Category / Parenting / Positive parenting
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Marriage Geek’s Serenity Meditation
Grant me the serenity to accept the truth about the people I love, the courage to ask for better behavior from them, and the wisdom to know where to put the bar. Marriage is tough because each of us, deep at our core, want to feel unconditionally loved and accepted. Criticism feels like betrayal or abandonment. Yet, to create a loving environment for our spouses, we must learn how to…
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Our Family Mantra- In this Family it is OK to Make Mistakes
When the boys were little we used to say “In this family, it’s ok to make mistakes”… we said it a lot. We started saying it for them, because they were little and messed up a lot but pretty quickly realized that it was a lesson we needed to learn as well. If mostly, kids are going to grow up to be a lot like their parents, we wanted them…
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Never Forget How Lucky Your Kids Are- to have you
Parenting matters. Of course it does. I love being a parent. Last week I celebrated 33 years of mothering…happy birthday Nate! I love teaching parenting classes but I struggle both personally and professionally to keep it in perspective. First- let’s look at what childhood is like in our country. Almost half of our country’s kids have experienced at least one or more types of serious childhood trauma. This is the…
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Back When I had All the Answers to Parenting
I knew exactly how to be a great parent…when I was a kid. 8 year old me said “if my kids want to stop at Dairy Queen- we are stopping!” and “my kids can have as many pets as they want”. I figured out that one the hard way when I looked around at the zoo my own 8 year had acquired- a lizard, fish tank, cat and two dogs.…
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Whatever Works for Your Family has to Work
When I started my private practice I wanted to be a safe haven for parents- I wasn’t going to push them to wean or get a babysitter or kick their kids out their bed. I believe in “whatever works for your family” and defend however you choose to feed or care for your baby and your family’s sleeping arrangements. I know that everyone wants their kids to grow up to…
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Gourmet, all organic, locally sourced sleep
I have sleep on the brain. I have been working on a new sleep workshop with Leann Latus from Tender Transitions. (Still room in Sleep-It Does the Family Good, please come.) We are not a culture that values sleep. We act like it is a treat or a sign of weakness or maybe a privilege. For our kids it is too often a threat,a punishment, a bitter tonic or a battle…
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I want my kids to feel lousy… well… kind of
Try this- read this to yourself (or out loud…interesting at work) I want my kids to feel (insert feeling) mad- sad- worried- abandoned- frightened- bored- embarrassed disappointed- insecure- foolish- guilty- lonely- ashamed- rejected- tense You ok with that? These are the feelings that we have decided are “negative” feelings… obviously these are the uncomfortable ones. The rules of the game for giving your kids emotional resilience and a deep emotional…
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Becoming Mom/ Becoming Dad… old school
I get to work with the most amazing couples. They are progressive and educated and intentional about how they live, how they parent. Most of them consider themselves feminists and picked me at least in some part for the strong opinions I have. They’re my people. Most of the time, I didn’t get to meet them before they had kids. I specialize in couples with small kids. I should start…
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Report cards, conferences, emails from the teacher and other things to freak out about….
T’is the season when we start hearing from our kids’ teachers- whether it is your first preschool conference in the teeny tiny chairs or your meeting with your kid’s high school adviser about college plans. I just want to remind you to check yourself. This is not about you. This is not an evaluation of either your parenting nor your genetics. This is not designed to make you feel bad…or…
