Happy Ostara (also known as the Spring equinox)! I had all of the items for my children's Ostara baskets finished long ago, including some handmade playfood and a handmade tea set which will be showing up here in the next couple of weeks. Earlier this week, I came across these wonderful sewn eggs that Kim... Continue Reading →
Birth Activist is hosting a blog carnival in honor of Women's History Month, asking that individuals write about their herione when it comes to childbirth and pregnancy. I briefly considered writing about Laura Shanley. She has done quite a bit to advocate for unassisted birthers. However, while I admire what she has done, I've always... Continue Reading →
My children, just as many other children, love to create. Our house has plenty of artwork made by my precious little ones. Also, like many families, there is always the question of how to organize said art supplies. When our oldest child was still a toddler, it wasn't any problem for me to have the... Continue Reading →
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Our festive decorations so far this month, minus the artwork the kids have been making, includes these lovely salt dough shamrocks. Normally, I would just hang the 6 larger ones and call it finsihed. However, my 5 year old daughter really thought that the smaller ones were needed, too. The differences... Continue Reading →
Responsibility isn't something we can impose on our children. There isn't a formula on how to explain responsibility to them and suddenly have them be the compassionate, caring, committed individuals we hope they will be. Responsibility is something that has to grow from within the child. It finds direction in the values absorbed from the child's home and... Continue Reading →
Before Alfie Kohn, Pam Leo, Naomi Aldort, or many of the other consensually living authors of our time, there was Dr. Haim Ginott. Ginott revolutionized the parenting and psychology worlds with his new philosophy on communicating with children. His book, Between Parent and Child, was on the national best seller list for over a year when it was written... Continue Reading →
This post is part of the 2010 API Principles of Parenting blog carnival, a series of monthly parenting blog carnivals, hosted by API Speaks. Learn more about attachment parenting by visiting the API website. I'm a low supply mom, and as such, I don't make enough milk for my children. We knew this was a... Continue Reading →
Most parents don't want their children to lie, but sometimes they unknowingly encourage just that by their own behavior. In order to avoid this, we need to make certain that we don't set up situations which promote lying. Provoked lies are a type of defensive lie. No one wants to feel interrogated or trapped by someone... Continue Reading →
We keep our holiday decorations pretty simple. Too many makes our home feel cluttered. Besides children's artwork, which there is no shortage of around here, an easy, inexpensive way to decorate is with the use of salt dough ornaments. We have a shelf in our living room with six hooks. It's the perfect place to... Continue Reading →
I once had a parent tell me that the reason she didn't like consensual living was because she felt that first thinking about your response in a situation was "fake parenting." In order to be "real," she thought it was important for the parent to say whatever was first thought. However, that isn't responsive parenting;... Continue Reading →
living peacefully with children 