Community Corner

Local Mom Wins Mommy Blog Contest

Sheila Greene Gaudet of Norton will share personal experiences in blog for Signature Healthcare and Tufts Medical Center.

Eight local moms, including Sheila Greene Gaudet of Norton, have been selected as featured bloggers for the Signature Moms Blog, sponsored by Signature Healthcare and Tufts Medical Center.

The mommy bloggers were identified through a contest sponsored by the two organizations where moms were encouraged to visit Signature Healthcare’s Facebook page and post a written narrative explaining why they would be a great blogger.

This is Gaudet’s first attempt at blogging.

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“For me, it is an opportunity to share my experiences with my family,” Gaudet said. “Signature Healthcare has a strong interest in promoting family health in the broadest sense and it is exciting to be selected as part of a group of Mommy Bloggers. As an ‘experienced’ mom, I think it's important for people to know that most families aren't perfect and for moms to have a place that they can share feelings and experiences.”

Each mom will write one to two posts a month. Some blog entries will come in the form of video posts. The bloggers will meet in person quarterly at “blogger brunches” to share ideas and brainstorm upcoming topics. There will also be guest posts by medical experts representing Signature Healthcare and Tufts Medical Center who will provide valuable and timely healthcare information to the readers.

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While readers can expect to find an abundance of helpful health information, topics are not limited to healthcare. The blog will feature posts about local, kid-friendly restaurants and movies, childcare, summer camps, schools, community events and anything else of interest to area mothers.

Gaudet balances caring for her two sons, Anthony and Andrew, and a full-time job while her husband, Josh, serves in the military.

She will blog about her experience as a mom, which in her case involves a lot of topics about dealing with the early teen years and the struggle between keeping them safe and encouraging their independence. Her son Andrew has challenges with language and social skills, which also may come up in her writings. And of course, being a mom is also about balancing work, her relationship with her husband and other family demands.

Gaudet’s other specialties include step-family challenges and “keeping all the balls in the air.”

“Seriously, there are days where work takes precedence, and others where the kids do,” Gaudet said. “I'm sure I could do a better job of getting it all done somehow, but I know that I do pretty well, most of the time. I do make it a priority for us to eat dinner together every night if at all possible, which helps a lot. I am able to do a lot of my work while the kids are busy with other things, but there are times that either piece gets shorted somehow. I try to keep it balanced in the long run. Luckily, the writing is not a huge time commitment and something I enjoy doing.”

Until very recently, Gaudet was the executive director of a non-profit youth development agency in Brockton. Currently, she is a consultant to several after-school programs in Southeast Massachusetts regarding quality improvement and professional development while deciding what she wants to do next.

“Women want to connect with other moms in their area and mommy blogs are a great way for them to come together and share their stories and experiences,” said Vice President of Business Development for Signature Healthcare, Marie Gross. “By following a mommy blog, women gain inspiration and obtain new ideas for handling the demands of being incredible moms, professionals, multi-taskers, volunteers, caregivers and wives.”

Gaudet got married to her husband last may after a couple of years of dating, mostly long-distance due to his military training. Though this obstacle can be tough at times, she and her family are proud of Josh’s service.

“He was in the military when we met, so it's been part of our relationship from the beginning,” Gaudet said. “He travels most of the time. Some nights I forget which state he is even in!”

He is currently a pilot for the RI Air National Guard and for Republic Airways. He will be deployed to Afghanistan this summer.

“While I will miss him and worry about him while he's gone, I am confident in the training he's received that he's well-prepared and hope that the work he does will help shorten our mission there, so fewer families have to cope with the stress of deployment.”

Her son Anthony is 14 and in eighth grade at Norton Middle School. He plays soccer and loves sports, socializing and art. Andrew, 8, is in second grade at J. C. Solmonese. He enjoys music, particularly Michael Jackson, video games, books and drawing comic books.

When she is not busy working, taking care of the kids or writing, Gaudet keeps herself busy decorating and renovating her new fixer-upper home. Other than that, she enjoys cooking, attending the kid’s activities and working in the yard. She also hopes to start doing more activities for herself.

“Over February break I went ice skating for the first time since middle school, and didn't kill myself,” she said. “So that's a start.”


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