Parents Are People Too

This is a concept that I keep having to reinforce around here.
Not just in the sense that mothers get to go out once in a while with their own friends, or that mothers sometimes like a few minutes alone with the thoughts in their head, but in the sense that mothers aren’t somehow extra-special human [...]

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Human Nature

Since my house burned down
I now own a better view
Of the rising moon

~ Japanese Zen Haiku written by Miszuta Masahide, a samurai disciple of Basho, in 1688, after his house burned to the ground.
I heard this poem when I was in the car, listening to a CBC Radio One interview with Pico Iyer, who has [...]

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Attachment Discipline

I think I’ve stumbled across the best disciplinary tactic ever. It’s devilishly simple and tremedously effective. I’ve never read about it in any parenting book, so I thought I’d write about it in case it works for someone else.
When one of the kids does something he/she knows is against house rules (like hurting a sibling [...]

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I am a Life Coach

T had a really fun morning today, sewing clothes for his teddy, and a really fun afternoon, having an extended Pokemon battle with a friend, but for an hour or so in the middle of the day, things just weren’t looking so good.
He was upset about something, frustrated that he couldn’t have/do/get/ something or maybe [...]

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Busting the Bicker Cycle

I don’t know if it’s the cold weather or what, but the two littles have been bickering a lot more lately than usual. It was getting to the point that every time I was in the kitchen, which is a lot, I could hear them sniping at each other in the living room. Usually I [...]

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