Author: Rita Brhel

Rita Brhel, BS, CLC, API Leader, lives with her family near Hastings, NE, USA, where she works as a WIC Breastfeeding Counselor. She also writes for Mothering and La Leche League's New Beginnings.

Attachment as Important at School as at Home

Likely your children or grandchildren were looking forward to starting school after the long, hot summer, equipped with their new books and school supplies. No doubt, you too are hoping that their enthusiasm about learning will last. All too often, not far into the school year, children complain about too much homework, teachers not being fair, boring classes, bullying on the playground, and the list goes on. What, if anything, can we do to help our children look forward to school and keep their natural bias to learn and grow? Israeli parenting educator Shoshana Hayman answers on The Attached Family online magazine at
http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2867

The Busy Brain Kit

Are you worried about your children’s bent necks and poor posture? Do their batteries run out at the wrong time? Concerned that your toddler might drop your iphone? You don’t have to rely on cell-phone applications, portable handheld gaming devices, media players, and other electronic devices to occupy your kids during waiting times. Canadian parenting educator Judy Arnall explains on The Attached Family online magazine at:
http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2853

Spotlight On: Million Minute Family Challenge

The Million Minute Family Challenge is a grassroots effort across the United States and Canada to encourage families and friends to play non-electronic games together. Learn more from Beth Muehlenkamp in this Attachment Parenting International interview on The Attached Family online magazine at:
http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2848

Attachment Parenting Our Teens

So many attachment parents start out so passionate about giving very young children the best start possible in life: Moms birth naturally, spare their sons the trauma of circumcision by keeping them intact, breastfeed for at least three years or longer, carry their babies at all times, cosleep for several years, and they ideally are gentle and nurturing to their young ones as the children begin to assert their wants and express upset emotions. Parenting educator Laurie A. Couture continues on The Attached Family online magazine at
http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2837

The Basics of Breastfeeding Advocacy

Breastfeeding has seen the gamut in terms of public support. For centuries, it was the most natural thing to do, and then in the mid-20th Century, it suddenly became taboo and nearly disappeared from Western civilization. Through La Leche League International and other breastfeeding advocates, it has steadily made a comeback into mainstream family culture. But, in some respects, breastfeeding still has a long way to go — in normalizing public breastfeeding and breastfeeding for working mothers, and improving access to lactation services for all socio-economic classes by enabling lactation consultants to be reimbursed by health insurance and Medicaid. Executive editor Rita Brhel explains on The Attached Family online magazine at

http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2832

A Parent’s Look at: BabyBabyOhBaby

“They grow up so fast” I hear from everyone. My parents, my friends, other moms at the pool, the sweat-drenched mailman, the harried grocery store clerk, the homeless woman. It’s been a unanimous vote through all of those precious (sleepless?) early months. Mired as I was in the molasses of my days, I felt confident disregarding the dire predictions. Sure, Little Friend would grow up…someday…in the vague and distant future. I forgot about the future’s annoying propensity to turn into today. Yesterday, as I watched Little Friend select her shoes, put on bracelets, and feed her baby (doll) at 19 years, I mean, months old, I had to join the wistful chorus in decrying, “They grow up so fast!” I’m now ever more so grateful for the moments I invested in Little Friend’s infancy to baby massage, thanks to the incomparable BabyBabyOhBaby DVD. American blogger Beth Hendrickson explains on The Attached Family online magazine at

http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2821

10 Phrases to Make a Better Parent

Many times as parents, we blurt out sayings that we heard as children and later vowed to never say to our own children. However, that is easier said than done. In times of stress, we revert very easily back to actions and phrases we saw and heard when we were parented. Canadian parenting educator Judy Arnall continues on The Attached Family online magazine at

http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2827