Apologies aren’t enough (from parents)

In my post, Apologizing — a skill of a masterful parent, I wrote about the importance of parents making apologies to their children. I emphasized that apologizing helped parents “cultivate a long-term, respect-based relationship with our children,” in...

Apologizing — a skill of a masterful parent

“Wait!” you cry. How can a “master parent” be someone who needs to apologize? Doesn’t being a “master” imply that mistakes aren’t made and moments of weakness are met with awesome self-control? If “mastery”...

Judging parents and kids

Recently I was in the gym locker room cleaning up after my Wednesday workout. A mother and her son were there also. The mom was speaking at her son in a critical way as if he himself was a problem for her. Her tone was harsh — think “barking” drill...

Children need imperfect parents

When my mom died, I was 21. At her memorial service, many of the people I spoke to told me that I reminded them of my mom in many good ways. I was deeply touched to be considered so similar to this amazing woman. As the decades have passed since this time, however,...

Forgiveness…for we the parents

This morning I cried. Sorrow for not being the mama I can be. Sadness for not putting joy into my daughter’s morning like I could have. Heartache at my own short-comings and lack of greater awareness. In all honesty, I hadn’t done anything horrible or...

Anger and parenting

Welcome to the July 2013 Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival: Anger This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival hosted by Authentic Parenting and Living Peacefully with Children. This month our participants have written about...