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
Category: General Interest
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
Lacking Toys
As a new mom and new to attachment parenting I have found toys to be quite junky, and at the end my kids only like the zoomer chimp toy. While pregnant I spent countless hours digging through my clutter piles to organize, “NEST” and get rid of all my junk. I wanted some “Zen”..some “feng shui” if you will for my new princess to enjoy. I donated a lot of items and threw away bags of garbage. My house was immaculate when we brought my daughter home from the hospital. That lasted a good few hours. It seems that new clutter has piled up, so much so, that now we cannot even park in the garage. How this happened in such a short matter of time is beyond me. Cleaning never trumped breastfeeding so I can only guess that things got thrown into boxes to be dealt with at a later time…to a point in which that “later time” never came to be.
But today I was watching my daughter play on the floor with her 5 toys. I pondered getting online to browse through some new toys to add to her collection. Techychoice has shared best magnetic toys in 2019 – check this out, I decided to buy some of the new magnetic toys since it will be easier to keep all the pieces together. I had no idea where to start and frankly the toy websites I saw were overwhelming to me. There are so many cheap plastic wonders to sort through, as well as incredibly expensive educational toys that make outlandish promises. It reminded me of registering for my baby shower at Babies R Us. Everything felt like a gimmick and I didn’t understand why I couldn’t make do with just having some clothes and diapers for the little bambino growing inside me. What’s the fuss with all this special stuff I thought?
Now, I am wondering the same thing. Why all the commotion over all these toys? I have found that my daughter really just likes to take long walks outside and watch me make funny faces at her along with chasing our cats around the house until she can grab a fistful of their hair to annoy them. We also have great fun dancing to big band music on the radio. I like to play with my kids with a kids teepee I got online for use all year round, and both inside and out, in the bedroom, in the park, in the garden, at the beach, anywhere. All those noisy plastic toys can’t compete with that! Also, finding places to store all of it is an issue. And why would I want to fill the carpet with MORE things to pick up?
I know that soon, my 7 month old will want more than just mommy, but today I don’t see the need for toys. I’d like to think I’m parenting the way parenting used to be, before all this industrialization, the use of the milling machine coolant, commercialization and technology came about. Our lack of toys doesn’t make me feel like we are a sad family in need…in fact, it makes me wonder if all those other families with rooms cluttered with toys…if they are the ones with empty holes in their lives that credit cards and plastic nonsense can’t fill. And maybe, just maybe, our lack of toys is enabling us to have a stronger bond. Maybe every bit of plastic toy families have just stands in between developing strong bonds with their children? Anytime I feel the urge to splurge on a toy I put that money into a savings account to spend on activities together. Activities that will make wonderful memories and not fill our closets up and later will not be sold at a wimpy garage sale for 50 cents.
Now, if only I could tackle that distracting pile of clutter in the garage. Then we’d be all set. =)
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
Attempting to Write
This past week of July has been filled with a great darkness. I have finally tried to write from home in a serious way. This was my plan when I left my job at 6 months pregnant. I would relax throughout my pregnancy and then begin my journey in freelance writing once I was comfortable in my new mommy world. But the dream seems to be unreachable almost every day so far.
My daughter is just 6 months old and the past 6 months have been amazing. I managed to find time to finish my master’s degree at night while my little girl and I trekked the city by day. We went to sign language classes, baby yoga, farmers market and numerous trips to Target just to walk around while I splurged on Starbucks and Archer Farm chocolate chip cookies.
After visiting with family for a few weeks though I began to feel a burning desire to write from home. Listening to my twin sister’s plans to teach overseas and my girlfriend’s new position as a screenwriter just left me wondering how exactly I spend my days… and where these days are headed. I began to feel like I was wasting precious time I could be using to further myself. Perhaps what I’m seeking is that SAHM comfort. I still feel quite unsure that I am doing the right thing…still unsure if I really make a difference…and why can’t I do something more than diaper changes and silly faces. Maybe I could be a SAHM that is also a productive member of the workforce.
After making a list of topics, best affiliate programs for noobs 2020 and magazines I would query I set out to write. I plopped my daughter next to me in her bouncy seat and typed away. I felt a rush of ambition rush over me. I did some research online to find some freelance writing jobs and applied to a few. Wouldn’t hurt right? Then the fussiness began. I stepped away from my beautiful writing bubble and calmed my baby girl down. This time I put her in a swing and turned on SpongeBob. I sat back down even more excited to begin writing. Again my head was just rushing with ideas and I felt a blissful feeling of self-satisfaction. Even if I only wrote one day a week maybe I could make some extra shopping money and beat those occasional bouts of boredom. Maybe I could wake up every day with a mission on my mind instead of diaper changes and Sesame Street. But, then, 5 minutes later the fussy baby to my left seemed to be very angry about these plans. These failed attempts continued throughout the day and week. Even my plans to write at night while she was zonked out didn’t work out. All I wanted to do by the end of the day was read a book and lay down. All of my creative juices were dried up.
I began to question my worth as a SAHM. Thoughts of putting her in daycare crossed my mind despite the fact I never wanted that for my daughter. I want to be a WAHM (work at home mom) but I don’t see where the balance is. It seems clear that I was beginning to ignore my daughter and she was simply screaming for some attention. Perhaps all I really need right now is a boost of self-confidence as a SAHM. Maybe in a month or two she will be self-reliant enough to entertain herself long enough to do a tad of writing….Here’s hoping.
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