Give them PRESENCE
'Tis the season…for overwhelm. Every Xmas, I tend to get overwhelmed. My love language is NOT gift giving – especially in “have to” gift-giving times. I am not one of those moms who knows the “right” toys for certain ages. I don’t know the “cool gifts”, heck I...
Tips for Parenting with Compassion #9: Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Rewards
Ok folks. This seems to be coming up a lot. Maybe I'm attuned to it, but I seem to be hearing this a lot lately. I see it a lot with that Elf on a Shelf. If you have one, get rid of it. Yes, I feel that strongly about it. It utilizes manipulation in order to get...
Forgive Yourself
Forgive yourself. The best gift you can give yourself (and others!) might be to forgive yourself. To let yourself off the hook. To give yourself a break. You've carried the memory of something you've done too long now, soul sister, on those precious shoulders of...
Facing fear, living life
Maybe it's because I'll be turning 40 in a year. Maybe it's because there's this tender "knowing" rising up into my conscious mind, influencing even my mundane everyday decisions. Maybe it's because giving birth brought me to my most raw, vulnerable, warrior,...
When it’s not a perfect holiday…
"When we are training in the art of peace, we are not given any promises that, because of our noble intentions, everything will be okay. In fact, there are no promises of fruition at all. Instead, we are encouraged to simply look deeply at joy and sorrow, at laughing...
Tips for Everyday Mindfulness #16: Drop the perfect, embrace the pleasant
I'm laying here on my yoga mat taking a break snickering to myself as I realize the irony taking place in writing this blog post: I have a page of notes all crossed off as I try to perfect the opening lines of this post. Yes, perfecting a post about dropping the...
The Call of Fall – Pause
This fall, I am drawn to pause. Summer had us out and about, playing in the sandbox and on the playground, swimming and hiking, meeting up with friends, and looking at bugs (oh yes.). We had our "Summer Activities Board" up in our kitchen from May til August,...
How to heal by doing very little? Just N.A.P.!
I had a hard day. You all know how it goes - something doesn't go as planned, people don't respond the way you'd like, you felt just "off", your child threw up or is having a rough day. We've all been there. The specifics don't matter. (No really, they don't matter....
Taking flight
We found this little robin's nest and eggshell right outside our back door. We've so loved it that it's been on our "nature table" all spring and summer (aka the center of our kitchen table). For me, this summer has felt like spring. Not outside, that's for sure. ...
Returning to the Great Grandmother
Do you tend to "tackle" the tasks and projects you do in a day? When you have a decision to make, do you try to force the right answer to come about? There's another way. My blogging buddy, Gina, over at Professions for Peace wrote a lovely and insightful post about...