One of the perks of being the queen of this castle is the ability to declare war as necessary. Today, I declared war on the messes that the boys have been leaving. Last night after they’d gone to bed I spent a half-hour picking up enough stuff just to walk safely through the house without [...]

I’ve been pondering deeply my routine failures lately at being loving and logical when the boys disobey or are otherwise annoying. A hallmark of the Love and Logic approach is for parents to shut. up. and let kids learn from their mistakes. Shutting up? Not a strength. I like to explain things waaaaay too much [...]

I’ve written before about the Love and Logic books and how I have tried to implement the strategies in my own parenting. Have you read any of the books yet? You should try it…you may like it! A strategy that I’ve got down cold is the questioning to resolve conflict technique. I’ve talked my way [...]

When I wrote the last post about losing my temper, I was right in the middle of the situation. I was so angry! The good news is I’ve calmed down and can share with you a few lessons I learned. If you get a chance, check out the comments from that post. Mary’s advice in [...]

I haven’t talked much about Love and Logic lately and I want to give you an update. After reading the books 3 or so years ago I still see great wisdom in the approach. I’ll be honest: being loving while I’m being logical doesn’t exactly come easy. Logic….I’ve got that down pat. I can do [...]

Child begins whining about an offense (imagined or real). Adult kneels down and listens to said complaint. Child whines again. Adult repeats complaint to child, thus demonstrating an amazing ability to understand and empathize with said complainant. Child whines. Again. Adult attempts to reason with child to stop the complaining. Child whines. AGAIN. Adult very [...]