Introduce yourself.
M: My name is Miatta and I am from Boston, Massachusetts. I am a licensed school psychologist. I work with students from preschool age up through high school.
Are you a married mommy or a single mommy?
M: I have been married to my wonderful husband for 14 years.
Introduce us to your children.
M: We have two beautiful children, Micah age 13 and Sariah aka Saucy age 9. Micah is my sensitive child and he is all heart. He’s also funny and fiercely protective. However, he’s also at that age where he thinks he’s smarter than us and I have to frequently remind him of a quote from Judge Judy, “Not even on your best day are you smarter than me on my worst day (Lol)!”
Saucy is my sweet and creative child. She is always thinking out side of the box and I love that about her. She has optimism for days!
Tell us about your births.
M: Neither of my pregnancies were easy. I was considered high risk because I have Lupus, so I had endless doctor appointments, ultrasounds, and two C-sections. Micah refused to come out despite 3 failed attempts at inducing labor (ouch!). At 16 weeks of pregnancy, we discovered that Saucy had something call a multi-cystic kidney. As a result, she was born with only one functioning kidney. They are both my miracles and blessings.
Did you breastfeed? Why or why not?
M: I breast fed both until they were about a year old. I breastfed because breast milk is best. I was lucky enough to be able to stay home with both of them for the first six months, so the first half was easy. When I returned to work they were taking solid food by then so that helped. I would nurse them before I left for work and in the evenings. I also expressed my milk during my lunch breaks. It was quite a balancing act and if something had to give it was usually the housekeeping, which, honestly, has never been one of my strengths. I will also say that being married to a phenomenal husband has helped a lot. Until recently, because of an illness, my husband would do the laundry, grocery shopping, and help with the cooking and cleaning.
Tell us about your YouTube channel.
M: My YouTube channel has evolved into a hobby for me. When Saucy was 7, I discovered that I was damaging her hair by using excessive amounts of heat. So I took to the web to come up with solutions and I discovered YouTube. My first video took forever to complete. When I finished it I didn’t make another video until a year later. It’s become important to me to document the hair journey for both of us. I just love it! It’s a way to express myself, connect with others, and it’s another way for me and Saucy to bond.
What advice would you give to a mommy who wants to start vlogging?
M: Anyone wanting to start a YouTube channel should do it just because they love making videos. Don’t do it for the money or fame because I have yet to see any of those things. And even if I do, those things wouldn’t make me happy. Those things would be like the frosting on the cake not the cake itself.
How do you balance work and parenting? How do you carve out time for yourself?
M: Balancing a career, motherhood, and making time for myself is not easy. I find it helps to stay organized. I have a day planner and I schedule EVERYTHING, even time for myself.
What is your biggest parenting challenge right now?
M: My biggest parenting challenge right now is keeping my children grounded in our Christian beliefs. Sometimes the demands of the world can keep me so busy that I find it difficult to make time for my lord and savior. My goals are not just us going to church as a family but taking time during the week to read and discuss the Bible, as a family, and to teach my children through volunteering of our time and resources, why it’s more important to give than to receive.
The other challenge is figuring out when is the time to punish my children for something they did wrong and when to just talk to them about it. I don’t want to be an overly strict mother or too permissive a parent.
Who is your child rearing support group?
M: My childrearing support system is first and foremost God and his word, my husband, my minister, and lastly my closest friend. My husband is a great father who does just about everything that I do for our children. My minister has raised 8 children and all of them love the lord, serve in ministry, are college educated, and married. When I take advice from someone, I look to someone who is where I want to be.
How do you determine that your kids are well-adjusted?
M: I listen to my children to help gauge whether their happy or well-adjusted. We talk frequently about how their day went, if there was a problem, what caused the problem, how they will resolve the problem, and if possible how I can help. I will admit that I can at times be a helicopterish parent. I also watch how they interact with their friends and listen to what their teachers say about them to know how they are coping in and with the world around them.
What is the most important value, ideal or philosophy that you want to impart to your children?
M: By now you have probably already figured out what would be the most important value that I want to instill in my children. I want them to love the Lord with all their heart, mind, body, and spirit, to always put him first, and to seek his counsel in their time of need.
What advice would you give to a new mom?
M: My advice to a new mom would be to love and cherish every moment with your child(ren) because it goes so fast and in the blink of an eye they’ll be grown up and you’ll wonder where the time went.
