gentle discipline

National Spank Out Day – Positive Discipline Resources

April 30, 2012

April 30th is National Spank Out Day, which was established to promote non-violent discipline of children. Today, we aim to raise awareness about physical punishment for children, as well as educate parents about effective discipline practices that do not involve hitting and spanking. Here, we’ve listed some of API’s resources on positive discipline, as well [...]

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Nighttime Parenting Isn’t Always Pretty

January 16, 2012

My first had always been a good sleeper. We co-slept through about 18 months or so, and when we moved, Little Man jumped right into his big-boy bed and that’s where he wanted to sleep. After I had my second child, we went through a phase where Little Man would wander into my bed in [...]

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A Look at Your Discipline Style

May 19, 2011

I lead a meeting for the S. Austin Attachment Parenting chapter this morning on finding your discipline style. So often parents talk about what they don’t want to do: spank, shame, do what their parents did, etc. Figuring out what they do want to do is harder, especially when they didn’t have good models. Before [...]

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I am not raising obedient children…

May 13, 2011

…nor do I want to.  Not that I would rather have disobedient kids, but actually…that’s closer to the truth.  What? (You say.)  What crazy parent would want this? To me, the word “obedient” has such a negative connotation when used in reference to raising children; it literally means to obey.  As in, orders.  Is that what [...]

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Embracing Positive Discipline’s Challenges

April 25, 2011

Positive discipline doesn’t come instinctively for many people. In fact, that’s why most parents undertake positive discipline in the first place; they want to change their current instincts about raising children. They want to break the cycle of using traditional discipline methods that compromise the parent-child relationship, and they are forging their way in a [...]

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Maintaining Attachment Parenting As They Grow & Become Big Siblings…

March 10, 2011

My 20-month-old daughter is very easy to parent. Okay, well, that’s not entirely true. She’s aptly-nicknamed “Aurora the Destroyer” for her desire to explore and investigate, and her physical and mental abilities to not only climb to higher places, but figure out how to position things to climb to even higher places. But her needs, [...]

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Interview Series: Kelly Bartlett

January 3, 2011

Today I have a real treat for you: an interview with API Speaks contributing blogger Kelly Bartlett!  Kelly is the first of our bloggers who are opening up and answering questions.  I’ve been reading API Speaks for a long time now and am so excited to get to know all the contributors better.  Read on [...]

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An Episode in Positive Discipline

June 11, 2010

The other night, my husband and I were talking in the kitchen, and Elia (5) & JJ (3) were in the living room when we heard Elia shriek, scream & start crying.  It is instantly followed by “SOR-RY!” from JJ.  We look over and Elia is getting up from the floor, holding her neck & [...]

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