Things to Know About Attachment Parenting

Do you practice attachment parenting? This type of parenting has become somewhat controversial. Those that practice it seem happy with it. Those that don’t often choose to share their opinion that this parenting style will somehow harm children (years later). Ultimately, it is up to each parent to decide what parenting style works best for them and their kids. Attachment Parenting is a parenting style that has eight principles to it. Each parent has a lot of leeway in how they interpret those principles and how they put them into action. Prepare for pregnancy, birth, and parenting – Parents remove … Continue reading →

Sometimes I wish I Could Still Keep them Close

I was a baby-wearer—even though it was really just the beginning of the current “attachment parenting” movement when my children were babies nearly two decades ago, and I did not have a rebozo or other sort of wrap, I still carried my babies first in the “front pack” as I called it and then on my back for the first year or so of their lives. In fact, I quickly learned that with a newborn and young infant, wearing them was so much easier, kept them happier, and made it possible for me to tend to other children and duties … Continue reading →

Lingering Over Lunch

One of the things I love about my kids being off from school on winter break is that we can carve out a little time to do things together—maybe not as much time as we used to have when they actually WANTED to spend more time with old mom, but a lunch here and a movie there, or a little shopping trip and I can be satisfied for quite a while. Yesterday, with the weather cold and drizzly and threatening snow, one of my daughters and I went to the Olive Garden and managed to spend over two hours lingering … Continue reading →

Does Your Family Pull Together or Fall Apart During Crisis?

One of the signs of a strong family is how the family unit reacts to stress, tension and crisis as a group. When something tough happens (a move, death, etc.) does your family come together or does everyone head off in their own directions? Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect family and we all do things differently. I have a friend who feels as though she came from an incredibly strong family and as she described it: “We hollered and yelled and said horrible things to each other but then we always apologized and came together … Continue reading →

Are You Happy with the Level of Connection?

What do you wish was going better with your child? I think as parents we often think that our kids go through phases and we just have to take things as they come. Often life gets in the way and we start to feel like we are losing our connection with our child or that we don’t really know or understand what is going on and we just have to live with it. We don’t! If there are areas in your relationship with your child that can stand improvement, you can identify them and make efforts to bring about some … Continue reading →

Missing Having Someone to Care

I returned from a business trip to Norway to find my eldest daughter waiting up for me and very eager to talk and catch up. As I made piles of dirty laundry and cleaned out my suitcases, finding all the gifts and mementos I’d purchased and tucked away for my kids, she shared what the past week a half have been like for her–just starting her senior year of high school. At one point she said, “I really missed you mom! I really missed knowing there was someone at home worrying about me and caring whether I came home and … Continue reading →

Bonds Need to be Stretched and Tested

If you love something, set it free…blah blah blah—we’ve all heard that saying a zillion times and I’m sure it has been applied to parenting at least half that many times. In reality, however, our bonds with our children are strengthened and encouraged when they are stretched and tested. Often it is the being apart and going out into the real world that makes kids feel even closer and more attached to their parents and families. I know that it seems like it should be just the opposite—that we should keep our children in close and maintain our influence over … Continue reading →

Bonding is an Ongoing Process

I remember when I was a new mother with babies and young toddlers; there was a great deal of talk and advice about “bonding.” As I absorbed it then, bonding was something that happened with parents and babies and if you didn’t get it right in those early weeks and months, things were never going to be right between parent and child. What I have actually learned, however, in the passing years and developmental changes, is that bonding is an ongoing process and there are unending opportunities to bond, connect, and get to know each other for a parent and … Continue reading →

The Safest States To Raise Kids- Part Two

Here is rest of the top 10 along with a listing of how the rest of the states ranked. #(7) Maine Has the second lowest violent crime rate in the US, has one of the strongest booster seat laws in the country. #(8) Pennsylvania Has excellent emergency care for kids, the highest number of state troopers allowed by law, has the fewest registered sex offenders per capita of any state, makes it illegal to leave a child under the age of six alone for even a few minutes. #(9) New Hampshire Has a special unit that addresses child abuse, has … Continue reading →

What Do You Mean You’re Too Old to Hug Me? You’re FIVE!

Well, it appears that kindergarten is the new tenth grade. My son has only just begun his formative school years, and yet already he does his best to squirm out of the car and past me without a hug. His school is small and the kindergarten students begin at a separate time from the other grades. Because of this, parents can either walk their children to the classroom or drop them off at a designated spot (a teacher is there to then take them to the classroom, which is only a few feet away). By the second week of school, … Continue reading →