Parenting Workshops

Here are two quotes from my column "Love Matters - parenting in the early years", Natural Child Magazine- May 2008 The topic - evaluating parenting advice.

... Parents receive many subtle messages that say that a “good” baby is one who doesn’t disrupt our lives or make demands on our time beyond what we are willing to give. The fear is that if we rock a baby to sleep, it will set up a pattern of dependence. Perhaps we will need to rock and nurse our baby to sleep everyday of her life! (By now you might be able to see my bias. For a delightful look at rocking a baby to sleep forever, see Robert Munsch’s book Love You Forever). Sometimes projecting the underlying issue into the future like this can help you to see the absurdity or value of the advice.

... Look at this advice through the lens of your philosophy of life, your own value system. I’ll close with a quote from Jean Vanier’s book Becoming Human. His words sum up what I often find missing in parenting advice – the importance of the quality of one’s relationship with a baby/child. Jean Vanier, CC, GOQ, Ph.D. is the founder of L’Arche, an international organization that creates communities where people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them share life together. Vanier has been awarded the Order of Canada and in 2006 received the prestigious Beacon Fellowship Prize for his lifelong commitment to the care, well-being and independence of people with disabilities worldwide.

He says, “Love has a transforming power. It is first and foremost a revelation of a person’s essential, fundamental beauty and value. If nobody reveals to children their innate beauty and value, they will never know the importance and the meaning of their life.”