The Power of a Date

A large portion of our early years is spent dating. We date for a variety of reasons. These include: getting to know the person more spending time with the person becoming closer, literally – sitting close, holding hands focusing on each other and no one else getting to ask questions and allowing the time needed to fully answer the questions.

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What is a Hidden Story?

So many behaviors are a mystery, especially with our kids. It often seems like they were born a certain way with interesting idiosyncrasies. Most of the time their idiosyncrasies are cute and we don’t worry too much about them. Sometimes they’re annoying. And sometimes they’re worrisome and have an impact on our relationship. I want to share an idea with

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Sweetness, Hiccups, and Breastfeeding: A Mama’s Journey

Guest Blog by D’Anne Dougherty, Originally posted on The Consciously Parenting Blog August 7, 2015 One of my sweetest memories is of something I heard the day my daughter was born. It was my husband. He said, “Wow! How does she know how to do that?!” He was reacting to the nursing my few minutes-old daughter was doing, even before

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Learning to Navigate Emotional Upsets and Tantrums at Any Age

Toddlers aren’t the only ones who have emotional upsets. A big misconception I hear on a regular basis is that parents don’t need to talk about tantrums and emotional upsets because they don’t have a toddler anymore. “We’re past that phase.” This means that their kids are probably no longer throwing themselves on the floor when they’re upset. Not at

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Choosing the Best Schooling Path for Your Family

When I was growing up, it was a given that children went to school. A few kids I knew went to private school, but most went to the local public school. That was the expectation. After I graduated from high school, I went to college to become a teacher and took a job in a public school in South Florida

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“Please Stay, Mom”

Things have been so busy the past few weeks. I’m just amazed that it is already nearly June and school is going to be out for the year! This has been a precious year for my two boys. Josh has been in a half day Kindergarten program at our local Waldorf school where he has been playing and learning in

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Goodbye, Christopher Robin

Every attempt was made, from where I sit, to make my daughter’s childhood as magical as possible. I wanted, and still do, to give her a love for the world and for life that would sustain her as life happened. That plan hit a major speed bump recently. You see, she’s growing up. The calendar turned into her 13th year just

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Convincing Myself of Self-Care

A long-distance friend with whom I am emotionally very connected told me about self-care. I thought it was a term she invented. She is my mama friend who sold everything and moved across the country to Boulder, took up poetry, and yearned for a true love. “What do you mean by self-care? Don’t you care for yourself?” I thought. But she

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In Pursuit of a Peaceful Home

I heard a thud from the backseat of the car while I was driving, followed by a scream, followed by another thud, followed by more screaming times two. My body tensed with irritation and frustration. My boys were in the backseat of the car, clearly too close to one another, and it was making my life difficult and the opposite

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Stories of Encouragement: The investment will pay off

Today I want to share a few recent stories from my home where I have been able to see the effects of many years of practicing Consciously Parenting. I have been doing this for 13 years. 13 years of investing in learning about how to parent differently, practicing the way I want to respond to my children’s emotions and behaviors,

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