Welcome to the June 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting in Theory vs. in Reality This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants are sharing how their ideas and methods of parenting have changed. *** The surprises…
Waldorf education
The end of poetry
The repetition of the word “work” bothered me today when I observed my daughter at her Montessori daycare. My older son went to Waldorf school, and even if the two approaches share an appreciation for real-world duties and chores, Waldorf education comes from the perspective that childhood is for play, exploration, unfolding. Not for doing…
How we see what we see
Tonight we held a Waldorf-inspired Lantern Walk for the coop group I’ve been involved in. It was our first social event at the new house. The magic of starting the walk at dusk and ending in darkness, with a circle of friends holding light in their hands, is something I’m grateful my children have a…
What other people tell you about your children
“She’s amazing,” my daughter’s daycare provider said, not a gushing punctuated by an exclamation point but a simple, heartfelt declaration. My heart warmed. I wasn’t looking for praise. Mostly I was relieved that little AJ must have had a good day, her first day of full-day childcare. I mean, how could someone call her amazing…
The transition begins: Waldorf to public school
Just how many different people can I be in my head in one day? Well, at least two solid positions are staking claim to my mental landscape. One is incredibly sad that yesterday was my son’s last day at his Waldorf school, and the other is very excited for our family to become part of…
The 12 days of spring break
On all twelve days of Spring Break, Mother Nature gave to me: lots of pollen falling from trees. There were only supposed to be ten days. And they were going to be full of activities we don’t have the time or energy to do when school is in session. But then there was pollen. So…
Advent Garden: focusing on beauty
When I walked into the Advent Garden room holding my son’s hand, I felt a rush of senses. The smell of fresh evergreens instantly transported me into a magical wintertime. I felt the profound calm of the darkened room, lit only by one candle in the middle of the spiral of greens and a few candles…
At the pump: credit or debit?
On the night my daughter turns just four months old, why did I just spend 15 minutes to pump three ounces of breastmilk? On one hand, I know this is a full month later than most working moms have already gone back to the office. By now, they are pros, with freezers stocked with milk…
Gluten-free, Dairy-free Pumpkin Quick Bread
“Gluten-free food at Waldorf school” is something of an oxymoron; those places love their wheat! My son brings his own bread and muffins for snack to replace the homemade, whole wheat organic snacks the students and teachers make in the classroom. Last night my husband said to some friends of the boy’s school and his…
Grades are not the thing — musings on (Waldorf) education
There it was in this morning’s Washington Post: the same argument against GPAs and SAT scores as a predictor of success that longtime Waldorf educator Jack Petrash had discussed last week at a talk at Potomac Crescent Waldorf School. In his piece in the Outlook section, “To get the real star students, colleges should look…
(Parental) craziness at the zoo
I witnessed some unfamiliar and disturbing behavior yesterday at the zoo. I’m not talking about the animals. So much whining, taunting, complaining, aggression, and general crankiness. I’m not talking about children. Some of the most pissy parents were out in force at the National Zoo yesterday, the most gorgeous Columbus Day ever (when arriving after…
Preschooler’s first movie: Babies
Although we are not media-free, I’ve avoided full-length feature films and had not considered taking my son to a movie before the age of six, at least. It just seems like way too much stimulation, not to mention the whole Waldorf thing about media stifling kids’ imaginations. But when I saw the trailer for the…
Food for the animals?
Today I went to a zoo I hadn’t been to before, and I’m not sure what to think about it. Having yesterday been to the (free) National Zoo — where signs all over tell you the animals are on a planned diet and please don’t feed them — I was surprised that when I was…
I sewed! It’s a miracle!
While cleaning out a closet in the midst of the current series of snowstorms, I came across some felted wool that I cut out to make a little person as my last project in last year’s Waldorf school Parent-Child class. Now, I might have made my son a Halloween costume, but I’m not one of…
Waldorf School Advent Garden
I just wrote this post at my column on the Washington Times Communities. The main idea is that I found this simple ceremony of children lighting candles and walking through a spiral of fresh evergreens to be profoundly moving. It’s late, and I don’t know why the photo of the apple candle wasn’t loading to…
TV Blues
Last month PBS Kids hosted a lovely event for us DC Metro Mom bloggers. I ought to have posted something about it, but it was kind of culture shock for me, and I didn’t want to write and sound ungrateful. Before the event, I didn’t know anything about Super Why or any shows for preschoolers….
Birthday happenings
Our birthday celebration this year was to have a bunch of friends over just to play on a Monday morning. It was a little too crowded (too cold to go outside), but it was nice. I did get balloons, but all the food was pretty natural/low-processed — fruit, kale chips (baked kale), rice pasta with…
Little Mouth Speaks – a lot! A letter to my loquacious toddler
Today was the first day I’d had any childcare in two weeks. There was snow, then a fever, then my boy’s dad got sick and needed tending. Today’s four hours of babysitting went fast, but when they were over, I had a supremely lovely time with my son. It was a chilly rainy day, and…
Gluten-Free Rolls (low-sugar muffins with nut flour)
At our Waldorf school’s Parent-Child class, the daily snack kids make is whole wheat rolls, which are eaten with freshly churned (shaken in a jar with marbles) butter. When the rolls come out of the oven and we sit down to give “blessings on the meal,” fresh organic apples are cut as well. The teacher…
Gluten-Free (Low)Sugar Cookies
My camera battery died before the cookies came out of the oven, but here are a few of our successful baking experience making cookies to take to our Waldorf school tomorrow, where the class will be be baking Valentine cookies with whole wheat. We always bring our own gluten-free alternative to our Parent-Child class. I…