It was messy…. Although the afternoon began well, with my daughter giving me the sweetest Valentine’s card ever…melting and opening my heart… a few very small conventional candies later (that I allowed from the bag of way too much sugar brought home), both of my children were exhibiting the very real emotional/behavioral consequences of processed [...]
Lately it has become even more apparent to me that parenting has less to do with what we say or do, but rather where we are coming from when we do. The other day my son Lucas who sprained his ankle, remarked at how he liked “feeling like a king!” because we were all doing [...]
A day early, my dear friend Erin and I took our children to the beach to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox. Over the years we have come together as kindred spirits in our love of nature and the rhythms it helps us keep in life and our hearts. So after much delighted wave diving and frolicking, [...]
Our family is blessed to have vacationed in Maui many times over the years. Every time we arrive and I feel the warm winds blow, I take a deep breath and feel my body melt with relief: here is a place that moves at my pace. In Maui, my efforts to slow down are not [...]
We see it often in parenting literature: in order to be as patient, kind, loving as we want to be as parents, we need to fill our cup. This series of articles is intended to help parents explore self-care and recognize the pitfalls faced in implementing it. We’ll begin with a focus on the underlying [...]
A parent’s self care is often a missing piece in parenting advice. We need to be as loving and respectful to ourselves as we are with our children. Therefore, when addressing whining and complaining, we must strike a balance between attending to underlying feelings AND setting loving boundaries to avoid negative behavior and communication patterns. [...]
Six years ago on Saturday, my water had broken and I was eagerly awaiting contractions, ready to meet my baby girl. The way her birth unfolded was a surprise to me and completely out of my control. Compared to my 40 hour labor with my son, once things got rolling with castor oil she was [...]
Today, I offered Maya a bite of my sandwich so she could try the sauce. She made a face that looked like ‘I don’t want to,’ but she didn’t say anything, so I said, “Oh you don’t have to.” She laughed and said with confidence, “I know I don’t have to take a bite if [...]
As a mother, who knows the importance of being prepared, I completely understand why there is so much worry about the potential radiation effects from the crisis in Japan. However, what I am hearing alot of is FEAR…and some are capitalizing on this for their own self interest. I want to put out a simple [...]
You better watch out, you better not cry, You better not pout, I’m telling you why Santa Claus is coming to town! I am astounded at Christmas time, how much talk there is about being “good or bad,” “naughty or nice.” At first I edited books while reading, skipping over those parts in stories I [...]
