Copy
Mothers Who Make - MULTI-TASKING!
View this email in your browser

QUESTION FOR THE MONTH:

MULTI-TASKING!

It is the thing we are meant to be good at, the thing we must do to some extent in simply holding the two roles of mother and maker. However, within the detail of the days there is a huge range of tasks we may or may not be able to perform at the same time. Some jobs sit comfortably together and some are a crazy struggle to do both at once. I am reminded of those children’s books of animals in which the pages are cut into three so that a giraffe, an elephant and a hippopotamus together make up one beast: a giraphantimus! Some look like elegant new animals in which I can believe, others are awkward misfits.
 
I thought I should try to make a list of the multi-tasking mixes I know and perform well and another of the ones with which I struggle. Here’s the start of my ‘good-fits-list’: breastfeeding in a sling and any kind of traveling, by foot, train, bus, trike; playgrounds and writing paragraphs in the back of my mind (most of this newsletter was written in the play area in Kew Gardens)…..And here is the start of my list of things I try to do at the same time and with which I struggle: emailing and making supper; being with the children and sustaining an adult conversation with my husband; sending a text and breastfeeding (the baby steals the phone off me)……There is more. It feels good to attempt to make such lists, to notice what I am doing, to see if I can do more or less, or less all at once, to allow myself to do only one thing.
 
So here is the month’s questions/ invitation: What multi-tasking do you do with ease? What feels hard or impossible? Don’t judge it. Just notice it. Make lists of these tasks, make your book of fabulous multi-tasking beasts. Share it here if you wish. What could you do in a singular way? When, if ever, do you enjoy multi-tasking? When do you mother and make with congruence? And when do you need to separate them: mother and then make, make and then mother?
NEWS!
Lots of news! I am sorry this newsletter is late but my excuse is good: I’ve been working with our producer Liat Rosenthal on the MWM funding bid and we are nearly on the point, at long last, of submitting. If successful this will enable us to create a designated MWM website, to consolidate and build the national network and, very excitingly, to create some MWM commissions. Next month I will be launching a MWM crowdfunding campaign to help support all of the above too- watch this space!
Building the MWM network:
In recent weeks I have been contacted by mother-makers in a great range of locations across the UK: Oxford, Birmingham, East Midlands, Cambridge, Reading, Sheffield, Cornwall, Glasgow, Canterbury, Brighton. It would be wonderful to make MWM groups happen in each of these places. Get in touch if you want to make a group happen near you or if you have made contact but not followed through – it is easy, I promise, and now is an excellent time to make it happen.
Email me on mleyser@mac.com
Londoners!
We are going ahead with the idea of creating several localised London groups, in order to build stronger networks of support. A North and a South London group are in the process of setting themselves up. If anyone wants to help make an East London one happen, or another location, then please get in touch to move it into action. I am in conversation with the South Bank about having a MWM residency in 2018 when all the groups can come together. Meanwhile, see below for details of the August London meeting.
Next meetings ... 
LONDON

A change of venue!!! One more big group meet before we break into smaller, localised groups from September onwards.

22nd August Clapham Omnibus 10.30am-12pm


Every kind of maker welcome, professional and/or passionate, and every kind of mother. Please also feel free to bring along your children of any age, whether they are inside you, beside you or running round the room. Mothers of older children are also extremely welcome. Bring toys or whatever creative materials would make you and/ or your child feel most welcome.


£5 or £3 concessions requested.
It’s always useful to get a sense of numbers beforehand so please drop me a line at mleyser@mac.com to say if you intend to come. 



 
MANCHESTER:
Meetings are at HOME

Monday 4th September
Monday 20th November
Monday 18th December
 
10.30am - 12.30pm.


Bristol: 
Meetings are at Bristol Old Vic

Friday 28th July.
Friday 11th Aug. 

Wednesday 13th Sep. 

Wednesday  25th Oct. 

Wednesday 15th Nov.
Wednesday 13th Dec. 

Thursday 18th Jan.

10am to 11.30am


Newcastle:
Meetings are at Northern Stage
Wednesday 2 August,
Wednesday 6 September
Wednesday 4 October
Wednesday 1 November
Wednesday 6 December

10.30am-12pm 


 
Warm summer wishes,
Matilda 
Copyright ©  2017 Mothers Who Make All rights reserved.
www.improbable.co.uk/motherswhomake

Our mailing address is:
office@improbable.co.uk

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list