We have arrived. The age of ‘no’ is upon us. I knew it was only a matter of time. Riley is far too persistent and too stubborn for it to pass us by, no matter how easy going she is.
I won’t lie. It’s not particularly pleasant. There is defiance, there is even hitting. And there is just plain melt downs aplenty for no good reason. Example: losing the plot because her dad was helping her with play-doh. Apparently him using the rolling pin was an assault on her empire. It …

It’s amazing how hard it is to say ‘I’m proud’ or ‘I’m good’ or even ‘I’m great’ without qualifying it in some way. As though, if I admit to it the universe will strike me down for my presumption. And if I don’t I risk the ridicule of others for being arrogant.
And while humility, being down to earth and being unassuming are prized personality traits, confidence, self-assuredness and self-belief are often thrown into the category of delusions of grandeur.
And it doesn’t just impact things on a grand scale – it …

This is for the non-Australians. Who ask, what is a goog? Is it a word? Is it made up? And what kind of nickname is it anyway?
Goog is slang in Australia for egg. As some of you have pointed out, why on earth would you need a slang word for egg – egg is after all shorter than goog. One of those grand mysteries of language. I have no idea. Although for some reason googy is a child’s word for egg – and googy or goog has made it’s way …

It is all kinds of challenging to attempt any renovation with a toddler. Other than brief napping periods (oh so brief!) you need at least one person to run interference. Because as delightful as it is that they just want to be a part of absolutely everything, you can’t really let them do the vast majority of things and even ‘helping’ is very limited – particularly when you’re dealing with the final gloss coat on a couple of doors.
But I have developed just a few strategies -
1. Helping
Helping is great, …

The day has arrived (a lot quicker than I thought it would). Tomorrow I go off to check that all my lady parts are in good working order. I’m still not sure what I’m hoping for. Would I like them to say nothing is wrong, everything is fine, trying to get pregnant just takes time? Or would I like them to say there’s a reason why you haven’t conceived? Both scenarios would be comforting in a small way I think.
I had a great time with Riley today. In the morning …

I believe I’ve gone through the five stages of grief during the last six months of trying to conceive:
Denial every month when I convince myself that I am actually pregnant or when I try to convince myself that my period is implantation bleeding.
Anger at myself, at Google, at complaining pregnant people (entirely irrational of course I was a complaining pregnant person)

Bargaining Last month I attempted to get pregnant by tricking the universe. Apparently the universe doesn’t fall for such shenanigans. What an outrage! Which goes back to anger again.
Depression On …

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 …

filed in Riley, photos, toddler

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I thought it would be a brilliant plan to make a dent in the painting. Long weekend. Perfect time to do projects around the house – or so hardware store advertising would have me believe. Obviously the marketing geniuses for those advertising campaigns don’t have toddlers.
A sweet little bundle who looks up at you with her big eyes when you are in the middle of cutting in and says ‘Mummy! To-urn! Pu-lease’. Very difficult to resist. Also very difficult to impress on her that the paint brush doesn’t need to …

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 …