Arts & Entertainment

Wheaton Writer Joins 'Listen To Your Mother' Cast

Jean Winegardner will share her experiences parenting a child with autism.

You may know her as the writer of the Wheaton Patch's weekly White Knuckle Parenting column. But Jean Winegardner, mother of three, also publishes her own blog, called Stimeyland, and actively participates in the D.C. area blogging community.

And this Sunday, one week before Mother's Day, Winegardner will join other D.C. area writers onstage to share her story about the challenges and joys of motherhood.

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"Listen To Your Mother" or LTYM is a national event that started two years ago in Madison. Local groups apply to hold the show in their hometowns, and then they make it their own by recruiting local performers and donating a portion of the proceeds to a local family-oriented non-profit.

The central theme of the D.C. show is the empowerment of motherhood, producer Kate Coveny Hood told Patch in an interview. "There's a whole range of emotions involved in motherhood," Hood said.

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Winegardner said that as soon as she found out about the show, she instantly knew which piece she wanted to read at the auditions. "It's sort of my core message of what I try to get out about my son and autism," she said. "My piece is about hope and what I want for my child."

The first LTYM in D.C. will honor Susan Niebur, a local blogger with an international following,  after battling inflammatory breast cancer for five years. 

"We created a fund in her name," Hood said. "So many people in the D.C. community felt very touched by her life."

Winegardner was friends with Niebur; they first met through a local moms club in Wheaton. "I think it's a wonderful way to honor her," Winegardner said. 

Listen To Your Mother D.C. will be performed May 6, from 2-3:30 p.m., at the Synetic Theater at Crystal City, in Arlington, Va.

You can read Jean Winegardner's weekly columns on Wheaton Patch and a Q&A with her on the LTYM website.

Are you a mother? What would you have to say about motherhood if you got up on stage? Tell us in the comments.


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