As I mentioned before, during the school year my daughter had many intense tantrums. I wondered why . . . New baby? Postpartum cranky mom? Just normal for her age? But a new answer is coming clear that trumps all the rest. Overstimulation. The social setting can easily overstimulate my daughter to the point of distress, … Continue reading
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Summer Nature Days
For most of the summer it will be just the three of us all day, every day . . . One year-old, four year-old, and me. To see some friends at least once a week, in an environment that inspires cooperation rather than competition, I’ve organized this. A weekly nature/hiking day mostly with other school … Continue reading
Riding the Seasonal Rhythms
All through the school year I’ve been feeling conflicted. The days when I am home with both children all day, I determine our daily rhythms. Together we cycle up and down, from bursts of focused activity to a return to mellow solo imaginative play. In breath, out breath. I am in the background all day … Continue reading
Spanish Songs for Spring
Our family is bilingual, and we speak only Spanish in our home. We constantly remind my daughter to speak to us in Spanish, but since she started going to school in English this has gotten a lot harder. It’s so important to my husband that his children speak with him in the language his own … Continue reading
Safety and Peace at School
In my experience, school has not been a safe place. There is school violence and bullying to start, but there is more. Feeling unsafe, sometimes physically, and often emotionally, I found school to be a place of conflict, antagonism, defensiveness, and isolation. Learning, too, but that took second. I started out in urban public schools. … Continue reading
Baby Brother’s Birth
Ten weeks ago, I gave birth to my second child, a boy. We are told in so many ways that birth and motherhood should be blissful, perfect, happy, wonderful. Or that birth is going to be a medical emergency and a nightmare. In reality they are both positive and negative all wrapped into one. The … Continue reading
Keeping it Real in Birth
Being cared for by a homebirth midwife has been a revelation. Here at 38 weeks pregnant I don’t have a lot of energy or focus to describe my experiences, but I want to mention a few ways this care has changed everything and to link to two articles for more information. First, after my tough … Continue reading
Separation Toddler-style
“Letting go” has been a recent refrain for me. Preparing for the surrender of giving birth. Letting my older daughter go farther from my arms, challenging both of us to trust our connection, even without physical closeness. Trying to believe that these tests will make us stronger! My daughter, who is now almost 3, started … Continue reading
Part 2: Baby Grows Up
I wrote awhile back (“Part 1”) about some attempts at night-weaning my toddler when she was 22 months old. As the New Year begins, I have the next chapter of the story to tell. Here are my main conclusions up front. In regards to the major milestones of babyhood: 1) When both parent and child … Continue reading
This Endless Cough: Home Remedies
Where we live, this brutal cough is going around that lasts for three weeks or more. We know mostly toddlers who have it, and they seem cheerful enough between coughs, at least during the day. But for us preggo mamas suffering with it, the coughing fits really shake you up! It is not fun. And … Continue reading
Chigüiri-cosas 