Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids

Don’t interrupt. Respect your child’s play and other chosen activities. Don’t interrupt unless absolutely necessary. Oftentimes, we realize that the runny nose or wet diaper can wait until the child is finished, or at least has a bit more time. Again, prepare children: “In a few minutes it will be time to change into your PJ’s, brush teeth and chos

... See more

2. Take perspective. Spend another moment to see if you can put yourself in your child’s shoes with a sense of empathy and compassion. We tend to treat our children’s behavior as we would a math problem. Instead, look at your children as you might a beautifully told story—with an attitude of appreciation. You and your children are about to write the n

... See more

Our job as parents is not to make a particular kind of child. Instead, our job is to provide a protected space of love, safety, and stability in which children of many unpredictable kinds can flourish. Our job is not to shape our children’s minds; it’s to let those minds explore all the possibilities that the world allows. Our job is not to tell ch

... See more

Left to their own devices, parents and caregivers learn to read cues by pattern recognition. Each baby’s system of communication is unique, and meaningful only in the context of the events in her little world. You contextualise your baby’s communications, and build up a picture over time, experimenting with your responses in a sensible way so that

... See more