One of the foundations of RIE®- authenticity- is something that can sound deceptively simple: We are modeling authenticity. Be authentic. Authentic parents = authentic children When we speak to a child, what does authenticity sound like? It doesn’t mean speaking…
Good news! Safe toddlers express themselves loudly and insistently. AKA – tantrum. And tantrums are exhausting for the whole family. Our children will always have more time and energy than we do. So it makes sense we would want to…
A Plea to Parents – Please stop capping naps, controlling wake windows, and waking babies to feed them at night (unless your pediatrician has advised it due to low weight, growth issues, or other reasons aligned with medical recommendations). This…
The Importance of Fathers: Why Children Need Two Kinds of Love Modern parenting often tells moms and dads to love in the same way—comfort, nurture, protect. But neuroscience and anthropology suggest something different: a child’s brain is wired for two…
If you’re here, you’re likely exhausted. Maybe you’ve heard it all: “Just let them cry. They’ll figure it out. Don’t go in. Don’t pick up. Don’t cave.” For many parents, the traditional “Cry It Out” sleep training method feels deeply…
Johnathan Haidt Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. In 2019 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and…
Introduction: The Shocking Surgeon General Warning Last year’s U.S. Surgeon General warning about parenting was both hilarious and tragic to me. Hilarious because my peer group—some of the pioneers of conscious, intentional parenting—already knew that raising a fully developed human…
Meeting Our Parenting Guilt with Compassion Parenting inevitably comes with moments of guilt—it’s a natural byproduct of caring deeply and wanting to do right by our children. Because we love so fiercely, we second-guess, reflect, and sometimes carry the weight…
Life stress, in its many forms, is unavoidable. How do we prepare ourselves and our children? By providing the consistency of regulatory scaffolding and what I call co-regulation in motion. Definition of “regulatory scaffolding – the developmental process by…
Discord is built into the human experience and is hardwired into our children’s development. This ongoing parental dance of attunement and misattunement, meeting our child’s needs and denying some wants, offers many opportunities for developing resilience throughout development. Whenever we…