I remember my just-hours-old newborn, swaddled up tight, propped on a pillow, fast asleep. Right then and there, I wanted to communicate with him. And it wasn’t long (2 hours when he woke up hungry) before he made his needs known. I learned his language as fast as I could: there was crying (a LOT of crying), smiles, eye and body movements, facial expressions,
You’re trying hard to be consistent. You mean no when you say it. You’re holding to strong limits. You understand that parents are in charge, not children. But you’re not having ANY fun!! Time to add in some Guerrilla Lovefare. In Guerrilla Warfare, one of the main elements is that of surprise. But in Lovefare, instead of waging a secretive ambush, you use the
With much enthusiasm and a pull on my heart, I highly recommend Ginger Parish’s CD of Lullabies, Twilight Comes Tiptoeing. The poignant songs remind me of those precious moments when I sang to my small boy as I helped him fall asleep. I also remember my mother playing simple songs on her old guitar, soothing me when I was sick or couldn’t sleep. These are
Not too long ago, I wrote a post about praising kids called The Harm in Praising Kids. A discussion followed on ways to show encouragement and be motivating without promoting the need for validation. Six simple words solve this dilemma beautifully. This concept comes from a blog post you should read by Rachel Macy Stafford who is the Hands Free Mama. I highly recommend her
Neither. But often both are working too hard. Parents are trying to adjust their parenting to every situation that arises. How exhausting. And kids are hardwired to take the reins if they can’t figure out who’s in charge. That’s exhausting for them because they don’t have the skills. All of this can create a tired, stressed family who aren’t having much fun. I’m in
My son was born with a stick in his hand. Not literally, of course. That would have been painful. Truly though, as soon as he could grasp, he wanted to hold a stick. As he grew, it wasn’t enough to hold one. He needed to see what his stick could do. A drummer in the making, he banged on everything in site, including other
Sometimes noise can build so slowly that you don’t even know why you are tense, unable to concentrate, and ready to scream louder than the noise you are hearing! The other day before my parent/child music class started, four good friends were holding hands, whipping up a circle, and whooping up their voices. They got louder and louder until it was uncomfortable. The nearby
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Bruce Williams. For all of the benefits of social media, it’s important to be well educated about its pitfalls, especially as parents. ~~~~ There’s no question that in the past few years, the advent of social media and especially Facebook has affected the lives of many. How so and how much? Who knows? Certainly not me.
Almost summer! Here you go.You’re headed out on the road with the kids. Sure, you can put a movie into a player and that’s an easy two hours. But what about creating memories? I feel disconnected from my child if the whole trip is spent staring into our portable devices. When I was a kid (ha! there’s that line!), boredom brought about invention. We
The benefits of music are vast and impactful. Maybe not all parents have gotten the word. For example, I hear some version of this all too often: Parent: We’re trying to decide between gymnastics and music. Me: I love gymnastics. But it’s NOT music. Or a parent may say, “My child is losing interest in music.” With most everything in life worth doing, there are
