Voice: low

There are a couple of things I can do to keep myself in the calm mode: keep my voice low and keep my voice slow. When I start to get triggered, my voice starts getting…hmmm…. strident? (some might say “bitchy”). When I can hear my voice getting shrill, it gets higher in pitch. So I use my voice as a measuring instrument: when my voice starts climbing, I either consciously...
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Getting comfortable with discomfort

It’s a funny thing about life: it’s teaching me things all the time if I just stop and listen. Back when my sons were about 8 and 10 years old, they used to want to wrestle with each other. I remember one afternoon when I was cooking dinner, and I started to hear some rough-housing escalation in the living room: voices raising, energy level rising. I heard some pushing and tangling...
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Fave parenting technique

One of my favorite parenting techniques: “Sure.” Sprinkle generously: “Sure!” “suuure…”  “sure.” I really like my parenting when I “sure” a...
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Parentcraft defined

PARENTING: late 12c., from O.Fr. parent (11c.), from L. parentem (nom. parens) “father or mother, ancestor,” noun use of prp. ofparere “bring forth, give birth to, produce,” from PIE base *per- “to bring forth” (see pare). Began to replace nativeelder after c.1500. The verb is attested from 1660s. The verbal noun parenting is first recorded 1959 (earlier term...
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