• Created on 6/6/10 by Mothering Editorial

Dear Naomi, My son is 4 and he attends group swimming lessons since he was 8 months old. He is obviously more interested in playing in the water versus the classes. But we don't know how to teach him swimming skills. Is it okay that he spends 15-30 minutes with a teacher once a week and plenty of family swimming time with us? I feel guilty after reading your response on a similar topic about structured classes. Thanks.  Dear Parent, No need to feel guilty. You always do the best you can and the best you know how. In addition, from what you say it seems to me that... read more

• Created on 6/6/10 by Mothering Editorial

Hello Naomi, Yesterday my 21-month old daughter and I went to a family gathering and I encountered a situation that has left me feeling uncomfortable with the way I chose to handle it and I would like your insight. It involves my sisters two boys, one is 4 and the other is 5-years old. My parents have bought each of these boys the same toys and they keep them in their home along with a lot of other toys. My daughter wanted to explore these toys but was met with screaming and the pulling of these toys out of her hands (which I did not like). Now apparently these toys... read more

• Created on 6/3/10 by mamazee

Earlier this week I posted the most recent conversation I had with my 6-year-old, 9-year-old, and 10-year-old about illegal drugs. James and I have talked to them about the harmful effects of illegal drugs, and a little about alcohol abuse, before. But since Katie Allison Granju’s son died of an overdose and drug-related assault this week, I can’t stop thinking about how devastating drug abuse can be. If you’ve never had a conversation like this with your kids, you may be wondering how to get started. Here are some ideas: 1. Don’t be afraid to show... read more

• Created on 6/1/10 by mamazee

“I’m feeling sad today,” I said when I sat down for dinner tonight with my four children. James is out of town. The baby banged a spoon on the side of her wooden highchair. Hesperus fidgeted. Etani made train tracks in his rice. Athena looked concerned. “My friend Katie’s son died last night.” “Oh no,” Hesperus said. “But we were just talking about him yesterday.” “I didn’t know that he had died,” I said. “Why did he die?” Etani asked. “He died because he took drugs and they made his body and his brain sick.” I said. “A lot of people... read more

• Created on 5/31/10 by Mothering Editorial

Web ExclusiveBy Zélie PollonAugust 30th, 2009 People said I was crazy to take my young son to Burning Man, and maybe they were right. Burning Man is intense. Really intense. The week-long arts festival takes place on a desert flat in northern Nevada, in an environment that can force you to eat and breathe dust every day, can sap every drop of moisture from your skin and whose alkaline desert floor can eat your feet like some man-eating virus. It can be sweet and sunny one minute, and then slam you with an unrelenting sand or rainstorm the next. Dehydration is a major... read more

• Created on 5/31/10 by AdinaL

Yesterday I wrote about having a plan for your children in case you die unexpectedly.Today, unfortunately, I’m writing again about death. My writing colleague and cyber-space friend Katie Allison Granju lost her son, Henry Louis Granju, yesterday. Eighteen years old, Henry died while he was recovering from a drug overdose and drug-related assault. Katie, who is loved by many Mothering readers for her book, Attachment Parenting: Instinctive Care for Your Baby and Young Child, is eight months pregnant with her fifth child. She’s been blogging every day, sometimes more than... read more

• Created on 5/31/10 by AdinaL

by Jake Aryeh Marcus Find Sustainable Mothering on Facebook and Jake on Twitter.Henry Granju died yesterday evening. His mother, Katie Allison Granju, author of Attachment Parenting: Instinctive Care for Your Baby and Young Child has been blogging about Henry and the circumstances that led to his death at her blog, MamaPundit. While I hope to write more about addiction, a condition from which even the most dedicated attachment parent may not be spared, today I want only to express deep sadness that a mother has lost her son.Here is a video by South African musician... read more

• Created on 5/30/10 by Jennifer Margulis

On May 17 a man in Boulder Colorado gunned down his employers and then killed himself. Apparently he was upset about a change in employee commissions and bonuses at the flooring and fireplace store where he worked. He killed Sean and Staci Griffin, who were about my age. They left behind a 13-year-old daughter named Avery. An only child, Avery has red and blue braces and straight brown hair. This terrible news story has made me think about something no parent ever wants to consider but all of us need to have: a plan for the children in case you die suddenly. Do you have... read more

• Created on 5/29/10 by Mothering Editorial

Dear Naomi, I would appreciate your advice on physical disagreements between two toddlers. One child is mine, the other I take care of for a friend for a few hours and we see them a few times throughout the week. Sometimes the bigger child tends to take from the smaller one, push her down, drag her around by her shirt or pin her down. After a few times, the smaller one cries when it happens and seems to ask for help ("mama, mama, mama!"). I think its due to the size difference that the girls always seem to take the same roles. I'm concerned my intervention can... read more

• Created on 5/29/10 by AdinaL

Reeve’s home for the summer. He’s been cleaning out his room, trying to get rid of old stuff to make the space feel more like his room (as in contemporary and current), less like a shrine to his childhood. He found this in the front of an old book.I don’t remember his writing this, but am oddly flattered—all these years later. Obviously, he thought of this book as one we read together.You never know (except, sometimes you do! Sometimes, even 17 years down the road!) what your child notices—and claims . . . The things you do together matter.#P.S. Killer ampersand,... read more