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Category: parenting

Parenting Simply: Love and Gratitude

Parenting Simply: Love and Gratitude

[ 3 ] 2.13.2012 |

In the busy-ness of life, we often move, move, move forward without noticing the time or the space or the feelings that we’re moving through. But what happens when we stand still? When we relax for a moment, and breathe, and notice what is happening around us while we stand still? Everything changes.

One simple ritual that helps me is pausing in my day to express gratitude. It can be as easy as pausing while I’m washing the dishes to look out the window and feel gratitude for the sky and the trees. I breathe deeply, feel gratitude and then return to my chore. But I am calmer and happier as I finish those dishes.

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The Herd of the Elephant Mothers

The Herd of the Elephant Mothers

[ 0 ] 2.1.2012 |

For families with kids in transition from one phase of school to the next, midwinter is application and registration time. As families get down to the brass tacks of the school choice process, I am riveted by the conversations you’re having about what’s next educationally for your kids. Yes, I am listening to you three at the corner table at Seven Stars, huddled over coffee and obsessing about which kindergarten will be the best fit for your four year olds, wondering about the unknowns of public schools, the price tag of private schools, the lottery-driven gamble of charter schools, or the possibility of moving to a new town “for the schools.” I am shamelessly eavesdropping, and sometimes I will ask to join in, because I am fascinated with parents’ motivations about their educational choices that they make for and with their children.

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Teaching Children the Value of Money: Save, Spend, Share

Teaching Children the Value of Money: Save, Spend, Share

[ 0 ] 1.13.2012 |

I want my children to learn the value of saving and spending wisely so they grow up knowing how to manage their own money while being a socially responsible citizen. This isn’t an easy process but by starting early, children have a better chance of developing good money habits that will last into adulthood.

Once my boys turned eight (around the time they started receiving a weekly allowance) we started an annual New Year’s tradition of counting the money in their piggy bank and dividing it into 3 equal parts:

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Taking Chances During Play

Taking Chances During Play

[ 2 ] 12.14.2011 |

It’s a windy but sunny day in early fall, and my son and I slowly approach the gigantic spider web climbing net at Tuckertown Park in South Kingstown. My three year old is the tentative sort, and the conversation goes something like this:

“Come on, Devin. Let’s climb the spider web!”

“No, no, Mommy. I too little.”

“Nah, you’re not too little. You can do it.”

“I too scared, Mommy.”

“What are you scared of?”

“I scared I gonna fall.”

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Parenting Simply: Pinecone Soup

Parenting Simply: Pinecone Soup

[ 2 ] 12.7.2011 |

Sometimes as parents, we are granted wonderful moments of true clarity. For me, one such moment came after an afternoon walk with my daughters. Our walk led to the discovery of an abundant supply of tiny pinecones at the end of our street, which immediately needed to be gathered, stowed in the back of a tricycle, and brought home to make pinecone soup. With nothing else on my calendar, no where else to be but right here, I carried pinecones and tiny dishes and sat down to share in the meal. It was delicious…

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