We have chosen not to spank our children and we aim to parent with respect and gentleness. This is a departure from how we started (though, to be honest, we would have told you we were parenting with respect and gentleness with spanking and yelling because we believed it was necessary) and it has been…
Tag: children shape us
11 year old Challenges our Cultural Standards of Nudity
“Why can’t girls walk around without their shirts on?” asks my indignant 11 yr old (Lolie) today on our way back from school. I get it: the culture I was brought up in – one of shame in regards to nakedness – taught me that it’s normal for boys to go shirtless, and wrong for…
Beyond the good parts- parenting is hard
Sometimes I wonder why parents are surprised when parenting is hard. The things I hear from other parents about what they found surprisingly challenging, well, surprise me. Haven’t they been around kids before? Doesn’t everybody know? Of course children are hard. Amazing but difficult. Because they aren’t adults. Wait, who am I kidding, adults are…