Dancing With A Porcupine
Parenting wounded children without losing your self
Parenting is hard. So what do you do when you’re parenting a child who has experienced trauma or has extra challenges?
You often feel alone and inadequate. You want so much to help your child, but you are at the end of your own rope. You feel guilty that sometimes you want to just quit. What can you do — how can you make it through the day — how can you help your child while also taking care of yourself?
In Dancing with a Porcupine, Jennie Owens shares with humor and raw honesty the compelling story of her struggle to save her own life while caring for three children she and her husband adopted from foster care. How could she stay loving, giving, and forgiving in the midst of a daily battle with children acting out the rage, resentment, and pain of their own traumatic pasts?
About me
Jennie and her husband, Lynn, have parented over 100 children and worked with thousands of families. In addition to an MA in Education, Jennie has received extensive training in trauma-informed care Somatic Experienceing and therapeutic parenting. She provides trainings at conferences, schools, retreats, and workshops regarding effective, trauma-informed practices and caregiver self-care.
The couple adopted three children from foster care between the ages of 8-10. Once those children grew up, they decided they weren’t done parenting and adopted a 2 ½ year old. After an intense 15 years of helping children and families, Jennie and her husband needed a rest. In an effort to add more beauty, margin, and adventure into their lives, they sold their home and are traveling full-time in an RV with their preschool-aged son.
When she’s not chasing around her son, Jennie has been known to collect art and craft supplies that she has every intention of using but only brings out on rare occasions. In fact, when stressed, just walking into an art store and being around art supplies seems to do the trick. Her husband prefers she do the latter. She also loves playing guitar, scrap booking, nature hikes, and swimming.