Presence

Own Two Hands

June 22, 2012

By Deanna Spangler, API Leader in Roseville, California   So life in my house is busy with three girls ages 7, 5, and 2.  Not only am I a stay-at-home mom but I started homeschooling my oldest this year.  Busy doing the same tasks grossly repetitively I clean, teach, change diapers, laundry, errands – we [...]

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Mama’s Night Out

June 18, 2012

Yesterday evening I had the chance for a night out of the house on my own. Today, I’m recalling another evening a number of years ago when I really wanted a night out, but I wasn’t in the place to make it happen. Let’s compare and contrast those two evenings. Yesterday Evening My children were [...]

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Mother’s day will be the day to celebrate love

May 9, 2012

“Mother’s Day is your day to celebrate the way you choose. This day for us single women is all about recognizing the amazing life we have created. Celebrate yourself. You are a strong amazing woman. Take pride in that.” I never wanted to celebrate Mother’s Day – I never saw much point in it. Not as [...]

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Goodnight iPad: Cutting Down on Screen Time

April 30, 2012

I flipped through this book at the counter of our local toy store the other day. It’s a humorous take on the classic “Goodnight Moon,” which my kids and I have read together countless times. And it is funny; an apt exaggeration of how virtuality has replaced so much of what is “real.” But it [...]

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Motherhood: Is It Holding Mothers Back?

April 27, 2012

“The Conflict: How Modern Motherhood Undermines the Status of Women,” is the latest release of self-effacing mom lit, by prominent French intellectual Elisabeth Badinter. From her recent piece in the Huffington Post: Today’s ideal of motherhood requires that we give birth in pain, without benefit of an epidural, since this robs us of our first [...]

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The Technology of Attachment

February 27, 2012

Grandmother Naomi, now well into her 80s, still remembers the excitement she felt the first time she used the newly invented mop that allowed her to wash her floors without bending down on her hands and knees. Change has come fast in 50 years – from the mop to electrical gadgets, cell phones, ipods, computers, [...]

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Flirting with babies

December 16, 2011

As the parent of a young toddler, the idea of “flirting” has been on my mind for a while. Whenever we’re at a restaurant, my daughter – like many other young children – enjoys catching the eye of new people, and making them smile. Our society likes to call this “flirting.” Our perceptions of babies [...]

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Playtime Grows Up

October 21, 2011

Young children play effortlessly. Kids are naturally predisposed to play, and it doesn’t take much to engage a child in a silly game or role-play. Through play, kids express feelings, needs, thoughts and ideas that they might not yet have the words to articulate. Playing together lets parents connect and communicate with kids beyond a [...]

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