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These are not your typical momsDate: 13.05.2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team United States
If there ever really was, there certainly is no longer such a thing as a “typical mom.”
However, some moms — and their choices — stand out a little bit more from the crowd. We wanted to spotlight a few of those unconventional mothers, as part of today’s appreciation of moms, grandmoms, stepmoms and any women out there helping to raise a child in today’s world.
Tapre Thomas
Mom to fraternal twins, both almost 2.
Poughkeepsie resident Tapre Thomas loves her tattoos — all 13 of them.
She sees her body art as a way to “express certain things that happened to me and bring out my personality. It helps me get the stuff that’s on my mind out ... express certain situations. All my tattoos mean something, and I can explain them,” she said.
She got into body art with her younger brother Michael, who died last June. One of her tattoos is a portrait of him, with his life dates beneath. She now sees her ink partly as a way to honor and remember him.
Her artwork also includes a caricature of her twins as babies, a lock and key, family names, a floral scrollwork on her lower back, and her current favorite, the image of praying hands that she said seven members of her family also wear. She expects to get more tattoos in years to come.
Most of her work has been done by Michael Rubetone and Melissa Merte, co-owners of Birthmarx Tattoo Studio, 382 Main St. in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Thomas said her interest in tattoos has led her to realize how important self-expression is, and she will pass this value on to her children.
“However they feel like expressing themselves, it’s OK with me. If they do want to get body art when they get to the right age, I would OK it,” she said.
Maddy Santiago
Mom to 7-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter.
It takes a strong woman to be a mom, and Maddy Santiago is certainly strong. Really strong.
After about a year of preparation, the longtime fitness buff placed third in her height class of the open “figure” division during the International Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation competition held recently in Marlborough, Mass.
She called the past year “one hell of a ride,” and described the challenges she and her family faced.
“As the competition drew nearer, I was hardly home at all. I had to keep my house organized, then cook for my family and not eat what they were eating. It’s really hard to cook an excellent meal and then sit down to three ounces of whatever was allowed,” she said.
In addition to her training and strict diet, she also juggles a career as an office manager at a car dealership and teaching an indoor cycling class at her gym.
She said she would sometimes find herself doubting whether the training, dieting, financial expenditures and constant mental discipline was worth it, but said her family actively supported her all the way — even when she was hard to be around.
Santiago said she definitely feels her journey has been rewarding, and thinks that it is a model for her children, too.
“My daughter looks at me and is in awe that I can carry myself so well. I hope she can admire that ... (to know) you can stick to something — that dedication, that’s what works,” she said.
“For my son ... he would go to the gym with me for a while. We got my husband to join the gym. He trains with my husband every once in a while. I hope this will help him stay healthy in life, not do drugs and stay focused,” she said.
She hopes her accomplishments demonstrate “if you can make it through something difficult and pull through, then you know those are your building stones for your life.”
Santiago plans to compete again at the NPC Dutchess Classic Bodybuilding and Figure Championships June 9 at Poughkeepsie Middle School.
Pat Townshend, Hopewell Junction
Primary guardian for 16- and 18-year-old grandsons.
Although it’s unconventional for grandparents to be primary guardians, it’s becoming less and less unusual.
In New York state, 140,000 children are being raised by relative caregivers, many of them grandparents, reports the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Pat Townshend, with her husband, Richard Deam, are raising two of their grandchildren, now high-schoolers.
Townshend said that after already raising five other adolescents, it’s “much easier. ... We have good insight on what’s going on with them. They can't fool us very readily and we can pretty quickly react to things.”
“We thoroughly enjoy it. They keep us young. We love having them around,” she said.
There’s also another way Townshend is unconventional.
The retired United Methodist pastor now offers alternative and complementary care practices such as polarity therapy, reiki massage, reflexology and integrated energy therapy. She’s chairwoman of Hand in Hand — A Healers Connection, an association of about 70 complementary care providers in the Hudson Valley.
She said her 18 years of practice in these therapies has influenced the boys, which she sees as healthy.
“I’m very conscious of overall health issues, nutrition and bodywork. My grandson who is a wrestler sees a chiropractor fairly frequently. I have always worked on their feet, practiced reflexology for them. They are used to getting services like acupressure. Nutritionally, they are pretty conscious. They are very aware of meditation; they both meditate, maybe not as much as I'd like them to, but they are pretty good for teenagers,” she said.
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