This is an article about why Halloween is a good thing. If you love Halloween like me, you’ll appreciate this take on why it’s one of the best holidays of the year. If you hate Halloween like my friend, I hope you will appreciate this perspective.
http://www.positivelyparentingonline.com/article/field-notes—trick-or-treat–edition
Esther Jacobs has no job, pension, or savings account. She lives on a tropical island, and only works a few months per year. She has visited approximately 100 countries and has learned to speak German, French, Spanish, Portuguese in addition to Dutch and English. She also has a basic understanding of Italian, Afrikaans and Papiamentu. As a “survivor” of the Dutch/Belgian Survivor TV series, she now organizes “Survivor Experience” afternoon excursions on the Caribbean island of Curacao. She does not depend on a rich family, nor does she have any other form of financial security. Yet she has traveled over a hundred countries, and has collected $25 million for charity. In the Netherlands, her native country, Esther is most famous for having created the ‘Coins for Care’-project in 2002. Then she turned the charity world upside down by starting the first Dutch donor organization in order to promote transparency. Esther’s book What is Your Excuse? is a European best seller and will soon be available in the U.S.
If there is only one email you ever read from me, please make it be this one.
You may be aware that that for the last 6 months I have hosted a radio program on the I’m Thankful Network called “The Way of the Toddler Hour.” It has been my supreme honor to interview authors, spiritual leaders, inventors, child psychologists and many other guests from all walks of life. Throughout my tenure on the I’m Thankful Network, I made it my intention every week to create intelligent, thought provoking conversations that mattered to the listeners.
Now I am starting a new adventure by taking “The Way of the Toddler Hour” to an internet radio station called Toginet Radio. This will allow listeners to tune in from all over the world (or download to listen later). I am excited, but admittedly trepidatious, about this new direction for my beloved radio show and my life. It would mean the world to me if you would do me a great favor and forward this message to anyone you know who is a parent, knows any parents or has children in their lives.
Starting Tuesday, November 2nd, my sister, Lori Hamilton, and I will begin our radio partnership with an all new show, but with the same title and commitment to life-changing conversations. “The Way of the Toddler Hour” is here to stay. Here is a list of upcoming shows:-
· Who are you and what do you stand for? (November 2nd)
· How to remove the excuses from our lives (November 9th)
· Creative parenting, Autism, Toy Making and more (November 16th, 23rd, and 30th)
· An exploration of the major faith traditions and how they influence our parenting (ALL of December)
· A month of male voices: a teacher of teachers, a story of triumph over tragedy, a sports psychologist and a family therapist (January)
· A month of love: a counselor in grief and loss, a Love and Logic teacher and more (February)
· Dreams, Goddess Cards, Tarot, Psychics and more: Spiritual Crutches or Meaningful Messages? (March)
· Energy Healing Modalities: What are they and what are the options? (April)
In addition to the above, we are doing shows on the soul, the human bio-field (a.k.a. auras), consciousness, the truth or otherwise of reincarnation, radical forgiveness, death from a spiritual perspective, mysticism, vibration, the A to Z of popular spiritual teachers, Who/What/When/Where/Why is God?, cults, creating a personal belief system, politics and spirituality (does God care?), differences in beliefs within the family, karma and dharma, and so much more.
We need your help. Can you forward this email to your friends, colleagues, sons and daughters?
This show is about tools for how we become the qualities we want our children to experience in life.
The show is at 2pm Pacific, 5pm Eastern every Tuesday on www.toginet.com. Podcasts will also be available for download. More information can be found at http://www.letahamilton.com/radio-show or http://toginet.com/shows/thewayofthetoddlerhour.
To be on the mailing list to receive weekly show information and guest descriptions, please email thewayofthetoddler@gmail.com. (We promise not to spam you – just one short email per week with show title and guest bio.)
Leta Hamilton
Author & Presenter
www.thewayofthetoddler.com
www.thewayofthetoddler.com/blog
“The first time I heard the name of this book I knew it would be a success. The topic of modern motherhood is not only an important one, it is something of interest to many people. Leta Hamilton has written about her experiences as the mother of two young boys and she has done it with great humor, honesty and insightfulness. Both mothers and fathers will want to read this book. Rather than stopping at only sharing stories, this book takes the next step. Because the author is on her spiritual journey, she has taken her experiences and translated them into spiritual lessons. She shares what she has learned from her little Zen Masters about loving, judging, being in the now, relationships, and so much more. Even if you have never had human children, like myself, you will find this a thoroughly engaging, entertaining, and inspiring book. I have always admired mothers who try to “do it right” with their children. Now I admire them even more.” Book review by Krysta Gibson of the New Spirit Journal (March 2010)
1. Mission Statement for Motherhood
This is my most popular workshop. It’s very interactive with lots of opportunity for laughter and “ah-ha” moments. Through a series of exercises, I take the group on a journey to clearly identify her core values as a parent and a person and the key qualities she wants to impart to her children. This is a workshop about seeing the forest instead of the trees. At the end of the workshop, the group will have a tangible resource they have co-created to remind them of what matters most on this parenting path. This workshop is ideal for moms groups of all descriptions. If you are interested in finding out more, email me at thewayofthetoddler@gmail.com.
2. D-I-A-P-E-R for Life Strategy (because poop happens)
This workshop is about a 6-step formula for going from crazy to calm no matter the situation. In life, and especially in parenting, things happen that test our patience to the extreme. What does a diaper do? It collects the proverbial poop in a neat little package so that we can clean up the mess, throw it away and carry on with our day. In this workshop, I teach 6 essential steps for us to do the same thing with our lives when things don’t go according to plan. With this formula firmly embedded in one’s consciousness, nothing will ever seem too overwhelming again. And on that note, I need to go change a diaper of my 1-year old baby. I was wondering what that smell was!
3. The Resilience Workshop
These are the 10 essential steps to bouncing back no matter what is going on in your life. From bad hair day to death in the family, life knocks us down from time to time. With these 10 steps there is no excuse for wallowing in despair. For more information contact me at thewayofthetoddler@gmail.com
Whatever your group’s needs, my workshops are designed for mothers of every race, religion or class. They speak to the inherent worth of each and every one of us and will remind each participant of the value she brings to the world. My workshops are about finding inner peace even in the midst of poopy diapers and piles of laundry. With real life tools, strategies and food for thought, these workshops will inspire even the most harried mother. Instead of more “shoulds” or things to add to our parenting “to do” list, I simply let mothers know that peace is possible and show them how it can be done.
To speak to me about dates and availability, please contact me at thewayofthetoddler.com.
http://www.birdsandbeesandkids.com/
http://www.birdsandbeesandkids.com/
Amy Lang has a long history providing sexual health education, primarily as a volunteer, for several non-profit organizations in the Seattle area. She worked directly with patients, providing pregnancy, STD, birth control and sterilization counseling and is also a registered HIV counselor. She has a Masters degree in Applied Behavioral Science from Bastyr University/Leadership Institute of Seattle and is specifically trained in adult education and personal coaching. When her son had questions about his body and its workings, she was surprised to discover that she was uncomfortable talking to him! Spurred by her discomfort, she started Birds + Bees+ Kids to help parents become informed, confident and comfortable talking to their children of any age about sex, love and relationships.
Kim Estes is the co-founder of Parent Education And Child Empowerment (P.E.A.C.E. of Mind). She has worked with parents for over 12 years, educating them on various parenting topics. Since 2006 Kim has worked hard to liberate parents from outdated personal safety tactics and fearful parenting. Through non fearful techniques and easy to apply parenting strategies, she is working to help empower famlies to be safe.
Kathy Slattengren is an internationally recognized parent educator and founder of Priceless Parenting. She teaches parents the skills they need to respond to children’s behavior while still building warm, loving relationships.
Positively Parenting Week 5: Zen-Inspired Motherhood Poems
I have a book that lives in my downstairs bathroom called Zen Poems and Sayings. In short, to the point, poems, these Zen Masters write about what it feels like to live an enlightened existence. Their words inspired me to write my own “Zen” inspired poems about motherhood. I need look no further than my children’s antics for everything these monks seem to be telling me about inner peace. Here are a few of my “Zen Masters in Diapers Poems and Sayings.”
I watch as my baby struggles to take off his sock.
Lifetimes of meaning explained in his relentless attempt to do such a small thing.
Never giving up, he succeeds.
And spends the rest of the afternoon in bare feet.
∞
My baby
Sucking peacefully at my breast
Looking in the distance at I don’t know what
His breaths are deep and steady
The contentment of a thousand wise sages
I admire his world.
∞
The voices of my children playing outside,
“I’m Spiderman!”
Worlds confined to the space of our back yard.
It might as well be the entire universe.
∞
I notice for the first time
I have been thinking of nothing.
It feels liberating to be so blank.
∞
Cars weave in and out
Trying for the fastest route to wherever they are going
Usually, I would join them
But not today
∞
Sitting in traffic
I have time to notice this bridge
And the dead pigeon underneath it.
∞
Yoghurt
Poured out like finger paint on the table
Oh, what a happy baby you are!
Hi, Leta: I respond to your defnition of balance as an inner sense of equilibrium making you know you can do what needs to be done and not feeling overwhelmed by it. It is good to feel that way, but even more wonderful to take note that you’re feeling balanced, even amid the chaos. I have been feeling that way frequently lately. I remember one of my mother’s final notes to a friend, before finding out that she would soon be with us no longer. She wrote: “I am happy, and I know it.” Each side of the sentence adds depth and potency to the other. I hope all is well with you! Love, Emily
Here is the link to my latest article on Positively Parenting about learning how to mix in some down time with all that go, go, go… We have such a compolsion to always be DOING, it can take practice to intentionally have some down time. However, doing that is vitally important to our mental and emotional well-being. Here are some things that I “do” to make sure I am not always “doing.” Get it?
http://www.positivelyparentingonline.com/article/busy-mom-and-hum-drum-days
Starting Tuesday, November 2nd at 2pm Pacific, 5pm Eastern, “The Way of the Toddler Hour” will be on Toginet Radio: Radio with a Cutting Edge. Listen live and download podcasts from www.toginet.com.
Our first show will be about clarifying who you are and what you stand for. I will be joined by sister and cohost, Lori Hamilton.
Upcoming topics are:
The only constant in life is change. Who said that? Somebody famous, I’m sure. For the life of a mother, this is a mantra. Every day is a mixed bag of “busy, busy, busy” or “ho-hum.” When my oldest two were 3 and 1 and I was a full-fledged stay at home mom, the monotony of poopy diapers, piles of laundry and plans for dinner definitely took their toll. Around the time of my (now) middle child’s first birthday, I was having an existential crisis of “Is this all there is to life?” Alas, the winds of change were set to gale force when we found out we were pregnant with baby number three and moved from an apartment to a house in the suburbs. With the introduction of school into our lives, some days I feel downright knocked over by the speed at which life moves.
It goes without saying that there is always something to do. It takes discipline not to do all the things you could or should be doing. Balance is a quality I treasure. I have worked diligently to experience it, albeit fleetingly. With this in mind, I take stock of each of my days and grab hold of opportunities to sit on my couch in quiet contemplation, to read or to write in my journal. Yesterday was a day like that – a day where I put off the laundry and took leftovers out of the freezer. The trees outside my window are so beautiful they beg to be looked at and appreciated, truly appreciated, every once in awhile.
Today is a different kettle of fish altogether. I am washing the towels for the homeless men staying at our church this month. They had to be picked up, washed and returned. Appointments, phone calls, domestic duties and more fill today. It’s 1:30pm and I haven’t had time to take a shower yet. This is a day where I wake up in the morning and wonder, “How will it all fit together? How will I make it all happen?” I have to stop and breath, reminding myself that it will all pan out somehow and that worrying about it will not solve anything. I press on, accomplishing each task in turn. It will be ok.
Looking at the clock is such an addictive habit, especially on busy days like these. If I learn now how to stay present even when there are so many things to do, I will be all the better prepared to handle life when it becomes really interesting – when I have three school aged boys each in a different activity all overlapping with homework and all the other things that come with school life. I write this as my baby sleeps on the couch beside me. I may be stinky, but I do have this quiet in which to write. I will flow from this to the next thing (shower hopefully before a phone appointment) and keep my eye on the prize. The prize, for me, is balance, which I define as an inner state of equilibrium that makes me feel that I can handle everything on my metaphorical life-plate, that nothing is too overwhelming.
Having enough conscious awareness to know when I am being presented an opportunity to sit on my couch for 10 minutes and acting on that opportunity is the kind of awareness I am going for in the overall scheme of things. It comes when I make the time to wake up each morning and have time to myself before anyone else wakes up. It comes when I go jogging and make exercise a priority in my life. It comes when I stop looking at the clock (or checking my emails) and just finish the task at hand. All of these things take practice and discipline. Luckily, I have the rest of my life to get it right.