Once our oldest son turned four, there was a birthday party to attend most every Saturday. It’s the norm around here (and probably where you are too – this trend has more to do with the times than geography) to host the entire preschool class or everyone on the kindergarten roster.
It’s fun but can also be quite overwhelming, whether you’re the hostess going over every detail or the guest worrying about what to buy the classmate who already has everything.
There …

I have always been a bit of a doer. That is neither a good nor bad thing, it just is. I need to keep busy and stimulated, and subsequently always have lots on the go.
Luckily, my career stemmed from my passions and always included a lot of travel. I have worked as a journalist in radio, print and TV; I’ve managed musicians, and did their marketing and publicity. I’ve promoted movies at big film festivals and hung out with stars …

Welcome back to our Simplicity Parenting book study.  This week, one of my personal favorite chapters!  I hope you enjoyed it, too.  We will be discussing Environment.  Our Stuff.  And Toys.
How much stuff is too much?  What kind of environment is most healthy?  What environment is most conducive to nurturing imagination or to a giving spirit?
This chapter discusses the “mountain of toys” that is so common in bedrooms and toy boxes everywhere, and the implications this phenomenon has on developing …

“When you act to limit what you don’t want for your family, you clarify what you really do need, what is important to you.  Your values clarify.  Simplification is a path of self-definition for the family.
It is quieter when the insistent noise of popular culture, competition, and consumerism are turned down several notches.  Just as a singer has to shut out ambient noises to hear her own voice, simplification allows a family to “tune in” to their values, to what …

There is still room for interested parents and professionals to enroll in our Distance Learning Group Leader Training starting September 15th.
Would you like to guide others in your community through the process of simplifying parenting and protecting childhood?
The Simplicity Parenting© Group Leader training was started in the Winter of 2010 in an effort to help families strengthen and re-orient individual family values that can often become crowded out in the pace of contemporary life.
Our Distance Learning Training will consist of …

When you go swimming at our community pool, you get a nice, very bright, orange bracelet to wear that proves you paid.  Children under a certain age don’t have to wear these bracelets, which to some, as we learned the other day, just won’t do.  After returning home from the pool, Coco talked on and on about the bracelets to Sean, who had taken her swimming, and because I was knee deep in making dinner.  The bracelet conversation continued through …

As long as I can remember, having people over for dinner always meant trying new recipes, or at least making something complicated that I already knew how to make.  I’m not sure why that is the case.  Even something “easy” like quiche, I would make it more complicated by putting in ingredients like sliced potatoes and asparagus that had to be cooked and sliced and diced before going into the quiche.  And as far as the new recipes were concerned, …

One of the root causes of overwhelm and stress in our daily lives boils down to believing that everything must be done exceptionally, if not perfectly.  Parents often are their own worst critics and judges – aren’t we?  The expectations you have of yourself are typically far greater than what others would ever put on your shoulders.
This week let’s focus on becoming The Sustainable Parent! Expecting perfection is not on the list.
Whether you’re a mom with young children, tweens, …

A community of like-minded parents have come together to discuss Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne on the natural lifestyle blog Clean.
Through a weekly blog post about the current chapter in the book, readers discuss their struggles and inspiration by posting comments to the blog.
An extension of the discussion is happening through Clean’s Simplicity Parenting group on Facebook as well.
The book club began on April 19th. Currently over 100 parents are participating through Facebook and many more through the main …

The more we reflect on our core values as parents, the more we will want to find better options for our children and their education. This movie, “Waiting For Superman” is in theaters now. Director/Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, certainly provides us with food for thought even if you have chosen to homeschool or if your child attends a private school – what about the majority who don’t have these options available to them?

“Race to Nowhere” directly speaks about the …