I strongly believe that, as consumers, every economic decision we make leave a moral trace behind it. As a parent, I strongly believe that every purchase made for our children influences them from the very beginning of their lives, long before they understand the concept of “shopping”. It hasn’t been easy or always possible to… Read More Parenting Product Review: Solly Wrap
{ This guest post was written by my lovely friend Emma } When my son was born, I spent many hours sitting in one place feeding him, pinned to the bed or the couch. It was in these moments that I reached for my smartphone. I remember thinking how did my mother and women of… Read More Being a Mother – Or, Everything You Do Is Wrong, So You May As Well Do What Suits You { Guest Post }
The concept of success remains a broad, complex, and very subjective one–all the more so when it comes to assessing one’s parenting skills. For example, I can define a successful parent as something you will consider completely unimportant. But even if we don’t agree with a certain definition of success, some of them still generate… Read More Redefining Success as a Parent: Raising a Child is Not a Competitive Sport
One of the things that bothers me to no end is how fathers are underappreciated. I won’t ever forget how, despite his exhaustion and the emotional toll of worrying about his wife and baby, no one took care of my husband during our baby’s birth. The most ironic part of this story is that because… Read More Helping My Husband (Not): How The Best Intentions Can Go Wrong
Every parent I know had a certain image of what life would be like with their children. And every parent I have talked to tell me the same thing: that life with their children is not all like what they thought it would be. What happens next is also really interesting and has got me… Read More Enjoying the Reality Instead of Grieving the Fantasy of Parenthood
Speaking of guilt: I’m a very avid advice seeker. I mean, why not prevent things from happening by getting the advice to do just that, rather than fall into the same trap as others have? And so, right after we got married, my husband and I started reaching out to our generous and loving friends… Read More Dealing with Parent Guilt: Some of the Best Advice I Got
This is a very difficult post to write, mostly because of the sensitivity of the topic at hand. But please bear with me—I think it is an important topic that we, as members of a community, really need to deeply think about and, hopefully, be inspired to do something about. There is something so horrific… Read More From Nurturing to The Opposite: The Dark Forces that Take Mothers from One to the Other
Someone asked me a really interesting question recently. She asked me: are you teaching or educating a child? My initial response made me look like a wide-eyed deer caught in the glare of oncoming headlights. After a few clarifying questions though, I realised that her view is actually really thought-provoking, and thankfully she was OK… Read More Teaching or Educating: What is the Difference, if there is any?
Just like so many others around me, I have been struggling with my relationship with mistakes (as reflected in this, this, and this post). The beacons lighting the way to a better me become major obstacles to my development when they are seen as negative feedback. Taking the time to observe a baby at play… Read More Learning From The Little Ones: Daily Lessons In Perseverance
A post I wrote back in September 2008 about doing your best out of fear triggered a reflection on the difference between disciplining your child versus teaching your child discipline. My husband and I feel strongly that we do not want to discipline our child in the sense of saying no to everything we think… Read More Teaching Discipline Rather Than Disciplining