Mom Club with Caroline Rocchetta
Caroline Rocchetta with her children Faye (14), Reed (10), and River (8), and husband. (Photo credit: Caroline Rocchetta)
You may recognize her name from her stunning photography, often capturing families, weddings, and the natural beauty around her, but rarely do we get a glimpse at the woman behind the lens, Caroline Rocchetta. An East End-raised mother of three who leads with her heart and leans into nature to guide her through motherhood and hone her creative eye.
Read on as Caroline shares mothering on the North Fork in our monthly Mom Club — a Q&A with local North Fork moms.
Mom Club is made possible by The Stretch Garden — your place on the North Fork for recovery and rejuvenation, reimagined.
Q: Describe your parenting style in three words:
Caroline: Laid-back, nature-led, trusting.
Q: What is your favorite thing about motherhood?
Caroline: Currently, I absolutely love it when my baby (the 8-year-old) gets sleepy and searches for the cool skin on the back of my arm to hold, or my ear, and I see a glimpse of him as a baby again. It’s my favorite thing to know that my body is comfort, connection, and home to my children.
Q: What’s your least favorite thing about motherhood?
Caroline: Laundry.
Q: Would you change anything about motherhood? Tell us.
Caroline: I would change the way women are initiated into Motherhood, returning the power of the birth experience into the hands of the woman. Culturally, birth is treated like a medical emergency, but it is a sacred rite of passage that needs to be honored more appropriately.
Q: In your opinion, what makes raising children on the North Fork unique?
Caroline: Access to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world on any old day, providing tangible and sensory childhood experiences that last a lifetime. It’s beautiful and peaceful here, and that’s important.
Q: What role does nature play in raising your children?
Caroline: Nature is raising my children. Both my husband and I have a deep reverence for the divine design of nature, and it informs most everything else.
Q: What's your favorite recent thing that you've done with your children on the North Fork?
Caroline: On a random weekday, it was crazy hot, so we walked down to a nearby beach, which is very private. Minutes after we arrived, a huge juvenile bald eagle flew just above us, so low that we could hear the air in its wings. My teenage daughter put on her favorite music and happily sunbathed. A huge tree is beached there, and its branches extend out to the Sound. My middle child, the ‘wild one,’ quickly ventured all the way out to the precarious branch that created the springboard from which he could jump. The contrast of his silhouette set against the sparkling, smooth sea was stunning. My littlest one eagerly led me to a boulder that he found, and it served both as a perfect hot rock spa-style lounger and also a waterslide. My husband arrived by bike, having just gotten home from work, shirtless, and he’s candy for my eyes. All together, we watched as a storm formed over Connecticut and began to make its way toward us, so we got ahead of raindrops and slowly headed for home. A perfect regular day on the North Fork.
Q: What's your children's favorite thing you've recently done together on the North Fork?
Caroline: Fishing with Pop. We went buck tailing in Plum Gut and caught a bunch of nice stripers.
Q: What is one thing every child should experience on the North Fork?
Caroline: Foraging! It offers another level of connecting with the North Fork more deeply. I recently wrote a book, The Foraged Fork, that chronicles my family learning to forage together. Everyone loves taking nature walks and going to the beach, but understanding the food and medicine around us at any given time is an important life skill, and it’s super fun!
Q: Mothering lasts long after we're gone. It becomes the values that live within our children for their whole lives, too. What are some things that you hope your children carry with them forever?
Caroline: The feeling of freedom. Gratitude. Respect for nature.