Looking Ahead: Parenting in 2011

Today we bid farewell to 2010 and welcome 2011 with open arms. While we take the time to reflect on the past 12 months, we also begin to look ahead to the future. One question that I have for everyone is will your parenting landscape be changing in the coming year?

  • Are you expecting the birth of a new child?
  • Will you have a child starting school?
  • Will you have a child going off to college for the first time?
  • Are you planning on moving to a new home in 2011?

If your parenting landscape is changing in the coming year, how will you manage these changes?

We are planning on moving to a new home in the summertime. We first moved into this home when my son, who is my oldest child, was only four months old. This is the only house that my children have known but we are now ready to move. I know that it will be challenging to maintain balance in both my life and my family’s lives during the upcoming move but we’re already starting to plan for this big change.

Parenting Resolutions?

If you’re the resolution-making type, I’d love to hear what your parenting resolutions are for the New Year. If you’re already involved in a local API Group, perhaps you think 2011 will be the right time to pursue joint leadership. Maybe you want to start a new API Group in your area to help support other families in their parenting journey.

Photo: ba1969

Strive for Balance this Holiday Season

As the holiday season approaches, we all need to make a concentrated effort on maintaining balance in our personal and family lives. To help prepare you for the upcoming busy season, read through some of our most popular posts on striving for balance.

Child’s Hierarchy of Needs – Parents often find it overwhelming trying to meet their children’s needs. With limited time, limited resources, and limited patience meeting all of their needs can seem like an impossible task.

How to Use Family Meetings – No matter if yours is a family of two or ten, taking regular opportunities to get together and talk about “business” helps families connect and communicate.

How to Beat the Dinnertime Disconnect – Meanwhile at our table, my family was abuzz; my daughter and I were doing the crossword on her place mat, my husband was playing the dot game with our son on his place mat.
Continue reading “Strive for Balance this Holiday Season”

API Live! How Much is Enough?

Join us for the next API Live! Teleseminar scheduled for November 15, 2010 at 9pm EST/6pm PST: How Much is Enough? Attachment Parenting, Permissive Parenting and Overindulgence with special guest Jean Illsley Clarke.

Register now for this upcoming live teleseminar to hear hosts Lu Hanessian and API co-founder Barbara Nicholson talk with Jean Illsley Clarke as they talk about current information regarding parenting and tough traits like greed, helplessness, and self-centeredness, and discuss:

  • Can I give my children too much?
  • How do I recognize overindulgence?
  • Toys, events, and activities: meeting the child’s needs or the parent’s needs?
  • What effect does overindulgence have on effort, learning, and potential and my child’s life aspirations?
  • Overindulgence and common parenting challenges like television/screen time and chores

This call will take place on Monday, November 15th at 9PM EST/ 6PM EST.

Please submit your questions to API Live (apilive AT attachmentparenting DOT org) and we will make every effort to address them during the call.

Click for more information about Jean Illsley Clarke and to register for the event.

AP Month 2010 “Full of Love” Blog Carnival

Welcome to the official AP Month 2010 “Full of Love” Blog Carnival. Please browse through the submissions below. Each post includes an excerpt as well as a link to the full post. Please note that the links will open in a new window. Enjoy the posts!

Attachment Parenting Month-“Full of Love” from the International Childbirth Education Association

This year’s theme is “Full of Love: parenting to meet emotional and physical needs for children.” The focus is on raising healthy kids and childhood obesity prevention. It is no secret this country has seen a rise in childhood obesity but I really had no idea how bad it was until I looked at some of the statistics available on the AP month site.

Not only will you be shocked by the facts and statistics but the articles on obesity and attachment will surely open your eyes. Studies have shown links between insecurity and obesity, early trauma and obesity, and even how attachment styles can affect eating behaviors.


AP MONTH 2010 BLOG CARNIVAL – FULL OF LOVE at mamaeve

In our family we believe that fresh, nutritious food is the basis for healthy living. Good food gives you energy and keeps you feeling well. When my first son was born, we lived in San Diego, where fresh, seasonal, and local organic food was abundant and easy to find in almost every grocery store. We recently moved deep into the Mojave Desert, and the food landscape is very different. We live in a town that exists solely for the military base here, and there is no agriculture, no manufacturing, and no farming. Everything we eat or otherwise consume has to be trucked in from at least one-hundred miles away. Thankfully, there is an organic farming co-op that services our region, and we get the bulk of our groceries from there. Every week we pick up a box a fresh fruits and vegetables, and as well as purchased add-ons like meat, dairy, nuts, and herbs. It requires more planning because I have to order our food in advance. But it’s good quality, fairly priced, and we can taste the difference in every item we receive.


Filled Up With Love, Healthy Food and Dessert

As parents, we want to do our best to ensure our kids are “filled up”, both emotionally with lots of hugs and responsive care, and also physically with a balanced diet of healthy foods. It is easy to have good intentions, but the reality of actually getting those needs filled can be more complicated than we bargained for, especially when it’s so easy for children and adults to prefer ice cream to broccoli.


5 Easy Ways to Take Care of Your Body at mamaTrue

Lose weight. Exercise. Eat better. Well, sure, those are great ways to take care of yourself physically, but when you’re barely taking care of yourself at all because, say, you’re a parent to a young child or an older child with school and homework and music class and soccer, when are you going to fit in at least three workouts at the gym and how are you going to cut fat,cholesterol, carbs, processed foods, and sugar out of your diet?


A happy momma leads to what? at James & Jax

First, I began taking an omega 3 supplement because of the link to improved mood. Then, I started to take walks with Jax after work because of the link between sunlight and activity to improved mood, not to mention increased vitamin D production for both me and Jax.


Healthy Eating for the Whole Family at Raising Them Green

When it came time to announce the theme for Attachment Parenting Month 2010, I instantly knew I needed to be involved in the blog carnival. This year’s theme “Full of Love” is designed to help us all understand that challenges that come with raising children who know how to make healthy nutritional choices. For me, the challenge is a bit different as I’m the one with the problem and so I’m writing about how we’re focusing on healthy eating for the whole family.

API Live! Full of Love with Dr. Bill Sears

Join us for the next API Live! Teleseminar scheduled for October 25, 2010 at 9pm ET/6pm PT: Full of Love: Giving our children a foundation for lifelong health through attachment parenting with Dr. Bill Sears and Dominique Hodgin M.Ed.c., NE.

Register for this call to hear hosts Lu Hanessian and API co-founder Lysa Parker speak with Dr. Bill Sears and Dominique Hodgin M.Ed.c., NE about keeping our children full of love. Send your questions to apilive AT attachmentparenting DOT org about giving our children a foundation for lifelong health through attachment parenting.

Topics for the call include:

  • A Healthier Family – Keeping your children and family healthy can seem challenging, whether it is confusing nutrition information or time and budget constraints.
  • Expecting and Nursing Moms – Beginning at conception, how an expecting mom eats and how she treats her body will have a profound impact on the development of her baby, both in the womb and after birth.
  • Health Concerns – From ADHD to childhood obesity, many  parents are watching the effects poor nutrition and a lack of exercise is having on their children.
  • Behavior – You may wonder why your child suddenly loses control, won’t listen or becomes disruptive in the classroom. It may surprise you to know that certain processed food and additives may be impacting your child behavior and even your own.
  • Learning – As a parent you want your kid to do their best in school. But, with so many areas of a child’s health impacted by the food they eat they may not be as successful as they can be.
  • Performance – You do what you can to help your children perform their best on the sports field or on stage. It can be surprising to find out that your best efforts to help them improve or practice regularly may be undermined with the foods and snacks your kids are eating at mealtime or for energy at halftime.

REGISTER NOW for the API Live! Full of Love teleseminar with Dr. Bill Sears.

2 Days Left to Bid in The AP Month 2010 – Full of Love Auction

Show us some love: ONLY 2 Days Left to Bid!!!

The Attachment Parenting International Auction closes on SUNDAY, October 17, 2010 at 11:59 PM EDT.

If you’ve got your heart set on a special item… you still have time to bid!

Check Out These Great Buys…
You can still bid on any of the special items in our auction right up to the final seconds of this exciting event. Every tick of the clock brings us closer to the finish line. This may be your last chance for that special item or to grab a great bargain. So don’t miss out… BID NOW!

Spread the Word!
Remind your friends the end is almost here! Just Refer your Friends so they have the chance to offer their support and get some great last-minute deals.

Don’t Forget: Every bid supports the work we do at Attachment Parenting International!

AP Month 2010 Blog Carnival Full of Love – Submission Date Extended!

Attachment Parenting Month 2010 is in full swing! “Full of Love: parenting to meet the emotional and physical needs of children” is our theme this year with a focus on preventing childhood obesity and we’re extending our carnival of blogs! 
 
Explore with us the challenges we face in raising children who know the healthiest ways to be nourished in every aspect of life.  Participate in our Attachment Parenting Month blog carnival and share your experiences in keeping our children “Full of Love.”
 
To participate in the carnival, submit a post on our theme as we celebrate emotional and physical health.  We’d especially like to hear from you if you’ve worked through any of these particular challenges:

  • If you’ve struggled/are struggling to make healthier nutritional and/or activity changes. What has been the impact on the children?  The whole family?  (may be better or worse than desired or in flux)
  • If you’re the epitome of physical health, yet have children who regularly make different, less healthy choices. How do you resolve the challenges?
  • If your children are regularly exposed to unhealthy options, how did/do you work through this situation?
  • If you’ve uniquely accommodated and/or resolved common food and activity emotional hot buttons. (Do you have an automatic impulse to make your child clean her/his plate? What do you do?  How do you handle deserts?  Vegetables? Do you require numbers of bites until finished? )

This post is part of the Attachment Parenting Month blog carnival, hosted by Attachment Parenting International. Learn more about how you can keep your children “Full of Love” by visiting API Speaks, the blog of Attachment Parenting International.

 
Once your post is completed, please send an email with a link to your AP Month post to apispeaks AT attachmentparenting DOT org. Submissions will be accepted through October 31. API Speaks will then link to your post and may publish multiple posts, depending on the number of submissions received.
 
If you do not have a blog, but would like to submit a guest post for AP Month, please contact me at the email address above.

AP Month 2010 Blog Carnival Updated Information

AP Month 2010 begins on Friday and earlier this month I posted details about the AP Month 2010 Blog Carnival. Here’s a bit of the previous post:

During AP Month 2010, parents are challenged to re-examine their daily physical activities, nourishing routines and habits, and learn new ways to fuel both healthy emotional and physical growth. The “envelope” in which we deliver guidance to our children provides the underlying degree of emotional connection and feeling that can become associated with physical nourishment and activity.

Explore with us the challenges we face in raising children who know the healthiest ways to be nourished in every aspect of life. Participate in our Attachment Parenting Month blog carnival and share your experiences in keeping our children “Full of Love.”

I directed individuals to our Contact Form for blog submissions but unfortunately we are now having a problem with that script. Instead please submit a link to your submission directly to me via email – apispeaks [AT] attachmentparenting [DOT] org. Thank you!