It sounds like such a great parenting philosophy – modeling good behavior. Treat others as you want to be treated, and show those little hurricanes zooming around the house what it means to live consciously and kindly. Show them what it means to be patient, to be kind, to be generous. Show them how to have a healthy relationship with food and fitness and technology. Show them how to be a happy, healthy, functioning person. It’s what I strive for, and boy, I’m constantly falling short. I … [Read more...]
Parenting: The “Summer Baby” Kindergarten Conundrum
It's January and for many parents that means it's time to start thinking about school registration for next year. Jessica's back today with a parenting topic that strikes close to home for me- when to officially start your "summer baby" in school. Our middle child was born in July so we wrestled with this ourselves and were surprised by the factors that came into play... academic readiness and social readiness, definitely, as well as if kindergarten will be full day or half day. What it … [Read more...]
Parenting: When Kids Dish Out (Your) Attitude
Image Credit: © Donnie Ray Jones | Elsa's Getting Mad | CC by 2.0 It’s a startling thing to see this whole parenting thing – specifically, your whole parenting thing – from the perspective of the kids you’re parenting. Kids are sponges, I know, but it turns out, their innate talent for picking up on your curse word slip (whoops) is the least of it. Our oldest son is eight, and our oldest daughter is six. And we are dealing with all kinds of attitude these days. I’m hip to the testing … [Read more...]
12 Ways To Make Mornings With Kids Easier
I am not a morning person. Anyone in my family (or extended family) can attest to that. In fact, I know this sounds crazy... but getting up early is one of the things I dreaded most about having children. I mean, I am a CHAMP at sleeping. I can sleep until late afternoon if no one wakes me up. But alas, they do. Every. Single. Morning. And now that the school year is in full-swing, there's just now way around it. The good news? I've learned a few tricks over the years. Tricks that … [Read more...]
Parenting: The Late Walker
What do you do when your fifteen month old refuses to walk? Like, refuses to even try and gets all pouty and indignant when we clap our hands and call to her, before scooting away on her little diapered bottom? I checked with Dr. Google, and while lots of babies take those first wobbly steps around their first birthday, she’s still in the “perfectly normal” range, so phew. But what is the hold up here? Not one of our kids walked early – none of this before-the-first-birthday stuff at our … [Read more...]
Kids & Phones: A Guide for the Newbie Mom (from a Mom In the Trenches)
Our family is still slowly dipping our toes into the world of having school-aged kids. One of the topics that seems to keep coming up when chatting with my mom friends in the same position is that of the cell phone. And, of course, that one topic leads to a bevy of questions. When are kids ready for one? When might it be a good idea for communication/safety concerns? What rules and limits should be applied? How do we keep our kids, and those expensive phones safe? When questions like these … [Read more...]
Parenting: One Stay-at-Home Dad’s Take on Self-Care
I'm so happy to introduce you guys to Billy today. He has some really interesting things to say about self-care, and what that really looks like when you're also responsible for the daily care of a young child. I especially connected to the part about modeling (and, sadly, the part about the dentist as I had a similar experience. NO. FUN.) Don't forget, we are always looking for new parenting perspectives to share. Learn more here. Here's Billy... "How long can this wait?" I ask. … [Read more...]
Parenting: The Gifted, the Talented, and the Hard Workers
Image Credit: © Suzette - www.suzette.nu | found here | CC by 2.0 Jessica is with us today discussing, once again, how do we really give our kids the kind of childhood we want for them? I really love what she has to say, it reminds me of a great chapter from one of my favorite books, Nuture Shock: New Thinking About Children. Like nearly every parenting issue, there's a lot of gray area here and not a whole lot of black and white- I'd love to hear your thoughts! Here's Jessica with … [Read more...]
Responsibility & Logical Consequences: One Mom’s Conundrum
So technically I'm taking suggestions here. I mean, I think we're doing it mostly right, if level of difficulty is any indication. Because so far, teaching our kids to be responsible little people seems to involve an awful lot of biting my tongue, sitting on my hands so I don't rush to do something the "right" way, and letting them fall flat on their own little faces sometimes. I’m all about modeling good behavior. I say please and thank you to my kiddos, and I expect to hear it back. I … [Read more...]