Here’s my philosophy on balancing the responsibilities of a baby and the housecleaning: Your only job as the parent of an infant is not to cross the line from untidy to unsafe. I have found that being the type of parent I want to be has required me to lower my standards when it comes to keeping a home.
When my child is an infant, my child comes first — first before the dirty dishes in the sink, and first before the unfolded laundry. Those dirty dishes don’t pose a hazard to my baby, nor does the unfolded laundry. So when …read more

Okay, fine, it’s not exactly media-worthy, but it is Big News in our house. News worthy of Capital Letters. You see, my husband has been able to settle my 15-month-old back to sleep THREE TIMES over the last several nights!
My husband is a great father and very good with the kids, so it should not be quite so newsworthy, except my other daughters refused to be settled back to sleep by anyone other than me (and my mum-mums) until they were over two-and-a-half years old! So the fact that my husband was able to settle our third daughter at the …read more

When you have a newborn, you sometimes wonder when you will get to shower on a regular basis again. Then that newborn becomes a toddler, the sheer intensity eases up a little, and you start to consider whether you want to add another child to your family. At some point you take the plunge and you make the transition from one to two children. Eventually you find that you’re surviving and occasionally even thriving with two. Are you crazy to consider a third? A fourth? Mary Ostyn’s A Sane Women’s Guide to Raising a Large Family helps parents think through …read more

Today was a big day for my little 11.5-month-old nursling. She couldn’t be torn away from the excitement of the day for a silly thing like napping, so her usual three naps were reduced to two. That meant by dinner time she was nearly ready for bed. We celebrated the 4th of July holiday with a backyard barbecue of shrimp and salmon, fresh pineapple slices, and grilled vegetables. As a special treat for dessert we made an improvised strawberry smoothie from pureed and whole frozen strawberries from our u-pick adventure earlier in the year, along with more pineapple and some …read more

Welcome to the May Carnival of Breastfeeding! This month participants share stories related to breastfeeding (see entries at the end of this post). My story represents the end of the story — how it turns out when a mother practices extended breastfeeding.
When I had my first daughter, I fumbled my way around until I found my parenting style. It happened naturally. I couldn’t stand to hear my baby cry; what mother can? So I breastfed her on cue, wore her in a sling, and co-slept with her in my bed. Those things worked for me, my husband, and my baby. …read more

The classic parenting book How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish is as relevant and helpful today as it was when it first came out 30 years ago. The descriptions, examples and cartoons offer straightforward information that parents can put into practice right away. Readers can invest time in the practice exercises or simply skim the summaries for an overview or a brief refresher.

Throughout the chapters on “Helping Children Deal with Their Feelings,” “Engaging Cooperation,” and “Alternatives to Punishment” I found myself dog-earring pages and scribbling notes …read more

Recently the media spotlight has focused on the issue of breastfeeding and gender equality, with some women lamenting the responsibility of breastfeeding a child (personally I consider it a privilege and hardly worth debating). A March 2009 statement for the Commission on the Status of Women addresses the issue eloquently. “Breastfeeding and the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men” is a joint statement of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, the International Lactation Consultant Association, La Leche League International, and the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action. It frames and answers the gender quality question:
As people increasingly strive for gender …read more

Shortly after my neighbor had her third child, she complained that she kept forgetting things. She couldn’t recall the right word for an object or couldn’t remember the name of the movie she watched the week before.
She actually worried that she was suffering from early onset dementia. Well, now that I’ve had my third child, I can assure her that it’s not early onset dementia, it’s third child syndrome! In the last three days, I have forgotten:
1) the name of that television show filmed in Ireland, the one about the Catholic priest tempted by the spunky townswoman, the one I …read more

Micky of the breastfeeding blog Mocha Milk started a thriving business called 9 Months and Beyond, LLC. It offers childbirth and breastfeeding support. She wants to grow the business even more, and has entered the Ideablob $10,000 contest. Here’s what her entry says:
9 Months & Beyond, LLC offers a full doula services, lactation support and parenting education. We combine the best resources of a doula agency and pregnancy/ parenting boutique with a respectful, supportive community. From conception through the first years of parenting, we help birthing families through a range of counseling and educational services and products designed for their …read more

Independence is the topic for this month’s theme day here at the Health and Wellness Channel. When I first heard the topic, it struck a chord with me. I felt a little rant welling up on this subject. You see, I get the distinct impression that some people associate breastfeeding with a dependence on the mother. An unhealthy dependence, one that somehow keeps the child unnaturally close and clingy and unable to separate or venture out to explore and make friends with confidence. It irks me when I sense that, because I have found the exact opposite to be true. …read more