Jellyfish Connection was originally intended to be a babysitting Co-Op, for families with a limited network or lack of people who could watch the kids for an hour here & there and for families struggling with the viscious cycle of working to pay daycare or occasional care fees. Some people don't want their children in traditional day care and would prefer to have them in a home environment. A babysitting co-op would enable people to participate in a “child swap” for a day or two a week while they take a brief break from parenting challenges or go to work to help make ends meet.

Because I love writing about my passions, being natural therapies, health, fitness, pregnancy, 'normal' birth and sustainability, Jellyfish Connection has developed into something quite different, with the babysitting co-op being the least prominent feature of the website, but still a project that requires attention.

It’s important to me that Jellyfish Connection helps mums and mums-to-be enjoy being a part of their community and surround themselves with positive like-minded people to share their experiences & knowledge about healthy living, pregnancy and parenting. People need to feel connected with one another. As a stay/work-at-home mum I, like many of us think parenting is a roller coaster - the most wonderful and rewarding yet thankless and challenging job at the same time, it can be exciting and boring too! While you might have some great days when everything goes according to plan and your home is full of love, you also have days when you feel incredibly alone and isolated from society. I love being a Mum, my children and husband are the inspiration for this website and inspire me to find ways to seek improvement as a person, partner and a parent. Jellyfish Connection enables me to be at home with my kids and attempt to continue to develop my career in natural therapies.

The world wide web helps bring people closer together no matter where they live, but I am also organising events that will help bring people together physically, face to face so they can chat, laugh and cry with real people – perhaps I’m just old fashioned but I love hearing a person’s voice and seeing their facial expressions, or the comfort you feel when someone touches your arm with an empathetic look or the contagious nature of laughter!

As a Naturopath (Bachelor of Health Science - Naturopathy), the consistent theme throughout the site is the use of natural therapies such as nutrition, herbal medicine & homoeopathy, Osteopathy & Myotherapy as the most gentle and effective treatments for common ailments a family might experience. As well as informing readers about less mainstream therapies like Creative Arts Counselling and Hypnotherapy with articles from practitioners of these modalities. There is a strong emphisis on the fact that pregnancy and childbirth are not illnesses or diseases that require medical intervention, that women and their partners should approach their pregnancy and birth educated and empowered, be encouraged to ask questions and make their own choices. I feel very strongly about the fact that pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding are the most natural and wonderful experiences a woman and her family can encounter.  

Our children deserve to and have the right to live without chemicals in their bodies including environmental, household products & food additives. I love holding information sessions for parents to cut through the marketing hype of large trusted companies and make informed choices about what we buy and bring into our homes.   

Another passion is sustainability and our family is currently on a journey to make our house more environmentally friendly, but I also love technology (although I'm not very good at using it), so finding a balance that suits all elements of life can be difficult with an emphasis on trying to minimise one’s carbon footprint. A challenge I'm certainly up for!    

I sincerely hope you get something out of being a part of Jellyfish Connection; I welcome opinions & written contributions of any kind. Simply use the Contact Us form.

I hope to see you all in person at our upcoming events.

Jo Schutt

Mum, Naturopath and Creator of Jellyfish Connection

www.facebook.com/JellyfishConnection

Food for Families - Making Informed Nutrition Decisions

www.facebook.com/FoodforFamilies

Peninsula Family Health Expo - Naturally Inspired Family Wellness

www.facebook.com/PeninsulaFamilyHealthExpo