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Meet Gemma Sharp
Emotional Intelligence Coach, Speaker,
CPD Accredited Trainer
I was born in Perth, Western Australia and am the youngest of 4, I have two brothers and one sister. My parents (both deceased) were English and in 1966 when my brother was 6 and my sister was 2, they decided to move to Australia. My other brother and I (yes, I’m the youngest) were born in Australia 4 years apart and as kids, we were very close, although like all siblings we also did our fair share of fighting. I loved the outdoor life that the Australian weather offered. My brother and I played out every day after school, either riding our motorbikes through the bush or exploring the creek, catching tadpoles, climbing trees, building dens, and watching out for spiders, snakes, and the odd leech as well.
In 1999 I decided to leave Perth and go backpacking around Europe and started my adventure in the Isle of Man, that is where I met my husband. 22 years and 2 children later and I’m still here on a small Island in the Irish Sea!
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I always wanted to be a mum, although like most women I spent many years making sure I didn’t get pregnant, then when the time came, it turned out falling pregnant was not as easy as I had hoped. It took 3 years, 2 miscarriages and 1 operation before I carried my son full term. Samuel was born in 2008 and then my daughter Mia arrived in 2011. I am so blessed to have one of each!
My son was such an easy going baby, text book really, so I found motherhood, though challenging at times, to be what I expected. I’ll also opening and a little shamefully admit that I was silently a judgmental mother who looked at other mums struggling with their babies and thought ‘you just do it like this, it’s easy’. Then, when my beautiful daughter arrived, a very different experience of motherhood was revealed to me, a baby that knew her own mind from the moment she entered the world.
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Suddenly, everything I knew about parenting flew out the window taking my confidence as a Mother with it!
As she grew, along with her determined spirit, there also came challenges with her sensitivity to clothes, smells, sounds and most of all any change in routine. Every day was exhausting, an emotional roller coaster, and I started desperately looking for answers to my daily questions:
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‘How do you confidently parent a child who is so determined?’
‘How do I manage her strong emotions and my own in a positive way?’
‘What am I doing wrong?’
‘Am I damaging her, breaking her spirit?’
Through research, trial and many errors, I am finding ways to parent from a different angle and I am passionate about sharing with other parents what I have learned to help them to build an environment where their children grow into emotionally healthy adults; whether their child is compliant or determined, quiet or spirited, easy going or strong-willed blessing like my beautiful daughter.
I first joined your group I’ve really enjoyed your Friday lives and got so much out of them. I really enjoy watching you and feel as if I can relate to you so well, like old friends. You are so passionate about helping other parents and I know you are going through exactly the same as us. You use your own life often as examples, and I find that comforting to know we all go through the same things. You show us some really brilliant strategies. I’ve enjoyed not feeling alone on this parenting journey. I bought a few of the books you have recommended, and I promise I will read them. I look forward to being a member of this group for as long as you run it. Thank you so much xxx
Gemma Hurry
Review
Each week Gemma sets manageable tasks to focus on so putting things into practice doesn’t become overwhelming. You find that you are making small positive changes on a weekly basis that you can actually stick to because you aren’t trying to do it all at once.
It’s also lovely to see the humming bird parenting community growing, Gemma is great at personally answering comments and messages from members and as the community is increasing, parents are beginning to offer support to each other too. It’s a lovely safe space to get parenting and self care tips and ideas, ask advice, share experiences and celebrate your victories. I’d recommend this group to parents of children of any age from babies to teenagers and beyond!