The Crazy Thing About Life

The crazy thing about life is that it takes you down interesting paths and on journeys you never expected to experience.  My life has taken some unexpected, never before imagined turns as of late.  I have been absent from this blog because I didn't want to write about these things and I couldn't bring myself to write about what I had been writing about.  I've finally come to a point where I want to share a bit of what is going on in my life and actually write again.

My First Buckled SSC is Here

I made the plunge into a buckled soft structured carrier since my toddler is in a very pick me up put me down kind of mood lately.  Plus, I've wanted to put him on my back more often so I can get more done and I just couldn't get the wrap down for back carries and he was too big for my mei tai.  So after talking to my sister in law about the best ones, I decided on the Olives & Applesauce carrier in the koi pattern.  It arrived today and I am sooooo excited.  And it's so pretty.  Here it is!

Pretty packaging and beautiful note!

The carrier.

Toddler in the carrier.

Another angle.

The Mother I Am

On Mothers Day, I want to spend a little time explaining why I mother the way I do. For starters see this?

That sweet angelic face is the reason I do what I do. That precious, tiny human being is why I chose to mother attachment style. I feel it is my duty in life to respect, nurture, comfort, and love that baby boy in a manner that makes him feel safe, secure, protected, and loved. I feel it is important that his early life is as happy, warm, and nurturing as possible so that he grows up believing life is good and people and relationships are important.

The world can be scary and hard, but family shouldn't be. Family should be your safe haven. The calm in the storm. The oasis in the desert. I want to always be that to my son and any future children. I want to be that to my husband as well. This doesn't mean there won't be limits, but it means I will try hard to remember the person he is and the stage of development he is in. I'm not here to scold, cajole, and punish him into behaving. I'm here to love, nurture, and guide him towards being the best human being HE is capable of being so that he wants to do good. Remember, we all try our hardest and do our best for those we feel truly care about us and our feelings. This is what attachment parenting is to me.

Happy Mothers Day to all women! We are all mothers to someone even if we don't have or adopt children. Keep loving each other and the world and maybe we can make the future brighter for all of our children.

Extremism - Where's the Balance?

So I've been mulling over and discussing the recent TIME cover photo and article (Here's a link in case you've been hiding under a rock the past few days and missed it.) and have been struggling to figure out exactly what I want to say about this. I have had many people ask me about this and say that they've thought about me when they heard about it as I'm fairly open about my crunchy, hippy mama style of parenting. I'm fairly open in general about my life, so this is nothing new.

I often proudly admit to being a bleeding heart liberal whose passionate about women's rights (and now children's rights), but I find this picture uncomfortable, demeaning, and exploitative. It's not that the child is 3 years old. It's not that the woman's breast is partially visible. It's that the pose seems slightly suggestive and clearly sensationalist. It's that the mother seems so detached. It's that the title implies that mothers who don't do this are not up to the challenge of being a mother. And I think most importantly, it's that the balance that helps create happy, healthy attached families is completely missing from this sensationalist piece of journalism designed to sell magazines and stir controversy.

I plan on discussing this more, but I just need more time to process. Please check out the links below for information from Attachment Parenting International on their eight principles. And please, let me know your thoughts.
API's Eight Principles
API's Blog Post About the Principles