Parenting ideas that fly.
I am Janet Lansbury. Welcome to my blog. As Janet Julian, I acted and modeled for many years, but it wasn't until I became a mother and sought guidance from infant expert Magda Gerber that I found my life's work: parent education. For the last fifteen years I have enjoyed teaching RIE parenting classes in Los Angeles.
I have also been a presenter at early childhood conferences, written infant/toddler parenting articles, and served on the board of directors of Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE). Raising a child is one the most important and challenging jobs we will ever have. It brings a considerable amount of joy. It can also be confusing, discouraging and haphazard. My goal is to provide clarity, inspiration (and maybe a smile or two) by sharing insights I've gained through my parenting classes, my experiences as a mother, and studies with my friend and mentor Magda Gerber. This blog is dedicated to her memory.
Posted by
janet on Aug 6th, 2010
In A Creative Alternative To Baby TV Time I suggest following infant expert Magda Gerber’s advice to develop a baby’s natural ability to play independently. A recent commenter on the post, Mary Ellen, asked some questions and raised issues I thought worth sharing:
i still would like to know what a parent is doing (or not doing) for a baby to play independently for 3-4 hours straight….
i would also like to...
Posted by
janet on Aug 3rd, 2010
Romance was in the air at a recent parent/infant class, and it was definitely one for the cameras, but interrupting those astonishing minutes to document the action could not have been further from my mind.
Mila and Julian, 3 and 4 months old respectively, were on their backs on the rug by their moms. The infants soon took notice of each other, began engaging, and spent several minutes captivated. Mila twisted...
Posted by
janet on Jul 30th, 2010
My sisters and I had my mom pegged, and we never grew tired of teasing her about it. When we asked my mom for something and she said, “We’ll see”, it always seemed to lead to a “no”. “Maybe” usually turned out to mean “yes”. So we would whine and beg, “Just say maybe, pleeeeeze!”
Now that I’m a mom and have learned that parenting is an endless list of really hard decisions that can make...
Posted by
janet on Jul 27th, 2010
I spend a lot of time in my head, and one of my favorite ponderings is nature vs. nurture. How much does parenting matter? We toil and we fret. We read the latest round of confusing, conflicting studies and opinions. We stimulate, teach, parent the way we were parented because it worked just fine, or do the radical opposite because it didn’t. We hover, free-range, stress and (according to the New York...
Posted by
janet on Jul 24th, 2010
The last thing you’re going to catch me doing is provoking parental guilt. So, I’m going to assume you’ve heard all about the hazards of TV for infants and toddlers: potential language delays, obesity, ADHD, and aggression are all things we’d like to prevent in our children if we can. But it doesn’t surprise me that parents ignore the research (and the American Academy of Pediatrics advisory) and turn on...
Posted by
janet on Jul 19th, 2010
On my way to LAX to take my daughter to camp and spend some one-on-one time with her, I was excited, but also uneasy and unsettled. I felt like I was ditching school, neglecting homework. There was also a twinge of something even more anxiety provoking I couldn’t quite place, as if I’d left the stove on. All because I’d made the last minute decision to leave my laptop at home.
My husband had gently nudged...
Posted by
janet on Jul 16th, 2010
Last week’s parent/toddler class was all about feeling ‘stuck’.
The previous week, 21 month old Audrey had wedged herself between the bars of the wooden climbing structure and looked at me with a worried expression. “Are you stuck?” I asked. I moved close and — without touching her — talked her through pulling her legs out from between the bars and reaching to the bar below so that she could...
Posted by
janet on Jul 12th, 2010
I recently received this email from a mother in Australia, and she kindly allowed me to share it with you.
Hi Janet,
I am just wondering if you have any advice on how I can get my 8 month old baby to play independently. I have been following the Dr. Sears Attachment Parenting philosophy pretty rigidly since James was born and to my dismay, he is now super clingy, whiny, wakes up every 2 hours at night to nurse,...
