May is the month of flowers as well as parent pep talks.
PEPS, a Seattle-based nonprofit focused on parent education, parent support groups, and building parent connections with other parents and community resources, held it’s annual fundraising luncheon earlier this month, drawing in more than 500 parents and other supporters. The event also exceeded its fundraising goal, raising more than $192,000 in addition to $100,000 in matching funds.
But along with the invitation to donate to the cause, parents in the audience also received an inspiring pep talk and useful advice on cultivating meaningful friendships—with other parents and beyond parenting—from author, friendship researcher, and Better Than Small Talk founder Kat Vellos.
View the talk
Click on the video image below to hear Vellos’ powerful and insightful PEPS talk:
Author and inspirational speaker Kat Vellos shares insights on cultivating friendships at PEPS annual luncheon.
Vellos’ 2020 book We Should Get Together addresses the most common challenges of adult friendship today: busy schedules, the demands of family and partnerships, the ease and frequency of moving, and a declining capacity for compassion and intimacy in the age of social media. Vellos believes that cultivating thriving, resilient connections through friendship is the salve for the country’s current loneliness epidemic.
Of the Vellos’ book, one reader, a psychologist, said: “In a time in which we seem so connected through technology and social media, but really struggle to find people to really support us when we need them, this book serves as an accountability partner to building the friendships in your life that you can really count on.
“I often hear adults complain that it feels nearly impossible to build new friendships,” the reviewer wrote. ” This book really challenges those notions in the kindest and most generous of ways and helps you to really apply concrete methodologies.”
And, of her speech to PEPS parents, one mom in the audience said: “I don’t think I really understood what’s been happening in my friendship world. What she shared just made sense.”
Ask meaningful questions
In her talk, Vellos spoke about the difference between meaningful and cursory friendship and the importance of the former. She left those who attended the PEPS event with a card of useful questions helpful for connecting meaningfully with other parents, co-workers, and family members. Far from yes and no answers, these open-ended questions are designed to get both sides of a conversation to open up and share more deeply than the go-to “How are you?” that most often elicits a response like “Fine” but no further dialogue.
Learn more about PEPS
PEPS began as the Program for Early Parenting Support in 1983 and has helped thousands of new parents in and around Seattle navigate the joys and challenges of bringing a baby home. In recent years, however, the program has expanded to reach parents of babies, toddlers, adolescents, and teens. For more information about PEPS and its growing body of parent support, check out “The PEPS stretch” at Seattleschild.com.
Learn more about PEPS and its programs at peps.org.
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