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Montessori: The Crisis of Self-Affirmation (aka the Terrible Two’s)
Last week felt it like something
was terribly wrong with Tate. He seemed to have shed his cheerful self and
revealed an irritable, demanding, dissatisfied little tyrant.For example, he became obsessed
with wanting the cleaning spray bottles. When I stuck firm to the boundaries
that children are not allowed to have the cleaning spray bottles because they
have chemicals in them, he threw terrible, protracted screaming and crying
fits.Things that he used to do easily… Read More
(like take a bath and eat meals with the family) became battles. Putting him to
sleep at night went from kissing him on the cheek and closing the door to 1.5
hours of -
Cultivating More Mindfulness
Another session I attended at the
Montessori conference was related to cultivating mindfulness in our daily
lives. I was reminded of these important concepts:Our breath is a powerful source of relaxation and reconnection.
When we are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, frustrated, or angry, we can call
upon our deep breathing (all the way to the belly!) to immediately calm
ourselves. I love that this simple yet powerful techniques is within our
control and can be carried with us from place to place—situation to
situation—with ease.There is space between stimulus and response and our power lies within… Read More
that space. We cannot control what happens to us in life, but we -
All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood
I was fortunate to be able to attend the American Montessori
Conference last weekend in Philadelphia. It was exciting to connect with
friends from around the nation (hi, Megan!).I also had the opportunity to listen to a keynote lecture
from Jennifer Senior, the author of All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood. Her entire talk
resonated with me deeply and left tears in my eyes.She started by talking about the conflicting advice we… Read More
receive as parents. I definitely felt the push and pull of conflicting advice
when I had my first son in 2011. I knew that I wanted to try for a
