Scream like a mother! Moms burnt out by pandemic gather to blow off steam

PEABODY, Mass. — Groups of moms overwhelmed by parenting during a pandemic are gathering together to blow off steam by screaming in unison.

A couple of dozen mothers met outside A Mom’s Village in Peabody Thursday night to release their pent-up anger, sadness and so many other emotions that have been building in the shadow of COVID-19.

“It felt really good. I didn’t think I needed to do it, and then when I was doing it, it felt amazing,” said mom Molly Czarnecki, who attended the session with her girlfriends. “We can’t scream at home, because our kids are screaming all the time. So, now, we can scream.”

Sarah Harmon, a mental health therapist and founder of The School of MOM, orchestrated the “primal mom scream.”

“It feels cathartic. I think it catches people off guard almost that they feel better than they thought they would,” Harmon told Boston 25 News. “The moms, we don’t know each other, but we do. There’s like an unspoken language between moms, and screaming is now part of that.”

Harmon’s first session in Charlestown, inspired by clients and friends experiencing the same pandemic parenting challenges, was such a success it was brought back by popular demand two weeks ago.

Harmon leads the circle of women in screaming, starting with a deep breath in and then letting it all out. The first round is a regular scream followed by a profanity round, in which the majority of moms favored the same four-letter word. The third round on Thursday was a “scream for everything that’s been canceled.”

“I had my second baby on March 11, 2020, so the day the pandemic was made official. And it was so isolating and scary, and I wasn’t able to be around my other mom friends that were going through the same things,” said Tess Darci. “Sarah’s idea of this scream is so amazing because it gives us moms a chance to just let it all out.”

The moms from all different backgrounds share the same daycare, school, and work-from-home challenges, along with the weight of keeping their families safe.

“I have two young kids, both under five, and it’s been a lot of stops, start with daycare, having them home, and trying to work. And there are just so many things on my plate like so many other moms. And I feel like I’m burying so many of the emotions that are actually behind everything that is happening,” said Jamie LaDuca. “So, it will be nice to just scream and let it out.”

Cindy Solomon and Stephanie Keohan, co-owners of A Mom’s Village – a mom clubhouse complete with fitness studios, activities, and childcare – invited Harmon to their parking lot in Peabody for her third scream session.

“Motherhood is hard as it is, and we just haven’t been able to prioritize ourselves. And moms have felt the pressure of that,” Solomon said. “I think it’s just such a release. The past two years have just been pent up, and moms are expected to take care of everyone else and do it calmly and do it with a smile on our faces.”

Even when braving the bitter cold, the ability to be together and support one another while undertaking the most important job of all, parenting, is uplifting in an otherwise isolating time.

“Things like this are so important,” Keohan said. “It gives us a chance to be a part of a community, to get together, to know that we’re not going through these things alone. We’re all doing our best, and we are in it together.”

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