Setting boundaries at home: parenting workshops launch in Geelong

A NEW workshop series will help people define their values and approach family life with greater confidence, as parents face issues around screen use, mental health and shifting expectations.

The Parenting Manifesto Series, beginning 18 March at the Waurn Ponds Library, will guide parents and carers of children from toddlers to teenagers through a six-session program focused on self-awareness and decision-making at home.

The workshops are led by wellbeing educators Sue Wong and Justin Robinson, who previously worked together at Geelong Grammar School before developing the My Manifesto framework.

Robinson said many parents cared deeply about raising healthy, resilient children but felt uncertain about how to respond in complex situations.

“Parents are partly torn between wanting to be their friend, wanting to ensure they’re safe [and] worrying that they might be leaning to anxiety or mental health issues,” he said.

Over the course of the program, participants will work through guided exercises to create a personal “manifesto”, a written statement of intention designed to guide everyday choices.

“We call a personal manifesto a private declaration of what matters deeply to you, of what’s important to you, what your values are,” Robinson said. “It guides your life. It helps you to live intentionally.

“It doesn’t help problems go away or disappear. It doesn’t mean life’s going to be easy, but it gives you a very powerful document that’s your own words.”

He said the manifesto would help parents set sustainable boundaries with warmth and clarity, rather than reacting in the moment, and build confidence in their parenting decisions.

“You’re not meant to be doing this alone,” he said.

Robinson said the program’s group setting allowed parents to share their experiences, support one another and potentially make lifelong friends.

The program has been subsidised by the City of Greater Geelong, reducing the usual cost from $400 to $60 per participant.

Wong said the program could also benefit couples working toward shared expectations at home.

“We did have a couple trial [the program], and they said this was more relevant and more value than their marriage vows they’d written for themselves,” she said.

“If you have a common aim and a common goal like that, and you support each other to follow through, that eliminates a lot of the concerns before they become concerns.”

The Parenting Manifesto Series runs across six Wednesday evenings from 18 March to May 6 at the Waurn Ponds Library.

For more information or to book, head to geelong.link/ParentingManifesto