"Child, give me your hand that I may walk in the light of your faith in me." -Hannah Kahn As infants, our children rely upon us for everything. As they grow, they look to us for guidance. Their faces alight to see us if we have been gone for even a short amount of time,... Continue Reading →
developing responsibility…
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 →
between parent and child…
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 →
encouraging lies…
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 →
the color of a rainbow…
One day at lunch, my 5 year old was asking me about colors. "If you mix blue-green with yellow-orange, exactly what color do you get?" We had been through several, with me mentally calculating how certain mixtures would come out and with me asking her what she thought for some of them. My 7 year... Continue Reading →
raising a thinking child…
Most parents want their children to be equipped to handle life when they are grown. The skills needed to do this are ones that we can help them with right now. Rather than handling situations for them, and hence taking responsibility for our children, we can show responsibility to our children by helping them to problem solve and... Continue Reading →
the perfect parent myth…
Every parent makes mistakes. It's part of being human. We have an entire lifetime of baggage following us around which we have to work through in order to bypass and move on. Many of us, in an attempt to improve ourselves as people and parents, actively strive to do better for our kids. We hope... Continue Reading →
salads…
We've been making salads as side dishes a lot lately. Throw in some baby spinach and chop up an assortment of vegetables to go in it. Add some chopped hard-boiled eggs and cheese to the mix and then lightly toss with some healthy salad dressing. This is a great simple project for kids to help... Continue Reading →
kid time…
When our older two children were 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 years old, our family went to Home Depot. While a trip to Home Depot may be utilitarian for many adults, although I won't deny the look of glee I've seen in the eyes of some people I've seen there, the place holds a magic... Continue Reading →
this is not a democracy…
One of the main complaints I hear from AP parents concerning consensual living is that while they agree that children are people, they don't think their children should have as much say in certain matters...ranging anywhere from house payments to bedtimes. They seem to be under the impression that our household, and others like it,... Continue Reading →
living peacefully with children 