June 2011

Quiet is Okay

June 29, 2011

Early on, I remember being in new groups and being shooed away to “go play with the kids.” I have memories of not really wanting to play with a bunch of kids I didn’t know, but they would look like they were having fun. So I’d force myself, thinking that I might end up having [...]

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Habiba and the Indictment of Attached Parenting

June 28, 2011

Loving parents around the world are mobilizing to support an everywoman named Habiba, a Moroccan mother living in Spain. Habiba was down on her luck, living in a Madrid women’s shelter run by the Instituto Madrileño del Menor y la Familia (IMMF) with her 15 month old nursling, Alma. The shelter disapproved of Habiba nursing [...]

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Desperate For Balance

June 27, 2011

I am a mother of three children. I am a mother of three children, and I spend my days changing diapers, kissing boo-boos, and giving hugs. My job of raising these beautiful children bring me joy. And sometimes, it breaks my heart. My oldest is 6, my middle child is 4, and my youngest is [...]

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Letter to that smart person with smart kids

June 24, 2011

Before anyone gets all paranoid, know that this goes for all ridiculously intelligent people with intelligent children. And know that I have astronomical standards for what constitutes plain ‘ol intelligent, much less ridiculously intelligent, so by nature, very few qualify. But if you do… I’m watching you. I’m making note of your every move. I’m [...]

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Stripping the Layers of Advice

June 23, 2011

I recently came across a parenting message board from a fairly prestigious college in California, USA. I had never visited the site before, and I was very interested to see how such an intellectual group of people addressed the parenting topic of sleep. The advice was fair. It was supportive, friendly, educated, and it was [...]

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What is Misbehavior?

June 22, 2011

“Children don’t misbehave, they simply behave to get their needs met.” This quote comes from Dr. Thomas Gordon, but other psychologists and parent educators have said the same thing. Dr. Jane Nelsen devotes a whole section of her book, Positive Discipline, as well as lessons in her parenting classes to understanding children’s mistaken goals of [...]

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The Link Between Breastfeeding and Mental Health

June 21, 2011

A study published in the April 2010 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics by The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study suggests that breastfeeding may have a positive effect on children’s and adolescents’ mental health. A paper that appeared in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry listed children’s mental health as one of the [...]

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Totin’

June 20, 2011

A story about standing in line at CVS, baby fingertip kisses, stranger germ phobia, infertility, and magic you can share with a stranger. Totin’ I was just at CVS and an older man was behind me in line.  I stopped to get some chocolate, specifically, Bliss chocolate Easter eggs.  “Do you want to go ahead [...]

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