Cannabis & Motherhood with Tanya Griffin

A Mother, Entrepreneur, and Guide for Women

Tanya is a serial entrepreneur, inside and out of the cannabis space. Her line of retail stores, Kangaroo Kids, launched her into the motherhood space as neighboring hospitals funneled new mothers to her store. Among her many other titles, Tanya is a lactation consultant.

“I breastfed for 11 years straight!” She recalls. “So I helped new moms with many things, but breastfeeding among them.”

Motherhood and babies were always natural for Tanya. She is the oldest of 10 kids, and home birthing and breastfeeding were a natural part of her childhood. As the mother of six, she always had “a kid on the tit.”

“I thought my experience was the norm,” Tanya said. “And so much of what I taught parents at my stores was how to relax into parenting.”

Those stores launched new mother groups, where parents could gather and discuss their troubles and woes. No conversation was off-limits – in theory.

“A lot of the conversations in these groups were around alcohol and opioids, because those were accessible,” Tanya said. “Back in the 90s, cannabis was still so illegal, highly criminalized, that it made it difficult to even discuss.”

In retrospect, Tanya wishes she knew then what she knows now. “If I had understood the place of pant medicine could have, I would have loved to educate parents on it.”

But hindsight is always 20/20.

Cannabis After Kids

Tanya waves off the story of what brought her to the plant – a husband. “I saw cannabis through the eyes of a regular user, and I saw firsthand how calming it was. It didn’t rev you up like alcohol.”

Cannabis entered her life during a moment of transition, when, after 11 years, she was finally done breastfeeding her kids.

“I knew nothing about cannabis when I became a mom.” In fact, Tanya told me upfront, “I used to be terrified of drugs. That’s why I had six all-natural childbirths!”

But today, Tanya proudly shares her experiences with substances (and sex) in her newsletter Yes to Sex, where she talks about psychedelics, orgasmic pleasure, and women’s evolving hormones.

“I had no idea what cannabis could do for my evening. It helped me focus and relax in a way that nothing else had. When I understood the plant and how to dose it with intention, it was life-changing.”

Naturally, Tanya does not shy away from the conversation around moms and substances.

“Parents use drugs to navigate parenting.” She said firmly. “We prescribe SSRIs for PPD. Amphetamines for ADHD. Sedatives and epidurals for birth. Cannabis needs to be part of this conversation. It doesn’t work against parents as alcohol does.”

Cannabis, in Tanya’s opinion, could change many things for new parents. “The most challenging hurdle of breastfeeding is relaxing and focusing. One of the hardest parts of parenting is paying attention to your kids without distractions.”

But cannabis can help change that.

Embracing the Conversation Around Cannabis and Kids

Once Tanya understood what the plant could do, it was natural to turn her entrepreneurial sensibilities on the industry. And with years of experience starting and running companies, she jumped into the cannabis industry with both feet.

“I saw firsthand how CBD helped epileptic kids, how cannabis helped veterans with PTSD. But working with anxious moms was the biggest shift.”

Contrary to popular belief, kids are highly emotionally intelligent. And when something is off, they pick up on it.

“When you’re filled with fear and anxiety, you show up as a parent like that. Kids respond to that.”

Tanya’s kids were spread out across middle and high school when she entered the cannabis industry in Illinois, and she quickly became known as the weed lady.  Her kid’s friends thought it was cool. Her own kids did not.

“I have always been very outspoken about both sex and drugs,” Tanya said. “As a parent, our job is to educate our children, not to keep them in the dark. The greatest dangers come from shielding kids, instead of arming them with the truth.”

Truth Over Shame

Kids are naturally curious, and oftentimes, adults will impose their own feelings or biases on the questions kids ask. But open, honest, and age-appropriate conversations can help arm kids for the realities of the world, and the fact that not all substances are created equally.

“What we’ve done with drugs is a disservice,” Tanya said. “We put everything in the same bucket of ‘gateway’ drugs. If we don’t break down the differences between substances, our kids are missing information. Cannabis and heroin are not the same thing.”

At her core, Tanya is anti-shame. “We have to open the conversation, and it starts with our kids. Shaming sex and drugs has not worked. Children in junior high and high school have unbelievable access to drugs. To not talk about them is the real danger.”

Tanya’s outspokenness about cannabis is, in her opinion, one of her kids’ challenges. “It’s hard to have a crazy mom!” She laughs. But it’s also just who she is.

How Does Cannabis Change a Mother?

As someone who came to cannabis after she transitioned into motherhood, I’m always curious: how did the plant change Tanya’s approach to motherhood?

“Cannabis dropped me in the moment and let me sit with my children and participate in their world with them.”

But why is Tanya so passionate about changing people’s minds – especially parents’ – about cannabis?

“The plant, in general, from a chemical standpoint, helps you settle into your space. It helps you get rid of some of the noise and clutter in the mind. It has so many advantages when you connect that with parenting – you can get on the floor, play their games, and be all there.”

Like many parents and entrepreneurs, Tanya always had a challenging time balancing work and kids. “I’ve built companies all my life. When that call comes, my instinct is always to pick up the call and handle it. But cannabis allowed me to focus at a certain point in the evening. I could be in the moment, helping with science homework.”

Tanya’s kids are grown now, ranging from 24 to 32.

“For the last decade of my life, my kids have watched me excel with these drugs. They get to see this all happen, watch me building businesses, working out, trying to be a better person.”

As you may have guessed, she is not an advocate for keeping cannabis consumption away from kids.

“I mean, I won’t smoke in front of my grandkids.” She said. “But we have to look at the balance; can you balance work, family, your partner, and your life, with these drugs? Kids want their parents to be okay, and when they see your life is good and flowing, they appreciate that.”

Balance, too, is at the center of her values.

“When an imbalance happens, that’s where problems are. You can abuse sugar, you can abuse carrots. Cannabis is a tool; it’s about balance and intention.”

In retrospect, does she think her openness about several taboo topics affected her kids growing up in the 90s and aughts in the Midwest?

“Sure,” Tanya shrugged. “My kids think I’m a little nuts. But they also have respect for me and my choices, and I have total respect for their choices. The most important thing I did was to help them learn how to think for themselves and stand on their own two feet. And thankfully, I have phenomenal relationships with each one of my kids.”

Although Tanya’s approach to life and parenting is a little different, as she watches her kids have kids, she has a front row seat to how parenting styles translate through the generations.

“My kids are better parents than I was, because I didn’t know what I didn’t know. But I see how open they are with their kids, and I love that.”