- CrunchyVTMommy has a gift for rants. In her post, Is Motherhood a Prison? she goes off about a recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Erica Jong. The article argues strongly against Attachment Parenting so I stand with Crunchy when she calls Bullshit! The reasoning in the WSJ article is ridiculous and Crunchy points that out in detail.
- A dear friend of mine gave me a DVD introducing me to Alfie Kohn a year ago. I was immediately a fan! There was one bit, though, that I had a little trouble grasping. It is the part where we shouldn't praise our children. I was trying, though, to just thank my daughter when she does what I want, rather than specifically praise her. This only fits so many situations and eventually feels like you're still praising, just with different words.
Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!" by Alfie Kohn went into more detail than the DVD did and really helped me get a better grasp on the idea. I read bits to my husband (who is also on board) and this helped him, too. We're still working on adjusting our habits. I see my older daughter sometimes fish for praise or praise herself for little things and I wonder if I could have served her better if I'd learned this lesson sooner. And is it too late to fix it? I don't have full custody, either, which makes an effort to "fix it" even more difficult. (Hint: I welcome comments and suggestions!)
- Oprah Sexpert - Buy Your Teen Daughter Her First Vibrator
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Um... yeah. I kept this link open for about a week, while I considered writing an entire post about it. I'm still not sure what I think. I firmly believe that you should answer your child's questions honestly, but only answer as much as they ask. If you go too far beyond the question, you most likely give them more information than they want or for which they are ready. So please, read this article. Let me know what you think about buying your daughter her first vibrator. And do you think Daddy would approve?
- After my recent life-altering decision to change my work (and stop working FT outside the home), I have been hunting for work at home options. The Work at Home Woman looks to be a really good resource for this. So I thought I'd share it with you, in case any of my hundreds of readers (ha!) are also looking for some from-home income.
- During my recent soul searching and research, I've mentioned Unjobbing. Unjobbing: The Untraditional Choice of Working for Oneself looks like a good explanation. Unjobbing seems like the perfect way to support unschooling. To set an example. It makes me wonder, though, am I at a disadvantage because I wasn't unschooled?
- Grumbles and Grunts offered a great post this week titled breastfeeding a toddlby: the myths and the reality that could have easily been a part of a Carnival of Natural Parenting! In fact, she even links The Natural Parents Network! The title of this blog post is self-explanatory, but I will say that it is a great resource to women facing opposition to extended breastfeeding! You'll find replies to every argument you've received and some you might never have heard! (I know I hadn't heard all of the arguments there before.)
- More School Randomness offers a beautiful and yet sad comparison between school and unschool (or even homeschool). I was additionally saddened, though, by "For her, unschooling is not an option." I didn't think leaving my current workplace was an option for me. I've recently opened my eyes, my mind, and my heart to the possibilities of the world. We should all be able to follow our dreams, including unschooling our children if that is what it takes to make us happy!
I hope you found some links here that interest YOU, too! And please, if you have links you think I would like, share them with me!
