Ysaris is a single parent with two young boys who are 8 and 3. Since 2012, Ysaris has attended four Families First programs—a remarkable commitment of time and energy made by a mother determined to be the best parent she can be.

In the beginning, Parenting Educators described Ysaris as strong and tough. And for a long time, Ysaris was convinced that her sons should be tough like her. When her older son was bullied at school, she couldn’t understand why he hadn’t defended himself.

 

Ysaris said, “I wasn’t communicating well, and I had a temper. I was disciplining them the same way that I had been when I was a kid.”

After learning more about parenting styles and children’s temperaments, Ysaris was able to recognize that her sons are different from her—and that’s okay.

“I learned to calm myself down. Now, I let my sons have opinions. I talk with Isaiah more. I ask him about his day.”

These days, Ysaris and her sons have a routine. Every day she walks them to and from school, and she sits with her older son at the kitchen table to do their homework.

Ysaris works full-time and attends Boston Career Institute where she is studying to become a Medical Assistant.

She dreams of her sons going to college, so she tells them how important school is every day.

She says, “I’m just trying to raise my sons as men and leaders. I want them to know that there is a better life out there for them.”

Thanks to Ysaris’s strength and hard work, she and her sons have a bright future.