I recently had the opportunity to listen to Kim John Payne speak at the Nelson Waldorf School in British Columbia. He has such an engaging, entertaining manner that made all of the attendees completely enjoy themselves. I’ve written a summary of his talk on my teaching blog.

His ideas about parenting make complete sense and I love how he related them to a view of child development that I am so familiar with. I haven’t read his books myself, but they have moved to the top of my long list of suggested reading.

Simplicity Parenting is a book that has been out for a little over a year and it has attracted a lot of attention. The basic premise is that parenting our children is easier and our children are better cared for when their lives are less full. We need to limit our children’s activities and choices so we have more time to connect as a family. As a busy Waldorf teacher and parent of three children, this concept really speaks to me.

His next book, which was the subject of the workshop I attended, is titled The Soul of Discipline and it will be released soon.

Recently our school had a teacher come speak about Simplicity Parenting. It was the most inspiring talk I’ve been to in a long time.

She spoke about how important it is to remain connected to your kids through childhood, adolescence and beyond. She reminded me that even when my child thinks that the most important thing in the world is her peer group, she is really looking to me to help mold her interactions with that group.

The real gist of the talk, though, was the fact that maintaining this connection is not easy to do in today’s very busy world. If we can manage to simplify our family’s lives staying connected will be much easier. She gave a few tips that seem absolutely essential.

• Make family mealtimes sacrosanct. Let nothing interfere with eating one meal per day together.
• Limit after-school activities. Even one afternoon per week can be stressful.
• Limit media and check cell phones at the front door.

We need to recognize that our children (especially teens) need their friends, but they need their parents more.

She recommended a book that I ran home and ordered right away.

Gordon Neufeld’s book titled Hold On to Your Kids is all about why it is so important that you remain the most important person in your child’s life. He gives advice based on experience and lets us know that he understands why parenting is so difficult today.

I can’t recommend this book enough for parents of teens.

Inspired by my interest in keeping an eye on some of the girl dynamics that happen in my own classroom (as well as my children’s), I picked up Queen Bees and Wannabees by Rosalind Wiseman

I’d read the book before and remembered it to be pretty on target when it comes to identifying the roles that girls can play with their peers at school. And though I’m finding it to be quite relevant in framing my own experience in school, I sometimes wonder if Wiseman’s observations describe my own daughter’s and students’ experiences. Is it true that our girls are as mean as some of the girls described in the book?

In the end I think that though the behaviors may be less extreme, the roles and challenging situations of our girls are quite similar to the ones described in the book. So, even though I would say the book is a bit alarmist, it is a good wake-up call to pay attention to the issues that girls today are facing. Definitely worth a read.

Recently I was housesitting for a friend. One of the benefits of staying in someone else’s house is that I was able to browse the bookshelves and stay long enough to actually read one of her books.

Everyday Blessings by Myla and John Kabat-Zinn was sitting on my friend’s nightstand, so I knew it must be timely and relevant. I carefully marked her place and started reading myself.

I loved this book. It is about parenting, but it is about so much more than that, too. It is about remaining mindful and aware throughout our lives, in our interactions with our children, our interactions with other adults, even in menial tasks like washing dishes.

The very tone of the book inspired me to be more thoughtful and contemplative and I enjoyed every moment. I recommend it highly!