Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
Japanese doll a hit with older women
Toy maker targets the cuddly companion at adults as birthrate drops
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fi-doll1-2008jul01,0,6778009.story?track=rss
I found this article quite sad. My grandmother had a doll collection. I think she had about the same number of dolls as she had grandchildren. She lived far away from all of her grandchildren, and she did indeed love dolls.
I believe she missed her family so much that when she and my grandfather became too old to visit, her hope was lost, and she began to lose her memory to block the pain of separation. I think Alzheimer’s has a purpose.
“Families are living apart these days, so grandkids are giving the dolls to their grandmothers and daughters are giving them to their mothers,” said Bandai’s Tajima, 24. “It’s a little odd, but the dolls become like a substitute.”
Thursday, June 12th, 2008
My sister-in-law is expecting her long-awaited first child. I don’t know what choices she will end up making, but I did my best in trying to influence her toward attachment parenting. 
Here are the books and things we gave her as soon as we found out she was expecting.
I also gave her a printed book-form version of all my parenting essays and collection of parenting Scripture verses. (See header or sidebar.)
And a pink baby outfit and a blue baby outfit.
Here are the presents my mother, grandmother, and I gave her at her baby shower the other night. I am hoping she will choose babywearing over using a stroller, so I wanted her to have a couple choices:
Zolowear Sling (Blue Paisley) (with DVD)
Ergo Baby Carrier (in Black with Camel) (with DVD)
Ergo Backpack (Diaper Bag) (Black)
Ergo Front Pack (Black)
Ergo Infant Insert (Camel)
And probably most of all, I am hoping she will choose to listen to her baby, instead of letting her baby cry it out. We gave her this brilliant DVD that helps to educate mothers about understanding their babies’ communication skills.
Dunstan Baby Language DVD
Monday, May 19th, 2008
Babies need parenting to a T
http://www.bradenton.com/278/story/613124.html
“In many cultures mothers walk around with their babies attached to them in some way. I don’t think I put my babies down until they were around six months of age. If I put them down they cried, and I could not stand to hear them cry, it broke my heart.”
Monday, May 12th, 2008
Interesting look at life in Ghana:
West African Journal: Where Teenagers Do Chores
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-5-11/70548.html
Sunday, April 6th, 2008
How to affirm your children throughout their lives
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8829586
“With infants: Parents need to be responsive to every need of the child, be accepting of the inconveniences of infant care and stay calm and patient.”
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Close Ties Between Parents And Babies Yield Benefits For Preschoolers
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207085606.htm
“The study found that children who had developed a close, positive, reciprocal, and mutually responsive relationship with their mothers in the first two years of their lives did much better in both respects–responding to their mothers’ requests not to do something and regulating their own behavior–than children who hadn’t developed such ties.”
“When mothers and babies develop this closeness in the first two years, the study found, mothers don’t need to use forceful discipline later to get their children to do what they ask and refrain from other behaviors.”
Monday, February 11th, 2008
Neufeld-Responsibility for the Relationship-Power to Parent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUARKC7m2go
Dr. Neufeld on “Preserving Attachment” (Power to Parent)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqzI5yvA-iA
Dr. Gordon Neufeld- What Makes a Child Easy to Parent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcaMsZrElnE
“It’s not the love of a parent for the child. The key to the ease of parenting and the context of parenting is the love of a child for the parent… A child must be in right relationship with the parent for the parent to be able to do the job and to provide a context for parenting.”
Dr. Gordon Neufeld- Why We’re Losing the Context to Parent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDKWhDfgqls
“Honey, nothing you do or say, could separate you from me, at least not emotionally. Nothing is going to separate. It must be the foundation of the relationship.”
Dr. Neufeld is the author of one of my favorite books: Hold on to Your Kids
