A recent study with the under 2 set has found that all discipline is equally ineffective. I’ve suspected this for some time, and this study seems to confirm it. Of course, the focus in this study was praise and distraction vs whatever method of discipline a family chose to use – so it isn’t a detailed comparison of various discipline approaches. However it’s not dis-similar from some of the findings of Unconditional Parenting which found that regardless of the method of discipline used, 80% of toddlers will repeat the behaviour …

This post is written for inclusion in the Carnival of Gentle Discipline hosted by Paige @ Baby Dust Diaries. All week, April 26-30, we will be featuring essays about non-punitive discipline. See the bottom of this post for more information.
Today I would like to welcome Dionna, who has written a guest post on gentle parenting strategies for parents of toddlers. Dionna is a lawyer turned work at home mama of an amazing son, and is one of those crunchy liberals her parents warned her about. You can normally …

We had our first full-blown supermarket meltdown today.
You wouldn’t think it to look at her. She looks all zen and serene and peaceful here. Like she could give Ghandi a run for his money.
She’s always been a pretty good shopper. She’s usually so excited to be out and about that it’s rare for her to have a tantrum or lose the plot when we’re out. That sort of thing is usually a special treat for her mama when we are home alone.
Lately, the supermarket has become somewhat more challenging. Her …

I’m guest posting today over at CodeNameMama. Head over there to check out my post on benevolent dictators (toddlers), unconditional parenting, tantrums and power struggles.
Stay tuned. This is a guest post exchange and CodeNameMama will be featured here with her post on the terrible twos, gentle parenting and the dreaded tantrum.
filed in discipline, parenting, tantrum, toddler

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Welcome to the April Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting advice!
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month we’re writing letters to ask our readers for help with a current parenting issue. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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Parenting Advice? Normally I have plenty of that, and not all of it solicited. Ok, most of it is unsolicited. This isn’t an issue that has come up yet, …

Today I read about how the UN wants to ban smacking. My first thought? If they are powerless to influence world leaders, I’m pretty sure they’ve got no chance of changing family choices behind closed doors. Nonetheless, countries who have chosen to outlaw it include Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, Italy, Israel, Iceland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Hungary, Belgium and Greece. The NSW Committee who examined the current laws opted not to give children the same rights as adults, and smacking (providing it is a reasonable punishment) is still legal.
I’m not …

Welcome to the February Carnival of Natural Parenting: Love and partners!
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month we’re writing about how a co-parent has or has not supported us in our dedication to natural parenting. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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Love and partners: How has a co-parent supported your dedication to natural parenting — or not?
When Riley was born, my relationship with my husband …

I had planned to have a bright, shiny entry for the Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama but got distracted and missed the deadline. I’ll be participating next month, but thought I would write about this month’s theme anyway.
Parenting resolutions. What do you want to do differently this year as a parent? Or what do you want to be the same? What went exceptionally well in 2009, and in what could you use a do-over?

The interesting thing about resolutions is it seems like one …

It’s a controversial parenting style that Alfie Kohn advocates in his book, Unconditional Parenting. Yes, I finally finished the book, thanks primarily to spending a few hours at the hairdresser.
In a lot of ways, it goes against almost every form of parenting advice I’ve ever read previously. And I’ll admit that it takes alot to open your mind enough to be able to absorb the information. The first half of the book is all about the theory behind it, and I’ll admit during that time, I was constantly thinking, but …

One of the comments from Amber on the Success of Smacking to me to thinking about being soft spoken.
My mother was always soft-spoken, and I have always been that way as well. She never really raised her voice to us when we were little. She’s told me a couple of times that she almost wondered at the wisdom of it, given that she thought we were hyper-sensitive to arguments as a result.
Riley seems to be heading that way, even her ‘No! No! No!’ protests are soft. And I don’t think …