• Created on 5/30/13 by Melanie Mayo

By Colleen Lowe Smith                              It’s fine in theory to think about the massive responsibility it is to be a parent; how much we shape our children by our own actions, behaviors, and responses.  It’s just that there are so many flippant moments that go by that I think we probably miss by the hundreds.   Yesterday at pick up time from our toddler class, Cassidy was playing with her three year old friend, Jane.  I was talking with a couple moms and was half listening to my daughter’s interaction.  Jane had a fistful of dirt and Cassidy... read more

• Created on 5/19/13 by Melanie Mayo

By Colleen Lowe Smith   Cassidy fell in love today.  At two and half, it’s hardly her first time, but after meeting and playing with a new friend, on the way back to the car from the park, I witnessed the moment that her three year old beau held his hand out to her, unprompted, as an invitation.  She giggled and beamed and reached for his hand.  They looked in each other’s eyes and smiled so hard I thought their faces would break.     It is so simple for a two and a half year old.  They hardly even spoke.  They just chased each other around a bench for... read more

• Created on 5/16/13 by Melanie Mayo

By Julie Shaffer   Quite a few years ago I worked as a program manager for a "Home and Community Habilitation" program for adults with developmental disabilities. One day I discovered that one of the employees I was in charge of was billing for times he had not actually been with the client and I had to fire him. The owner of the company joined me during the meeting with the employee and supported me as I confronted him and let him go. Afterward, as I cried a little bit, I told the owner that this job of being a program manager was just not for me and I wanted to... read more

• Created on 4/18/13 by Melanie Mayo

My daughter, Lucy, is almost three years old, and has Rett Syndrome. It is a debilitating condition that has robbed her of speech, the ability to walk, control her hands, and talk. This makes it difficult to figure out how to let her explore the world as every other child does. When I was a little girl, I spent most of my time outside, playing with my cousins. We did all of the things little kids do: rode bikes, caught tadpoles, made forts, pretended we were getting married with bouquets of ferns, played in the mud and in brush piles, rode four-wheelers, swam...you get... read more

• Created on 4/12/13 by SmilinMomma

By Colleen Lowe Smith   I’d made the mistake of practically bragging to a friend how Cassidy had never been sick before and that she’s “such a healthy kid.”  Naturally, two days later she was feverish after napping twice the time that she usually naps.  The day after that, still peaking temperatures at 103, I took her to the doctor just in case.  Not much they could do, viral, rest and fluids blah blah blah, come back if she wasn’t better in a few days. Which she wasn’t.   Saturday her breathing was visibly short, and she was still feverish when the tylenol... read more

• Created on 4/2/13 by Melanie Mayo

By Colleen Lowe Smith   Things are changing.   Cassidy is not yet two and a half yet and I knew this time would come.  It started the other afternoon when I woke her up from her nap.  I didn’t want her to stay up late, and it had already been two hours.   It could have been a growth spurt, needing that extra sleep, who knows.  I should have let her stay in bed.  Instead she roused in protest, wailing, and was inconsolable for the next 45 minutes.  She ran away from me, hiding under chairs and tables, delirious and crying, “Go away, Mommy!”     Go Away... read more

• Created on 3/22/13 by Melanie Mayo

  Before I was even pregnant, years before really, I began to develop some beliefs about what parenting was going to be like. I felt strongly (and still do) about the value and importance of toys without lights and whistles and ones that don't do all of the playing for a child. I felt passionately certain that I would have the most amazing breast feeding experiences of anyone, ever. I believed that cloth diapers would rock my world and that my precious little son or daughter would never watch television and instead we would frolic happily through the yard;... read more

• Created on 1/22/13 by Melanie Mayo

Thinking, feeling our way through motherhood.   By V.K. Harber   Hey, remember when you were growing up and you swore up and down that when you had children of your own you would never ever in a million years do that thing that your mother did? Yeah, me too. Yet, here I am, mother of my very own living breathing challenging toddler and I have, on more than one occasion, heard the very same words that used to issue forth from my mother’s mouth, pouring out over my own lips.   Sometimes, whatever comes out is the right thing for the circumstances. (Thanks,... read more

• Created on 1/21/13 by Marcy Axness

A coach helps by holding a vision of success when you, for whatever reason, cannot. A coach sees the powers inside you and guides their unfolding. In singing, soccer, life in general -- and in parenting.   A coach helps by seeing the desired result, knowing the steps for getting you there, and patiently reminding you of those steps. A coach helps as you take those steps, which may feel awkward or unnatural at first. A coach patiently encourages you along what can feel like an interminably long road, sometimes to what feels like an unreachable mountaintop, even... read more

• Created on 1/16/13 by Kristen Tea

                      “Tantrums” are normal reactions from kids that almost every parent deals with at some point.  They can be frustrating and scary for us, particularly if we do not have the tools to guide our children through them in a healthy way.  Understanding where they come from can be endlessly helpful.  Tantrums are urgent, overwhelming panic responses in a child’s brain.   The valuable and insightful book The Science of Parenting: How today’s brain research can help you raise happy, emotionally balanced children by Margot Sunderland states, “A... read more