I kept listening to my children because I saw their positive transformation and because we felt closer even though it wasn’t easy to do. I kept listening because I gradually remembered and worked on my childhood and came to think I would have liked it if I had been listened to back then.
A sweet 9-year-old student whom I tutor came in the other day in a somewhat low-key mood. He got ready to do the math that I had planned for him. We were working on calculating the area of various shapes that had combinations of triangles, rectangles, and circles. When I started showing him the first
I was so sad when they were not getting along and my oldest was hitting and biting, particularly because I had read so many books and was from the beginning practicing attachment parenting and positive discipline.
My 2-1/2-year old son was tired. It was past his nap time. As I laid him down for his nap, he looked up at me very lovingly and said, “Can I have some of your milk, mommy?” His voice was tender and sweet. It had been about six months since I had breastfed him at
My teen was home from college for her first short visit and I wanted to connect with her in a close way. I knew she was in the process of learning to be independent, and I wanted to respect her freedom and the personal growth she had achieved. I had read about giving 100 kisses
My 3-year old son and his slightly younger friend had a play date at our house. There was a bowl with a snack roll in it made of grains and fruit. Frank picked a muesli roll, as he was hungry. My son wanted to follow his lead and picked what happened to be the last
There was a five-year-old boy in my Kindergarten group who had been giving little signs of distress for a few days, showing that he was not relaxed. He threw a few toys, hit a few children and showed misbehavior at circle time. He didn’t throw hard or hit hard, but I could feel he did
Last fall my husband had to go out of town for a few days for work. The day after he left, my two year-old son and I were sitting in the living room on the couch when it seemed to dawn on him all of a sudden that his dad was gone. He said, “I
Usually I do about ten minutes of special time with my three year-old son a couple of times a week. Although ten minutes of special time always seems like such a short amount of time to do special time with a child, when I’m actually doing it with my son, I find myself waiting eagerly
The time had come to wean my healthy toddler from night nursing. He was down to just a couple of times of nursing at night, but it was still disruptive for all of us. No one was sleeping well. I had napped during the day and had mentioned to my son what the plan was.
We picked the kids up from kindergarten and preschool one afternoon and drove straight to the airport. Our four-year-old daughter noticed that we were not driving home, so we made the happy announcement, “Surprise! We’re going to Lego Land.” Big mistake! Turns out, anything that has the element of surprise in it, was going to
One evening when my son was about three, we had a big dinner party. In all of the commotion a large vase broke. My son was very close to the vase when it broke and he was tremendously startled by the loud crashing sound. He screamed in shock and terror, and cried long and hard.
It was a Saturday afternoon and my daughter (almost 10) and I were in the car on our way to meet with family for lunch. My daughter brought with her a CD we used to listen to when she was younger back when we lived in the US. (Two years ago our family moved back
Sometimes we don’t realize the effect we can have on people, simply through our listening (or not listening). I was moved by how a little listening can move mountains.
I heard a very touching story in one of my classes recently. We were talking about the value of listening to our children’s strong emotions, and I asked if anyone had been listened to in that way as a young child. One woman raised her hand and said, “Yes. One time.” She had been raised
I’ve done years of wrestling with my boy, so it’s a well worn connection groove for releasing tension and rebuilding connection between us. This day we were both in fine form. I think he started it by putting a handful of sand down my pants, so once I’d emptied it out, the chase was on.
Stella, my two-year-old daughter, was an early talker, unusually verbal, and a very happy, silly, open little girl. About four or five months ago, she came down with an extreme case of hives. She was given a lot of steroids to try to make them shrink to no avail. She spent a lot of time
I had been having a harder and harder time carving out regular Special Time for my two sons. During the day, when I am the only adult present, neither of them can stand to be alone while the other receives my warmth and attention. I don’t blame them! I tried to do Special Time in