About the Author
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I’m the mother of two children, a boy born in 2004 and a girl born in 2007.
- I believe firmly in attachment parenting and find that this approach is very intuitive to me. This means that I breastfeed, babywear, and co-sleep. I do not spank or let my children “cry it out”.
- I am an entrepreneur. I became my own boss after my son was born to have more flexibility to spend time with family. My husband is a stay-at-home dad currently. He stayed at home with our oldest between when I went back to work and when he started preschool and he is now staying at home with our youngest and will stay with her until she goes to preschool.
- I am not religious and will not be raising my children in a religion.
- I care about the environment and try to make choices in parenting and life with the environment in mind.
- I enjoy nature and the outdoors and want my children to spend a lot of time outdoors being physically active too.
- I am considering doing a PhD in corporate social responsibility and consider issues related to consumer ethics when deciding which products to buy for my family.
- I respect my children. I treat them with the same respect as adults and do not belittle them.
- I believe in diversity. I want my children to be exposed to people from different cultures, different generations, different sexual orientations, and different levels of income.
- I read to my children. I believe that books can open up new worlds. Most of my reading right now is parenting books, but at least I can help my children to escape into a good story even if I don’t have time myself.
- I am not a martyr. I know that I need some time to myself to recharge. I enjoy coffee breaks while at work. I enjoy participating in team sports. I am addicted to a few TV shows and like unwinding on-line.
Want to get in touch? You can e-mail me at phdinparenting at gmail dot com.
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice site! I’m new at blogging and I appreciate your comment and respect your point of view. Thanks for visitng my site!
~Dr. Heather Prenger (www.momgoinggreen.wordpress.com)
What a great blog! Thanks for leaving a comment on mine and letting me know you’re out here. I’ll be reading!
A very thoughtful blog. I have put you on my blog roll. Love to hear from you some time over at WoLFi TaLEs.
Very cool. Thanks for visiting us.
I also have a boy born 2004 and a girl born 2007.
I’m having a look around too…. and also have a boy born in 2004 and a girl in 2007 (-; Jessica
Found my way here via the Parenting Beyond Belief blog, ‘Meming of Life’.
Great to see your free thinking thoughts and lactivism.
Earlier I was at the ‘Raising Three Thinkers’ blog and smiled when I read:
“No one will ever be able to convince me that they are a real humanist while they are feeding their baby a bottle of formula or letting them cry it out.”
hello there! (can’t find your name!)
how sweet to find your blog. we have much in common. would you be willing to add us to your list of recommended sites?
http://www.naturalparentingcenter.com
http://www.feeleez.com
i am a full-time mom, working in the evenings when sweet babies are sleeping.. i have 3.5 year old and 6 month old, background in environmental education and teaching. now i’m social entrepreneur focused on natural parenting.
so delighted to share this path with you.
looking forward to more connection.
love
kris
Thanks for your comments at BabyShrink. I certainly do appreciate your activism in doing what is best for the development of your children. I believe that is what we all want, right?
But my readers ask for scientifically-supported parenting information, and I think that is where we diverge (even though the divergence is really not likely much at all, in the real-world application).
If your readers want to come see the discussion, come on over and visit us at http://www.BabyShrink.com.
Aloha!
@ Dr. Heather – Thank you for your comment. I’m not sure if you read the About This Blog post (http://phdinparenting.com/about-this-blog/) or Is Parenting an Art or a Science? (http://phdinparenting.com/2008/05/26/is-parenting-an-art-or-a-science/), but if you had you would see that I do incorporate scientifically supported information where it is available and conclusive, but not all of how we parent can be supported by science. Much of it is intuition and trial and error.
With regards to your readers asking for scientifically-supported parenting information – that’s great! However, when I read through your site, I had trouble finding any links to scientific sources. When I write here about science, I try to provide links so that people can comment intelligently on the science if they wish to. I have been engaged in some interesting discussions with some of my readers on the interpretation of scientific results and find it very rewarding. I’d certainly be interested in learning more about what your sources are and having discussions with you about the conclusions that you have come to based on that science.
Hi Annie,
The purpose of BabyShrink is to provide common-sense, scientifically based parenting support and information. I do provide links to source literature when I think it is appropriate — and when the audience won’t be bored out of their minds by it.
My readers come to me for quick and fast information, and most of them don’t have time to go and do the source reading — that makes you one of the few who is willing and has the interest! And I think that is terrific.
The reason I made the comment about your sources is that they seem to come primarily from Dr. Sears and his approach. While I think that’s totally fine, I do think it’s important to let readers know that some of the conclusions drawn at times (maybe not by you, but by other Attachment Parenting sources) have at times misunderstood “scientific information” and used it to support controversial and unsupported claims, such as the notion that NOT adhering to AP practices has resulted in the increase in “Reactive Attachment Disorder”. These kinds of claims unnecessarily add fuel to the “whose parenting is best” debate, and really scare and upset people, since it is simply not true.
Again, I haven’t yet seen you support anything along those lines, and I do think that the practical application of your approach and mine are probably very similar, at the end of the day. I just think it’s important for readers to understand that there’s not really a comprehensive and unified theory to the “Attachment Approach” that is fully supported by the scientific literature, and accepted by the related scientific disciplines (pediatrics, developmental science, psychology, etc.) Perhaps one day there will be, but not at this time.
Aloha!
@Dr Heather – I’m not sure what you’re looking for with regards to a comprehensive and unified theory to the “Attachment Approach”, but this link provides some excellent scientific, historical, physiological, psychological and anthropological information on attachment and natural parenting:
http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/ep05102183.pdf
Great blog! Thanks!
hi phd
thought i’d show my “face” elsewhere.
i just reread your ‘about the author’ section. and it was interesting to note that our values are aligned almost exactly, in every point you make about yourself. from religion to the environment to diversity to entrepreneurship to the outdoors, etc. (the only thing missing for me was the importance of the arts) only two things diverge: i only have one child (born in 2008) and our ideas related to ferber (but you are clearly aware of this difference by now)
an interesting side note after all the debate that has gone on.
still love your site and your commitment to making this world a better place!
sincerely and respectfully,
dz.
Hi, I am totally on board with promoting and equipping parents to ENGAGE with their children! My passion lead me to develop ww.ProductiveParenting.com. A place to receive simple daily suggestions of creative ways for parents to connect with infant to five year old children. Your blog excites me as it is yet another source of encouragement and inspiration for parents to be the strong source of love, security, and guidance that our children need and deserve!
LOVE your blog!!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
I found you on Twitter and was intrigued by one of your tweets so I came to your blog.
I am soooo excited to find you. Your “about the author” tells me we have a lot in common.
I quit my job to be at home with my son and I am now starting an online business. I have been trying different avenues and found that following my passion…my son’s health and happiness…is where I want to put my energies so that is what my current business path is concentrating on. I am passionate about educating parents so they can make informed decisions about their children’s health.
I am really looking forward to searching through your blog and I hope to one day qualify for your list of students.
You can find me at BabiesHealthNaturally.com – I hope you come visit and give me your opinion. It’s a very new blog so I am open to constructive criticism.
Everyone’s Invited!
Thank you for this wonderful blog.
I had visited your site a while back, when you first started it… Then I kind of drifted off and just ‘re-found’ you today! I’m so glad I did, and I’m so happy to read all of the useful information on this site. Keep up the amazing posts!
Hi! I’ve been a fb fan & I think we’re twitter-pated and I’ve been reading your blog for a while, yet somehow I am clueless enough not to realize how similar in age our children are. My twins are 2004 babies and juicy baby genius is a 2007 model. The oldest was born in 2002, and that makes him so old!
It’s good to get to know you!
I’m confused.
Do you consider yourself at the PhD level in parenting because you have two kids who under the age of 6? Or do you consider yourself in the process of getting to the PhD level? (I understand that you aren’t in an academic course of study). My apologies if you address this on the blog and I simply haven’t seen it.
My blog is called PhD in Parenting, which is a play on words (I don’t really have a PhD in Parenting…nor does anyone that I know of!). I chose that name because I approach the topic of parenting the way others may approach a PhD. I have spent some time steeped in literature written by others. I have analyzed different theories. I have done some of my own research and experimentation. I learned in my many years in a classroom that I need to take notes and explain things to others before I can truly master them myself. My hope was that by writing about parenting issues, I would become a better parent myself and maybe help out others along the way.
Amazing. Reading “About the Author” it was, for the most part, like reading a description of myself. You have a dedicated reader in me from this day forward…
Anna
I’ve been reading for a while, and thought I’d finally comment. I am alone in a sea of friends and family who do not believe in parenting the way I do, so I am happy to find mommies like you. Some may say that virtual relationships aren’t real, but please know that you are helping and providing support to a mom who needs it!
Now if I could just get some advice on this Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, etc. issue. It’s maddening.
What a beautiful family and a good mom of kids !
Cheers,