Conscious Family Journal

How to Fall in Love with Your Child... Or Anyone Else

 

As a lifelong (so far) single person, I may seem an unlikely person to write about the joys of falling in love. The whole process of becoming – and remaining – part of a happily married couple is still a bit of a mystery to me.   

However, as the frequently doting (my mother says besotted) and always devoted parent of two children, I can attest that the beautiful experience of “falling in love” is not limited to intimate, adult relationships.

   

I fall in love with my children regularly.

   

When they were babies, this happened automatically. They were cute, they appreciated me and their natural inclination was to snuggle. Now that they are pre-teens in the early throes of puberty, it takes a little conscious effort. 

 

It’s still worth it.

   

My methods may not bring Prince Charming to your doorstep, but if you would like to fall in love (again?) with someone who is already a special part of your life, here is my prescription:

Conscious Parenting Tips: When Raising Adolescents, Get Help!

     

Sometimes, it really does take a village. If you are raising pre-teens or teenagers – especially as a single parent – make sure your support network is ready and able to back you up when needed.

    

While dropping my kids off for soccer practice last night, I quietly informed the coach that one of my sons was wearing the same socks for the third night running – sans washing.

    

He immediately promised to give the team a pep talk on personal hygiene. And threw in a helpful reminder that school and family come before sports, no matter what.

    

Thank you.

    

Am I nuts, exposing our family’s dirty laundry – quite literally – to a non-relative?

    

Am I a bad parent, betraying my hygiene-challenged son’s dirty little secrets to someone outside his immediate family?

    

I sincerely hope not. Because truth be told, I’ve been sharing a lot of family secrets in recent months.

    

Ever since puberty arrived in the Brown house.

Single Parent: More on the Joys of Raising Boys

    

Monday is cleaning day in the Brown household.

    

The timing is important, as I try to relax my obsessive compulsive tendencies over the weekends, in order to maximize enjoyment of “family time.”

 

(It’s one of those conscious parenting things that I am trying to do more of.)

    

This is not easy for me. I have to kind of intentionally blur my vision as I walk through the house, so that I don’t see all the dirty clothes and dishes and other objects that have been abandoned in unnatural places.

   

The stinky soccer uniform stuffed under the ottoman in the family room? Pay no attention. (And try not to wonder why son number one was getting undressed in the family room, anyway.)

    

Two crusty bowls of dried up oatmeal in bedroom of son number two? No big deal.

    

Three or four dozen DVD’s taken out of their cases and strewn across the floor? Reverse blurred vision to laser vision. Step carefully, please.

Healthy Families: How to Keep Your Kids (and Yourself) Feeling Great During the School Year!

     

“Back to School” means a time of transitions: Sleep cycles, mealtimes and activity levels all change significantly.  Here are five important preventive care strategies to help you and your children make it through the school year in great health!

    

1. Get Enough Sleep

     

Bedtimes tend to drift during the summer months... the sun sets later and it’s hard to get the kids inside when there are so many fun things to do! Still, with school starting up, sleep becomes an important part of every family’s wellness strategy.

     

Sleep requirements vary according to age and even then every child is different: A good ballpark number for your kindergartener or first grader is 10 ¾ to 12 hours of sleep per day; your 7-to-12-year-old will probably be at their best with 10 to 11 hours of sleep per day; and even your high school student might need up to 9 ½ .¹

     

Back to School Tips for Conscious Families

     

How to prepare your kids – and adjust yourself – for back to school season.

   

Conscious Parenting with Meg Brown for BodyEcology.com

   

   

Did you have a wonderful family vacation this summer?  Do you even remember your family vacation this summer??  
   
For many of us, the transition from summer fun to school, clubs and organized sports can be stressful, to say the least. In the blink of an eye, the rhythms of lazy days and backyard fun give way to “early to bed, early to rise”... with every minute in between scheduled to the max. Welcome to the school year!
   
  

Take a Deep Breath
   
Early fall is a time of transitions. Here in the northern hemisphere, long, hot, sunny days have given way to something a little cooler and shorter. For our children, unstructured, carefree days spent outdoors have been replaced by the scheduled, date-driven obligations of school – spent largely indoors, sitting still.  

Attention Conscious Parents: Please Read This Book!

    

My review of Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers, by Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D. and Gabor Mate, M.D.

   

   

Are you feeling increasingly disconnected from your pre-teen or teenaged child?

   

Does your child refuse to look you in the eye, or prefer to be alone when at home with you and your family?

   

Does your child ever say things like, “You can’t tell me what to do,” or “You’re not in charge of me”?

    

Does your child reject your authority and shy away from your company?

   

Does your child prefer to look like, think like, act like and be with their peers?

    

   

Welcome to parenting in the twenty-first century.

    

I read a lot of parenting books and while many capture my attention, very few actually keep me awake at night.

    

This one did: With Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers, authors Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate caution parents that our children’s pervasive orientation to their peers – at the expense and in some cases to the exclusion of parental relationships – is downright harmful to healthy growth and development.