Attachment Parenting

These days you can read a lot about how to be the best parent you can be. Pick your approach, there is probably a book on it. When I became a mother, I didn't know about any of them. I had ideas in my head of the kind of mother I wanted to be. I hadn't realized there was already a name for it; I just did it.

What I am talking about is attachment parenting. I first read about it when my friend gave me a book by Dr. Sears and Martha Sears. It was eerie to see that everything that my intuition told me to do was laid down in a best selling book.

Tonight I was watching my daughters swim in the pool and talking to them about the upcoming school year. My oldest told me that she has a boyfriend (she hasn't informed the boy in question of this yet) and it got me thinking about the long term effects of attachment parenting. I have noticed my children are not afraid to share their thoughts and feelings with me. They know we can talk over problems and they don't have to fear that their feelings won't be respected because they are "small" and we as parents are "big." We have spoken early and often about the pressures out there and what our expectations are. They know they can come to either of us when they've done something wrong.

I expect once they are teens that information about their lives won't be as forthcoming as it is now; but I do expect them to still include us. I have some really great kids. You should meet them.