“You can’t touch my body without permission! It’s my body!” “You can’t tell me what to do!” “You’re not in charge of me!” Great. We have deliberately and diligently taught our children that they are in charge of their bodies, and responsible for their actions and reactions. Now they think that they are therefore in…
Tag: family
The Perks of Helping Your Children Clean Up Their Room
Disclaimer: if you have a habit of keeping your house picked up all the time, this blog post is probably not for you. Balancing being a work at home parent, a ballet-dad, a theatre-dad, and an involved husband and parent often means something has got to give. More often than not, it’s more than…
Beyond Yelling
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…
Jeremy’s Thought du Jour – A Riddle
People at different ages just see the world differently. When it comes to peeing, our little Smunchie really didn’t understand why it wasn’t ok to let loose in the closet. When I told her she shouldn’t do her business in there, the look I received from her when she replied “Why?” made it very clear…
Making room for dads at the changing table
This isn’t anything great, just a changing table in a women’s bathroom. I took a picture of it today for one simple reason: the men’s bathroom didn’t have one. How do I know this? Because several months ago, my husband, the dedicated and involved father of my children, went to take then 18 month old…
A lesson from the Pumpkin Patch
Now that we are living up North again, there are certain things that we really look forward to doing in this cool Fall weather. Like having soup or hot cocoa when it’s actually cold enough to see your breath. Or dressing up for Halloween without fear of getting a heat stroke. Another one that Jessica…
How a Radio Flyer wagon helped people in need
A week ago, I jumped in an iconic Radio Flyer wagon and rode to a local park as I participated in a fundraiser aimed at bringing hope and new life to oppressed people around the world. Ok, I didn’t actually ride in the red wagon; my kids did. But I pulled them up and down…
Moving 2500 Miles Without a Safety Net – Crazy Faith or Crazy Stupid
9 days ago, I left Texas in our old minivan that had previously broken down on two separate occasions on the way to Colorado, without a clue as to where we were going to live when we all arrived in the Pacific NW. We felt it was the right thing to do, and had searched…
Look Up
Sitting in Starbucks getting some work done and I looked up to see an older man approaching the door. Just as I expected him to open the door to walk into the shop, he stuck his hand out and greeted the soldier in fatigues sitting by the door. Immediately the young man stood and the…
Parenting – Beyond My Expectations
For me, being a parent has been both the most natural thing in the world, and the most bewildering. One moment, everything makes sense, relationships are simple, yet complex, utterly charming and meaningful, fulfilling even, and the next moment, I wonder how on earth I’m going to make it through the rest of the day…