• Last updated Yesterday by Marcy Axness

It recently came time for me to walk my talk! How many times have I cautioned parents, "When we overbook, we overlook"? How often have I invited them to recognize that among a child's greatest needs is to be really heard, seen and understood? And how that delicate process can get trampled under the weight of a lock-step schedule. One of the biggest obstacles to tranquility and joy in the home is our adult agenda, and sometimes we simply need to pause for presence.   Last week my daughter Eve graduated from college. And a week prior to that was the Senior Art... read more

• Last updated Yesterday by Melanie Mayo

By Sheryl Paul People often ask us why we homeschool. I used to launch into a long-winded answer about how we never planned to homeschool but by the time Everest was two it became apparent that, because of his high emotional and moral sensitivity and his asynchronous learning style, he would be crushed in any traditional school environment. I used to talk about our attached parenting style and our belief that kids need to be with their parents much longer than our culture encourages. I may have said something about our outdated educational paradigm and the... read more

• Last updated 5/23/13 by AmandaK

                  It often seems as if I have spent my entire life in search of a specific moment.  A moment when all of my goals are met, all of my tasks are completed, all of my obligations are met, and I can sit back and rest in perfect peace knowing that I am, indeed, good enough.This pursuit took on different faces in the various seasons of my life.   When I was a student, I believed that peace would come when I finally had all of my work done, all of my reading finished, and all of my exams prepared for.   As a young wife, I believed I would earn... read more

• Last updated 5/23/13 by Melanie Mayo

My husband gave me permission to write about him so to start, I’d like to talk about his genitals. More specifically, his vas deferens. That’s right, the Big V, the ol’ snip-snip. Vasectomy.   We are done reproducing, clocking in with a final score of three children. My baby is five and fiercely independent (unless she needs juice, then she’s as helpless as a newborn koala) meaning I must now focus all of my more intense mothering urges on our twelve-pound chihuahua mix.    I’m not exactly happy about it, though. Not the coddling the dog thing (although,... read more

• Last updated 5/16/13 by momofnatasha

  By Suzanne Leigh   I am standing in line in one of our state’s legal pot clubs, which sells marijuana to anyone with a doctor’s letter of recommendation. The “patients” look similar to the customers in a middle-market liquor store. There are a preponderance of frat boys and surfer dude-types, women with tattooed shoulders and piercings and a few older folks, who might be military vets fallen on hard times. Most of us look like we are shopping for something to put the spark into Saturday night, but I am here in the hope that marijuana will help my 11-year-old... read more

• Last updated 5/13/13 by Brian Leaf

By Brian Leaf     For Mother’s Day this year, my clan went to the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts.   It was a glorious sparkling day.   We did all the usual things that we like to do there. We ate lunch. We went to a program room and took out all the giant exercise balls and yoga blocks and made obstacle courses and bowled and shrieked.   And then we walked the labyrinth. Noah and Benji call it “the maze” and think it’s just splendid that the Kripalu Center built us a life-size... read more

• Last updated 5/10/13 by Sarah Clark

    Last week I shared a post here on Mothering called, "There is Not Always A "Fix" For the Difficult Child." It was actually a post I wrote some time ago on my own blog about my then two year old.  That two year old is now three (almost four) and things have changed some.  She is still a firecracker.  She still has a strong personality.  She still likes to boss around me and anybody else near her.  And I still love her and am still trying to figure things out.     There was an interesting comment on the post when I shared it on Mothering though.  She... read more

• Last updated 5/5/13 by SavvyHomeschool

  By Savvy Homeschool Moms   In this episode, the moms welcome their first guest to chat about homeschooling a child with autism.   Some links in this episode: The Alert Program Raising a Sensory Smart Child Autism Symptoms in Children and Adults     To see the full show notes, including a LOT MORE links to all the resources mentioned, please visit our website: The Savvy Homeschool Moms, episode 30. To subscribe to or download our show, check us out on iTunes, or our website. This episode is sponsored by Moving Beyond the Page... read more

• Last updated 5/2/13 by Melanie Mayo

  By Sheryl Paul, M.A.   It’s Sunday afternoon. I’m lying down with my 3 year old to see if he’ll take a much-needed nap and the title of one of Pema Chodron’s books pops into my mind: No Escape. (The full title is The Wisdom of No Escape.) This immediately makes sense, as I’ve been having visions lately of another life, another city, another lifestyle – one that includes all of my family members but is somehow easier. I know that my psyche is trying to escape a challenging stage of parenting, one in which my three year old is falling apart inside as he... read more

• Last updated 5/2/13 by Melanie Mayo

Along with breakfast in bed and maybe some flowers or candy...if you have a young child, you'll invariably be presented with a handmade present -- of course, the best kind. And you won’t care if the colors clash, if the popsicle sticks aren’t straight, if the pasta is coming unglued; your heart will expand, almost painfully, with a gush of love and tenderness unique to the moment. These truly are the most precious gifts! And this is one instance where it is impossible (and unnatural!) not to praise your child. But what about every other day...? When you praise your... read more