The Biggest Mistake I made in 2023

My dream for many years was to have a camper to travel around in and make lots of memories with my little family. We purchased our first camper last year, while it’s older, it’s new to us and has provided us with over 16 fun-filled trips in under a year!  

My goal was to learn to hitch, drive, park, and set up the camper all on my own so if I ever wanted to go on a trip with just my kids or my friends, nothing would stop me.  

This past December my husband and I loaded up the kids and the camper and took off for our next adventure.  

Once he needed a break, we traded spots and he said “Oh yeah, by the way, we need to stop for gas.” 

Ok….so navigate and get me to a gas station.  

I noticed the tank was LOW.  

Like beyond LOW. Grrrrr.  

I’m following directions and driving to the nearest gas station Siri and my husband could find.  

First gas station. TOO SMALL.  

You see, when driving a 40 ft rig, you can’t just willy nilly pull over anywhere.  

Second gas station. TOO SMALL.  

Ok, fine. We will drive to the THIRD gas station.  

Putz, putz, putz, no power steering, no brakes. We rolled to a STOP.  

We ran out of gas. On the side of the road. With a 40ft truck and camper set up and 3 kids in the back.

Luckily, we worked it all out and it only took about an hour, thanks to an Uber driver taking my husband back and forth to get gas. But, it was frustrating and embarrassing to say the least.  

No matter how much I pride myself on being able to navigate situations with our camper, I wasn’t fully prepared for this.  

I never imagined that the first time in my life I would run out of gas would be because I couldn’t get to the RIGHT gas station, with a 40ft rig, and 3 kids in tow. ? 

And this reminds me of working with infants and children.  

It’s so hard to be fully prepared because no child or situation is the same. What works for one case won’t work with the next.  

And if we aren’t trained and prepared to adapt in these difficult situations, we can’t serve this vulnerable population as well.  

In fact, one of the common issues we are hearing is that professionals working with children are seeing more challenging behaviors and are feeling overwhelmed and under supported. 

That’s where we, the SC Infant Mental Health Association, come in.  

Did you know we offer many different Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) trainings and webinars throughout the year? ? 

We are here to help the early childhood professionals in SC, expand their knowledge of IECMH and feel supported in their career.

Check out some of the trainings and opportunities we offer below:

Facilitating Attuned Interactions Training (FAN): 

The FAN Approach serves as a framework for parent engagement and reflective practice in work with young children and families. 

It addresses urgent concerns of the parent or caregiver and trains practitioners to tailor their responses to match the needs of the moment. FAN also helps practitioners recognize how their own internal sense of regulation or dysregulation affects their abilities to be fully present with a family in the moment.

Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health® :

 This is an internationally recognized, evidence-informed system of IECMH competencies promoting expertise and offering career development pathways. 

Professionals pursuing an Endorsement designation complete specialized education, work, in-service training and reflective supervision/consultation in a specific category. 

IECMH Foundations Training Certificate:  

This is an 18-hour professional development experience that creates a baseline of infant mental health knowledge among all early childhood professionals across workforce sectors in South Carolina. This allows each participant to view the families they serve through an Infant Mental Health lens, understanding how early relationships affect all levels of development. 

Participants will learn to articulate core concepts around infant and early childhood mental health, identify ways to apply these concepts into their role, and integrate a diversity, equity and inclusion lens while conceptualizing work with infants, young children and their families. 

*this is the first certificate in our IECMH Certificate Program; followed by Advanced Certificate, and Clinical Certificate

Third Thursday Webinars:  

A monthly webinar series that aligns with IECMH Endorsement competencies. Hear from SCIMHA staff and guests from around the state.  

Annual Gathering:  

Each year we have a gathering for our staff and partners across the state. This year we are thrilled to be hosting Dr. Nadine-Burke Harris on May 1st. From being the first surgeon general in California to a huge baby champion, you don’t want to miss what she has to say! 

At SCIMHA, we are here to help you on your early childhood professional journey. Be sure to check our events page regularly to stay up to date on all our offerings, because believe it or not, the list above isn’t exhaustive! We have more great trainings come up than I could list out here.  

To see all our events and register, click here!

And one final PSA….don’t drive long rigs on LOW gas when you can’t get to a proper gas station. ⛽ 

-SCIMHA 

PS: For questions on trainings, please reach out to IECMH Endorsement and Training Manager, Katrin Wood at [email protected] 

PPS: Follow us on social media to learn more about our events and work around the state.