or ask their husband, Hey, can you please watch the kids so that she can go and sit around a sterile room in a circle and feel like it's a confessional meeting and just have a sterile, depressing conversation.
(30:30):
We have enough of those. So steel Magnolia moms really encourages moms to get out and have fun. Let's enjoy this night together. And I find that in doing that, we're really able to kind of create a space, a safe space for moms to connect and make a friend and build relationships. Because to me, at the end of the day, if I can help facilitate friendship, that is the greatest gift that we can give these moms because that friend is truly the gift that will continue giving any day of the week in the middle of the night. If you're in the same area, all the better. You can be in person, give each other a hug. It's tactical and it's personal. So yeah, I'd start there.
Stephanie Landis (31:25):
Sounds like a good idea, just inviting a mom or two to meet you for coffee or what is it? The painting and wine and yeah,
Elizabeth Elder (31:33):
Absolutely. Do something fun.
Meredith Krimmel (31:35):
Thank you so much for sharing your story and being so open and for creating such an amazing resource for other moms. And I mean, I think I just know a few people who are members of still Magnolia Moms, and even just the Facebook group, the value add that it has for these families has been amazing. What's the
Stephanie Landis (31:53):
Best way for people to find out information about Steel Magnolia moms?
Elizabeth Elder (31:58):
Well, they can go to our website, which is www.steelmagnoliamoms.com. There is a website inquiry form there, and you can fill that out and we'll get back to you. And if you're interested in joining our Facebook group, just find the Steel Magnolia Moms Houston. And there are three questions that we ask, qualifying questions, answer those, and you'll be invited in the group. Like I said, you will never find another group of women who are more welcoming and quick to want to build you up when you need it. So we would love to have you, and as I always tell our moms, the more we are, the stronger we are, we still Magnolia moms. So I welcome you and hope to meet you. If you're listening and you need a friend or you need a sense of community, know that you are not alone. We have an amazing group of strong women, and we would really love to just wrap you up in our arms. I
Stephanie Landis (33:05):
Love that. Thank you. Well, I feel so encouraged now to actually call somebody and have an honest conversation instead of sending memes. Oh, yeah.
Elizabeth Elder (33:15):
No, you should. Well, y'all were so great to invite me. It really is just such an honor, and it just makes me so happy talking about Steel Magnolia moms because it is a happy place, and it has brought me so much happiness, and it truly has saved me from darkness when I've gone through the worst of times, and it has also brought me many of my best of times. So
Stephanie Landis (33:39):
Amazing. I love your messaging of life is full of both joyful moments and hard things, and it can be both. It's not just toxic positivity. It's not just finding a place, a stale room to just go and be upset or sadden. It's just about embracing all of life. And I think that's something we all need is the balance.
Elizabeth Elder (34:01):
It is a balance. Constantly trying to find that balance.
Stephanie Landis (34:06):
Life is
Elizabeth Elder (34:08):
A seesaw.
Stephanie Landis (34:11):
Well, thank you so much. We really appreciate chatting with you.
Elizabeth Elder (34:14):
You are so welcome. Thank you for having me. This has been a lot of fun.
Stephanie Landis (34:19):
Thank you for listening to the Un Babbled Podcast. For more information on today's episode, please see our episode description. For more information on the parish school, visit parish school.org. If you're not already, don't forget to subscribe to the Un Babbled Podcast on your app of choice. And if you like what you're hearing, be sure to leave a rating and review. A special thank you to Andy Williams, Joanna Rissmiller, and Molly Weisselberg for all their hard work behind the scenes. Thanks again for listening.