Life is precious and can be gone in an instant. Do not waste a minute of it.

Guest post by Erin Taylor, author of 

Connection and Kindness: The Key to Changing the World Through Parenting.

I WAS HIT BY A DRUNK DRIVER LAST NIGHT
Yes, you read that right. I was hit by a drunk driver last night. Thank God I walked away without a scratch, but needless to say, it was pretty scary. As you know well by now, I tend to write through my experiences in order to process them, so this will likely be a long but chocked-full post. Please read on if you will….

I was on my way to a school to meet my friend and colleague Sue DeCaro so that we could present part one of our Conscious Parenting series when the accident happened. I was in rush hour traffic on a very busy road. I was probably the 20th car stopped at a red light when out of nowhere, a car slammed into the back of my car. I called Sue right away to ask her to come pick me up where we were so that she could bring me to the workshop (because yes, I truly am that committed to the work that I do!). She immediately turned around to come to me. 

As Conscious Parents, We Must Accept The As-Is Of A Given Situation

Guest Post By Erin Taylor Author of,  

Connection and Kindness: The Key to Changing the World Through Parenting

Leaving the grocery store this morning, I noticed a mom holding the hands of her two young children as she waited to cross the parking lot to get to her car. With the amount of information one can glean from a very short observation of another, it appeared that the mom seemed relaxed and peaceful, as did her two children.

As I reflected on this woman's demeanor, it got me to thinking about how I used to feel as mom of very young ones, and I believe that more often than not, I looked anything like this mom today; for I remember very often feeling stressed and unhappy, with a furrowed brow and all. I am certain that people who saw me must have wondered why I looked so tortured and miserable. This was unsettling to me, especially as a mom who had suffered the death of her first-born daughter. How can parenting be so difficult and stressful? Why is it so hard? And I felt guilty for not enjoying it more than I did, especially given my life experience.

Parental Alienation And Its Consequences

We all know divorce can be difficult and devastating. We assume that, during the divorce proceedings, the Courts try to do what is in the child’s best interest by allowing both loving, fit parents custody. However, what happens when one parent manages to turn the children against the other parent? What if the father teaches the children to hate or fear their own mother or the mother criticizes the father to the extent that the children no longer wish to see him? This extremely harmful behavior is called parental alienation and some may think it is impossible, but let me explain.

Help Your Baby Rest Peacefully

Many parents-to-be are blissfully unaware of the challenges that come with getting your baby to sleep. Naturally, the majority are not even thinking about how they will approach this and probably have a dreamy image of laying their baby in their crib to fall asleep peacefully. Experienced parents know that is not the typical situation and were quite surprised by how overwhelming sleep time can be.  If the topic of sleep was brought up to soon to be parents before they need to make the decision of how they will get their baby to sleep, it would be most helpful for all involved, especially the baby. This way future parents can consider options and come to a non-sleep deprived decision. For parenting to be the most rewarding experience it can be, the important decisions for your kids should be based on your own intuition and enough research to feel confident that you will have no regrets.