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When our children encounter difficulties, when they run into brick walls or have a problem that needs to be solved, we need to meet them where they are, help them grow with what they already have in a way that they can.
A tale of two trees. Both serving specific purposes. One providing beauty and respite from the ugliness of the world, greeting those who visit our home with a cheery disposition and pink petals waving. The other doing its part for the universe as well. Acting as shelter to our beloved chickadees bringing sweet music to our backyard. A tale of two very different trees; neither more useful or useless. Neither one better than the other. Both immensely loved.
It’s lists season. Naughty. Nice. The Year Behind. The Year Ahead. Ever a list maker, Yoga Instructor Ginny Hamilton shifts focus from “doing” to “being,” in this month’s Off the Mat: Reflections on the Practice of Parenting.
Hilltown Families’ contributing writer, Ginny Hamilton, tends to look on the bright side – though she finds beauty, peace, and hope shine all the more in the darkness. In this month’s “Off the Mat: Reflections on the Practice of Parenting,” Ginny explores finding light in darkness and how letting our own light shine helps others do the same.
“My daughter only has one set of grandparents,” writes Logan in her column this month. “And while my husband’s mom and dad love her dearly, they are both in their 90’s and not in any position to be truly involved in her life. I used to lament this. Worrying that somehow she was missing out on that grandparent kind of unconditional love that is such a blessing. But watching my son interact with my daughter, I have come to realize it doesn’t matter WHO that kind of love comes from, just that it exists.”
To My Son on Your College Graduation
“But without that wealth of experience, my children won’t know what they are worth. They won’t know of their courage. They won’t know they have the moxie to steam-engine forward. So, unfortunately for this mom-who-needs-to-fix, those kids of mine will need to proverbially ‘fall down seven times and stand up eight’ and I cannot nor should not take those valuable moments from them.” – Read more from Logan this month in “Hindsight Parenting.”
The Gift of Myself I do not have the ability to support my children monetarily. I admit that for a long time that could sometimes get me down, especially during the holidays. There are so many things that I wish I could get, buy and do for my kids; cars and college tuition, toys and tech, a modern sleek house they could be proud to bring their friends to, well-needed vacations and… Read More
Constructive criticism is an oxymoron. In “Off the Mat: Reflections on the Practice of Parenting” this month, Hilltown Families contributing writer & yoga instructor Ginny Hamilton, shares her Autumn practice, born out of the nitpicking day to day arguments of a loving marriage.
Logan has always been honest about her journey as a parent. This month in her column, “Hindsight Parenting,” she continues to share the struggles and growth she endures on this journey of parenthood, an especially difficult journey this year as her son experiences the consequences of his choices. Logan looks at what she sees as her contribution as an over-controlling parent, putting on her brave face and sharing what wisdom she can dig up from the mire and muck of an horrendous year.
Parenting. What other experience in the world can one human being undergo all the highs and the lows that life has to offer all in one month? In one day?! Logan share her “reel and fly” this past year as she parents three children, ranging from college to kindergarten.
In this edition of “Hindsight Parenting,” Logan shares with us a great story of sensitive souls connecting. It’s a story of a mother and daughter and how we should embrace our sensitivity and never hide it or feel ashamed by it.
Again life and its schedules, coping mechanisms and rituals can bring about a certain degree of detachment from the self. In Logan’s columns she applies the brakes and claiming your life. It’s a powerful idea but an achievable goal. Think ‘bubble bath’ for a start. Maybe you’ll laugh but maybe you’ll say ‘why not?’ Read on and see how you can treat yourself and be yourself in the process.
There’s this great quote attributed to Theodore Roosevelt that says, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”… very wise wonderful words for parents indeed. When our children encounter difficulties, when they run into brick walls or have a problem that needs to be solved, we need to meet them where they are, help them grow with what they already have in a way that they can. This month in “Hindsight Parenting,” Logan shares her challenge and strategy to meet your daughter where she is with her separation anxiety as she ventures off to kindergarten.
Relationships… We often find ourselves in them and then they are so much work! Relationships with our children and spouses…they all require a lot of effort on a regular basis. They can be a roller coaster ride, but with an incredible return on investment. In “Hindsight Parenting: Raising Kids the Second Time Around,” Logan reflects on these relationships and how they may be worth the equal effort.
Do you want your children to live their dreams? Inspire them to do so by living your own! This week in “Hindsight Parenting: Raising Kids the Second Time Around,” Logan steps out or “mommy” and into “Logan,” setting an example for her young daughter and drawing pride from her college aged son.
Logan’s newest post to her column, “Hindsight Parenting,” is up! When is comes to parenting her young daughter, Logan has been able to apply the hindsight of parenting two teen boys. But now that her boys are grown up, how can she apply hindsight to parenting them as adults? Read the three parenting truths she has come to know and now applies to parenting her adult son…
Has your child ever told you that they prefer their other parent over you? This week in “Hindsight Parenting,” Logan tells how her daughter prefers her daddy over her, the hurt that ensues, and the realization that while daddy might be more fun, mommy is loved too, in a different way.
Hindsight helps Logan find ways to be honest with her daughter about anger, quarrels and love this month in “Hindsight Parenting: Raising Kids the Second Time Around.”
This week in “Hindsight Parenting,” Logan looks back on a funny yet not-so-funny incident when she had to nurse one of her sons back to wellness. Fast forward to age 20 and nurse nightengale is no longer needed…
This week in “Hindsight Parenting,” Logan shares the battle of Whining Monster vs. Angry Monster. And guess who one thanks to the help of music and a song…
What are the nuances of this complicated thing called love? On the heels of Valentine’s Day, Logan shares 20 ideas of love this week in her column, “Hindsight Parenting: Raising Kids the Second Time Around.”
“The only shame I felt was how very long I allowed myself to believe that the only kind of worthy women are the social butterflies of the world,” writes Logan this week in her column, “Hindsight Parenting.” This week she shares how being “mother and daughter extraordinaire” tend to be “mother and daughter solitaire” for her and her daughter… and that’s okay!
This week in “Hindsight Parenting,” Logan shares the top five most misused words and phrases by preschoolers…
“Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.” This is a quote Logan shares this month in “Hindsight Parenting,” a quote that illustrates what she learned the first time around as a parent of now teen boys and how she’s changing her ways the second time around with her young daughter…
The second time around as a parent, Logan is choosing for a simple celebration for her four year old rather than the ginormous, thematic, disco-ball-spinnin’ parties she felt obligated to trump each year the first time around as a parent… Read about it this month in her bi-monthly column, “Hindsight Parenting: Raising Kids the Second Time Around.”
Slowing Down—A Speedy Hindsight Lesson I quite often malign the fact that I am a 44 year old woman with a three year old. It isn’t just that I am not as spry as I was when in my twenties or thirties, it is the fatigue from my blasted heart condition, it is the foggy brain from the medicine I take, it is the aches and the pains that attach themselves to… Read More
Spontaneity Spontaneity— def. “The state or quality of being spontaneous.” Control— def. “The situation of restraint.” Two words that are completely and utterly opposite in nature. I would have to admit that the old mom—the one I was or the one I am trying to shake—was the latter, always and forever the latter. Trying to control every stinkin’ situation that came or could come our way. To me, back then…maybe a teeny… Read More
Preparing for Summer I used to hate summer. You heard me. H.A.T.E. While most educators count down the days until the end of the school year, my dread grows the closer the end of June comes. No, no…I have no aversion to heat, (at least not the kind of heat we get here in upstate NY. Now Florida’s heat…blech!). No, no it isn’t that it is because it is skimpy clothes and… Read More
I Am On Your Side Mother’s Day has come and gone and I of course have been reflective. Yes. I have been thinking. I have been thinking about those mommies from Newtown. I have been thinking of mommies of those injured or killed in the Boston bombings. I have been thinking of moms who are no longer part of their children’s lives directly, but instead have been replaced by an addiction to… Read More
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