Breaking An Abusive Cycle Through AP And RIE (Guest Post by Suchada from Mama Eve)

Please, don’t let them grow up like me…  I have three vivid memories of growing up: The first is of my mother when I was five or six years old. I was getting ready for school and had difficulty putting my shoes on the correct feet (being slightly dyslexic), and my mother went ballistic. She hit me, over and over, all while yelling at me how stupid I was for not having it figured out by now. The second...

Life With Baby: A New Parent’s Struggles And Success (From My Mailbox)

One of the happy benefits of blogging about RIE parenting is the positive connections I’m making with some outstanding dads and moms (or, as in this case, a warm, exuberant ‘mum’).  As New Zealander Helena is discovering, learning to parent is nothing like acing a multiple-choice quiz. Developing our relationship with a unique other person — a much smaller, more fragile, non-verbal one — is an...

Parenting Decisions – Different Strokes (Guest Post by Lisa Sunbury)

Yale professor Amy Chua’s controversial Wall Street Journal essay “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” spurred Oshrat, an Israeli mom and frequent commenter on my blog to begin a discussion in the community section about parenting philosophies.  Regarding Chua’s strict directive approach to parenting, Oshrat commented, “It looks a bit extreme and I am finding many of the RIE tips to be more of a middle...

What Will My Baby Really Need? A New Parent’s Checklist

Hello all! I’m a first-time poster, and an expectant mother (due May 2011)! I find that I’m overwhelmed trying to determine what our little one will truly “need”, versus what mainstream parenting says we need. My sister just had her first child in July, and she and my mother have offered a lot of advice to me (with the best of intentions). I’m just trying to get to the meat of it and...

Wow…A Worldwide Response!

It’s been three weeks since the community forum began, and we already have 6 countries in 4 continents and 4 of the United States represented!Thank you to the moms in Taiwan, Texas, Argentina, England, Rhode Island, Chile, Mexico, Georgia, and California who have checked in! Many of you have been contacting me privately, and I so appreciate you taking this opportunity to reach out to other parents in your...

New Community Section (RIE Support In A City Near You!)

I am sooo excited to announce this new addition to my blog. (Yes, a baby of sorts!)  Since I began this blog almost one year ago, I have had the pleasure of communicating with some wonderful parents from all over the world – from Mexico to India to Australia to Texas to Thailand, and everywhere in between.  You’ve been intrigued by some of the methods recommended by Magda Gerber. Many of you practice...

Thank You For Sharing

I appreciate those of you who shared your favorite parenting and child-related sites with me on Facebook. I’ve been scoping out the ones I wasn’t aware of and revisiting the ones I know. If you’re looking to lose yourself for several hours — ignore your children, husband, pets, laundry, and get so stiff you can’t stand up again without groaning — this is a really good way.   And now, I’m...

Do Wired Parents Need Time Out…Or Less Guilt?

Sometimes we read things that hit a nerve, and although the truth can set us free, it can also make us feel really uncomfortable. A recent NewYork Times article, “The Risks Of Parenting While Plugged In”, did just that. While I don’t dare own a Smartphone, lately I do spend much of the day glued to the computer, an absorption that often overflows into time that used to be spent with my children. New to the...