I aspire to meet my children’s needs through clear, honest communication. I first met attachment parenting while pregnant with my first child, and I first met nonviolent communication (NVC) while pregnant with my second. “NVC shares two key premises with attachment parenting: Human actions are motivated by attempts to meet needs, and trusting relationships are … Read more
Since writing about crafts and DIY projects last week, and reading the posts from two Blog to Inspire entrants—Jill Amery’s ideas for at home activities and Gwen Floyd’s dress-up box—I decided to write about the longest and most used toys in my family. I write in praise of play cloths. You know, play silks, squares of cloth, multi-colored canvases … Read more
In my husband’s family, in rural England, Christmas Day must involve playing Pooh Sticks after Christmas lunch. This is the game Winnie-the-Pooh devised in The House at Pooh Corner (the game that author A. A. Milne created for his son Christopher Robin Milne). The game of Pooh Sticks involves dropping sticks off a bridge into a flowing … Read more
My family lives next to a golf course full of mature pine trees. We gather pine cones frequently. Our flower beds and gardens are full of them—yet the pine cones keep coming. So, we do crafts and make decorations with pine cones. Last year Nature Mom did the same. She and her children spent an … Read more
One of the strongest senses evoking our emotional responses to holidays is smell. For this season in our house, pine and bay (evergreens) mix with spices like cinnamon and ginger. We have spiced pumpkin, spiced smoothies, spiced eggnog, spiced cookies, and spiced cider. There is a lot of cinnamon smell in our house. Every year … Read more