Yet More Unsolicited Advice.... There are many different types of parenting out there, and it is easy to judge others for not following the same school of thought as you do. it is important to remember the things that we all (hopefully) want for our children: to grow up healthy, happy, and not having to spend thousands of dollars on therapy when they grow up. Though I don't have all the answers, and I am far from perfect, I will share some links and ideas that I feel best support the overall emotional, mental and physical development of my children. You may agree with some if it, you may not. You may take some of the advice that you feel can help you, and discard things that don't suit. I hope that you can find a few things that can help you along this strange and unpredictable path of parenthood, as they have helped me in my quest to be a less sucky parent. And just remember one thing: everything is temporary. Whatever stage they are going through that has caused you to search out information on the internet about how to deal with them is........ wait for it.......... temporary. It will pass. I just wanted to share some information to maybe help get you all through it in one piece, and hopefully stronger, more capable, and with deeper understanding, so that you can better deal with the next challenge. Because yes, children are our greatest joy - they are also our greatest challenge. It's true what they say, "a 5 ounce bird cannot carry a 1 pound coconut." Oh wait, that was monty python. What I meant to say was, "the greatest challenges yield the greatest rewards." I don't know who said it, (pretty sure not monty python) but it is no less true.
SO PUT ON YOUR BIG GIRL PANTIES AND SUIT UP! PARENTING ISN'T FOR SISSIES. DISCLAIMER I am a Hippie. There, I said it. I am a babywearing, cloth diapering, extended breastfeeding, organic food eating, co-sleeping, attachment parenting, equal partnership in parenting Hippie. So, most of the resources and information you find on here will lean heavily towards those philosophies. If you were hoping to come on here for me to tell you that babies don't suffer neurological harm from crying it out, you came to the wrong place. I know what happens chemically in the body in times of high stress, and what happens to the brain when it is robbed of oxygen. To spare you the technical talk - it isn't good. Where I won't judge you for the way you choose to raise your child (aside from actually abusing them - then I will call CPS on your ass), the advice that I give is a gentle approach to parenting. Read on if you think it's something you would like to hear more about, move along to another site if it isn't. I am not a Pediatrician, nor a Doctor of anything. I share with you my experience from working with families over the years, the research I have done for my own sanity and daughter's well being, and the education I have received from multiple sources, including the lovely State Health Department of Arizona and La Leche League International.
MY GO-TO CHILD DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES I have a blog up to share with you my own views and experiences, but it's also my travel blog, because it's hard to separate family and travel, when you travel with your family! But here, you will be able to find specific advice on the tabs under this page, and some general resources below.
On Education Rudolf Steiner is the founder of Waldorf Education, which is more than a way to teach kids. It is a belief system about their entire emotional, social and mental development. Rudolf Steiner: "Vague and the general phrases - 'the harmonious development of all the powers and talents in the child,' and so forth - cannot provide a basis for a genuine art of education. Such an art of education can only be built on a real knowledge of the human being. Not that these phrases are incorrect, but that at the bottom they are useless as it would be to say of a machine that all its parts must be brought harmoniously into action. To work a machine you must approach it, not with phrases and truisms, but with real and detailed knowledge. So for the art of education it is the knowledge of the members of man's being and of their several development which is important. There is of course no doubt that they truly realistic art of education, such as is here indicated, will only slowly make its way. This lies, indeed, in the whole mentality of our age, which will long continue to regard the facts of the spiritual world as the vapourings of an imagination run wild, while it takes vague and altogether unreal phrases for the result of a realistic way of thinking." Rudolf Steiner. The Education of the Child in light of Anthroposophy. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1965. There is no shortage of information on Rudolf Steiner or the Waldorf Philosophy. So I won't bore you with links. However, there is this really cool article on Retained reflexes that contribute to learning difficulties and reading difficulties, such as dyslexia and dyspraxia: