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C’est la vie, Parenting in Marin!

At Home with ADHD
C’EST LA VIE, PARENTING IN MARIN!

By: Lannette Guerra | March 23, 2023

I am consistently aware of the pros and cons of raising my child here in Marin. I’m just another transplant to the Bay, trying to give my kid a fighting chance. But I often wonder if I’m doing my daughter a disservice by remaining here.

Raising a child in Marin offers the advantages of any affluent suburb: quality education, excellent extracurricular activities, and special accommodations for kids who may need them. Marin County's biggest strength isn’t its mountainous terrain or nature trails. It’s the ability to raise funds so kids can keep climbing its peaks. With these vast resources, our kids daily enjoy incredible outdoor and indoor activities that benefit their physical and mental health.

Money can’t produce happiness. Despite all its attempts to welcome diversity, Marin County is still a homogenous community, and “keeping up the Joneses” may lead to a “Stepford wives conversion.” Both of these cultural tropes illustrate the cons of raising a child in Marin County.

Moms desperately try to outdo each other and prove their little world is together. Parents wear themselves out to make enough money to stay caught up with the rest. They ensure their kids get the best mentorship and are welcomed into an Ivy League of choice. The pressure is fierce, and those that get tired of the system end up packing up the house and kids and saying, “What’s cooking, Copenhagen?”.

I’m making a conscious choice to have real-life interactions with people of different backgrounds. I’m committed to be a voice for those that tend to fall through the cracks and those with invisible disabilities. Today, I have mixed feelings about my daughter feeling at home here, and I fight for her to understand our Mount Tamalpais view took decades of hard sacrifice.

Overall, raising a child in Marin County can be an enriching experience. Still, it also has its challenges - along with privilege comes the inevitable blindness to the other side and social insulation of the wealth gap. And no amount of greenery, cultural activities, and academics can provide a child with a wise perspective of the world beyond the vistas of Marin. The only way a child can experience it is by leaving once in a while, so when they return to their hallmark postcard, they know their pocket of Eden is a bubble only experienced by 1% of the planet. So visit a developing nation, build a house, do a language immersion program, and get out of your comfort zone. Hopefully, this brings us all a sense of gratitude for the place we call home, Marin County, California.

Lannette Guerra has a decade of experience working for large and small high-end residential firms, throughout Northern California. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture, a Bachelor of Arts, and is a LEED accredited professional. Before moving to California, she spent 4 years as an Exhibit Designer in Kansas City, MO.

She resides and virtually works for her current employer, from her home in San Rafael, CA. When she is not hyperfocused on work she enjoys hikes in the Marin headlands and couch cuddles with her family and furry friend. She is currently staying away from engaging in any new hobbies except for being a mentor & advocate of mental and physical well-being.

She is also a strong believer that the only way to build yourself to personal fulfillment and reach your true potential is to quiet the mind, eliminate distraction, and listen to what your heart has been telling you all along. Only then will you be able to see your authentic self reflected within your home, your soul, and in the workplace.