Meet Beth! | Stamford Moms

 

Meet Beth Lenhard! She is a Stamford mom of two and the school nurse at New Canaan Country School. She worked at Stamford Hospital for 14 years before taking on her new role at NCCS, where her children are students. Beth and her husband, Mason, grew up in Ohio and moved to Stamford shortly after finishing college. Learn more about Beth and find out everything from health tips to what she does for “me time!”

What grades are your children in? Do they go to NCCS?
Ava and Reece have been students at New Canaan Country School for several years. Ava is in 4th grade and Reece is in 3rd.

How long have you lived in Stamford and what brought you to town?
My husband Mason and I moved to Stamford 15 years ago after he graduated college and got his first job here. We both grew up in Ohio and went to school in Philly. I spent my first year out of college working in Ohio for a year and a half before we moved.

Do you have any favorite family activities in the area?
As a family, we love going out to dinner together and spending as much time as possible outside, riding bikes or relaxing in our yard.

                                                                                    

Tell us about your new role as School Nurse at NCCS…
Prior to becoming the full-time School Nurse at Country School, I “subbed” off and on while my son was in Kindergarten, and I loved it. Combining my work skills with a community I already knew and loved was the best of both worlds. I was so excited when I got the job. I will say though that I was not anticipating taking on one of the worst flu seasons which rolled into a full-blown pandemic! Even with all that, it has not changed how much I love being here working with an amazing team and community.

How long did you work at Stamford Hospital and what was your focus there?
I worked at Stamford Hospital for 14 years in various locations throughout the hospital, with my primary specialty in cardiac and critical care. Stamford Hospital was a second family. NCCS was the only place that could have pulled me from there.

What sort of initiatives are you working on as lead of the Wellness Team?
The wonderful part of the development of our Wellness Team last year is the collaboration between our different skill sets to support our community. Our primary focus right now, especially during these unusual circumstances for students and faculty, is how we are successfully supporting physical, emotional and mental health. We meet regularly to design ways to build this support into everyone’s daily routines so they feel their best.

Any health tips you’d like to share with parents?
We all do a great job as parents of taking care of our kids and putting them first, as we should, however right now we also need to remember to also take care of ourselves physically and mentally as well. We can only be the best parents when we are feeling our best. Take time to regroup on your own even if it’s in another room of the house or outside in the yard for a bit, monitor your own health, if you are not feeling well, take the time to rest. This is more important now than ever before.

Favorite part of your job?
I love the connection I make with my patients and families. Every day, no matter how hard some days can be, I honestly feel like I am making a difference and hopefully making someone’s tough day a little better.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten from another mom?
There is no such thing as a perfect mom and it’s good for our kids to see that we are not perfect. I see how true this is now that my kids are older and they realize mistakes are going to happen to all of us no matter how old we are.

How do you unwind when you need “me time?”
If you ask my kids this question they would answer it spot on. “Mom needs a break so she needs to get her Starbucks and go to Target!” It’s a mom stereotype, but if I get a chance to wander aimlessly through a store alone with my coffee, that definitely does make me happy.

Favorite band, book, TV Show…
I absolutely love country music (my kids love car rides with me ;)…did you catch the sarcasm!) and I love coming home and watching any reality TV that happens to be on.

Name one thing people would be surprised to know about you.
I am an only child and I HATE seafood and my birthday is on Halloween.

Any words to live by?
You Do You! I say this to my kids all the time and it drives them crazy, but I believe this holds true in so many situations. You only have control over you. You control how you act, how you treat others, how you choose to live your life so focus on being the best YOU and don’t worry about what is good for someone else.

Anything else to add?
Life is hard and very different for all of us right now. Try to remember that you have no idea what someone else is struggling with on a particular day and try to always be kind and caring. You may be the one positive in someone else’s day.

We love supporting local businesses. Favorite places in town (or near town) to…

Have dinner: Sienna in Stamford
Grab a drink with friends: Cava in New Canaan
Have a date night: We are supposed to have date nights??? J/K :)……We have always loved Barcelona!
Spend time together as a family outdoors: Anything by the water!
Grab coffee:  Lorca in Stamford
Workout: I don’t…..just kidding I definitely don’t love working out, but when I had a little extra time, I did kickboxing and loved it. I am now trying to love our new Peloton just as much.

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