They Let Me Let Go | The Single Crunch →
A reminder of the point of gentle parenting: connection.
A reminder of the point of gentle parenting: connection.
Co-sleeping, bed sharing, or whatever else you want to call it – is an abomination of a behavior that no self-respecting mammal engages in. If you don’t believe me, consider how other mammals handle their kids. You know the old can and string phones we used to make as kids? New chimpanzee parents will string a vine between two empty coconut shell halves, placing one half in the baby chimp’s nest in the next tree over and the other half in the parents’ nest, allowing them to monitor the baby’s cries and activity during the night. If the baby wakes up, they’ll swing on over to the other tree and produce a hairy teat until the little chimp quiets down. Then it’s back to bed. The first thing female voles do after giving birth is dig a separate hole in the ground where the infants will sleep. Same with gophers. Kangaroos are famous for their pouches, which for years researchers assumed the mothers used to keep their infants safe, with easy access to the nipples. But in actuality, the kangaroo pouch is used to store shrubs, grasses, various other edible plants, and boxing gloves, as well as cover up their breasts (kangaroos are incredibly shy and modest creatures).
Heh heh heh.
Love the follow-up article, too:
“Co-Sleeping: How to Do It Safely”
(Source: bangerlm.blogspot.com)
Sometimes when I tell people what I give up to be a mother, I feel like defensively assuring them I’m not a martyr. Because I’m not — I choose this, right here, right now, and I know this time with little ones so dependent on me is fleeting. Very eloquent post:
[T]his peace over my voluntary position as a mother has burned as an ember deep inside me from the earliest days, from the first decisions that I made to set aside some of my wants and needs in deference to my children’s needs.Those choices represented an ever-shifting, intricate blend of willing sacrifice and practical necessity.
Sign the petition:
We are writing to you today as a unified community requesting that you add an 8th principle to your “Baby B’s”. “Be Confident Keeping your Baby Whole” should be added to your list of Attachment Parenting principles. Not only is circumcision medically unnecessary, painful and irreversible, it is not in line with Attachment Parenting.
Totally agree. Especially that it’s mostly the kid not your parenting, and that a little crying is just going to have to happen when you have multiple kids to handle.
What have you learned from having a second (or more) kid?
Lovely reminder to say “Yes!” (inspired in part by an article I wrote on the topic).
I think there’s an important distinction between saying yes and being over-indulgent. Part of the distinction for me, is saying yes to intangible needs and wants, rather than just material requests. I guess it boils down to saying yes to taking the time for meaningful engagement, and I don’t believe that’s ever over-indulgent. I hope that when our kids are adults they’ll remember the underdogs on the playground and the bedtime stories, not just which Lego kits we bought.
What are some of your recent Yes moments?
We can’t protect our kids from life; we can only parent them through it. Beautiful post.
A response to the slut-shaming/victim-blaming remarks that spewed across my Facebook page (ugh), as well as an honest and hopeful recounting of how attachment parenting can help heal.
You will LOVE this Dr. Seussian poem by Anktangle outlining all 8 principles of Attachment Parenting! Funny and touching.
For instance, this is Feed With Love and Respect:
When you feed me, Mama, dear:
How? And where? Do let me hear!
I’ll feed you—nurse you—anywhere!
with a bottle
at my breast
at our table.
You know the rest!
I’ll feed you full and feed you strong
You’ll feed yourself soon, not too long.
I nourish, fill you.
Mom, I am.
Not that you’d know about this, but African and indigenous South American women have been wearing their babies in wraps on their backs, and breastfeeding their kids through early childhood for centuries. And many modern single moms, out of necessity, have been co-sleeping with their children through late childhood years since forever.
However, when a world renowned doctor and parenting expert Dr. Sears assembles those practices along with 6 other steps for growing confident children it is called “Attachment Parenting,” making news and going viral. It also gets a coveted TIME magazine cover.
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