Let's make parenting more fun, less work together!

Join the Parent'Hood, then Party in the Park with us.

(Joining the Parent'Hood is easy. Just visit CouleeParenting.com, use the sign-up link to enter your email address – boom, you're part of our ranks!)

You’ve got your neighborhood, your childhood, your motherhood and fatherhood, and now you’ve got your Parent’Hood.

The Parent’Hood, a platform created by Coulee Parenting, will bring parents and families together in deliberate ways intended to strengthen our community and benefit our children.

Best of all, having fun is at the heart of it! The Parent’Hood officially launched with the Party in the Park series earlier this summer. This series is held bi-weekly five times through summer at local parks (see dates and locations at the end of this article). Each party features family yoga, meet-and-greets with local animals and celebrities, music and storytelling entertainment, bus tours, and more. And outside of your food purchases, the event is absolutely FREE thanks to the generous sponsorship of Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare. 

“Building community is always a worthwhile effort and we’re happy to support initiatives that improve the health and wellbeing of not only individuals in the community, but the community itself,” says Teri Wildt, Director of Community Engagement at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse.

It’s easy to feel judged and divided as parents. While there’s a multitude of ways to raise kids successfully, we tend to form strong opinions about what’s right and wrong based on our own family. Parent shaming is a real crisis, and not one limited to moms; dads feel it too, as a recent University of Michigan survey discovered. 

The Parent’Hood hopes to provide a sense of belonging that carries over into how parents and the community treat our children, and each other.

With the variety of family-friendly events in our region already, what makes the Parent’Hood better capable of growing community? It's greater than one event or even series of events. The repetition of gathering the same group means a different level of engagement among attendees. Eventually, it's hoped, parents and children will forge a familiarity and kinship that carries over from event to event, and ultimately beyond.

These ready-made Parent’Hood events aren’t just family friendly; they’re CREATED for families. They don’t just invite families, but WELCOME them into an accepting and supportive culture. And Parent’Hood events provide two things increasingly rare in our technologically advanced world: face-to-face interactions and authenticity. “Getting people to unplug and come together is such a great way to strengthen community ties,” Wildt says.

Coulee Parenting’s Parent’Hood will extend the success of the regional parenting magazine, published since 2001. In 2020, Coulee Parenting will present a yearlong series of Parent’Hood events. The expanded Parent’Hood platform gives families a chance to learn more about our community; meet other parents and families; make positive family memories; and grow as parents while their children’s social skills flourish.

Joining the Parent'Hood is as easy as visiting CouleeParenting.com and entering your email address.

 Get ready to do great things together!

Coulee Parenting’s Parent’Hood will host a Party in the Park series on these Tuesdays at the following locations from 5:30-8 p.m.:

• June 25 @ Myrick Park
• July 9 @ Poage Park
• July 23 @ Copeland Park
• August 6 @ Powell Park
• August 20 @ Pettibone Park

Each party features:

·      Inflatable rides

·      La Crosse MTU bus tours

·      Music by The 3 Dads

·      WisCorps CritterMobile

·      Demos by the La Crosse Police Department’s K9 crew

·      Family yoga

·      Food trucks

·      And much, much more!