Some of you may know of her or have read her book. Some of you will never have heard of her.

I discovered Jean Liedloff, author of The Continuum Concept: In Search of Happiness Lost, shortly after my son Orion was born 35 years ago. Her book profoundly impacted me because she confirmed and validated what I already envisioned as a parent.

She inspired me and gave me the courage to continue on the path I had begun. For this, I am deeply appreciative.

For two years as a young woman, Jean lived with Stone Age Indians in the South American rainforest. At first judgmental of their seemingly primitive and inadequate parenting, she discovered a new view of what human nature really is and what our children most need from us. She realized the limitations of our Western, ‘civilized’ ways of parenting.

Here is a must-see video that will most-likely challenge what you believe to be true as a parent and give you profound new insights in perceiving your child. Even if you are the parent of a teen or an adult child, you can learn a lot from this wise woman of our time.

The video is 53 minutes, and it is worth every second. Don’t let this go by! Create a time this weekend to watch it all. Share it with your partner. Let it make a difference in your life!

Watch the video here.

Enjoy!

A friend recently shared the following excerpt from “Everything Bad Is Good For You” by Steven Johnson. It is a spoof on articles decrying video games, based on a fantasy that video games came before reading.

“Reading books chronically under stimulates the senses. Unlike the longstanding tradition of game playing – which engages the child in a vivid, three dimensional world filled with moving images and musical soundscapes, navigated and controlled with complex muscular movements – books are simply a barren string of words on the page. Only a small portion of the brain devoted to processing written language is activated during reading, while games engage the full range of the sensory and motor cortices.

“Books are also tragically isolating. While games have for many years engaged the young in complex social relationships with their peers, building and exploring worlds together, books force the child to sequester him or herself in a quiet space, shut off from interaction with other children. These new “libraries” that have arisen in recent years to facilitate reading activities are a frightening sight: dozens of young children, normally so vivacious and socially interactive, sitting alone in cubicles, reading silently, oblivious to their peers.

“Many children enjoy reading books, of course, and no doubt some of the flights of fancy conveyed by reading have their escapist merits. But for a sizeable percentage of the population, books are downright discriminatory. The reading craze of recent years cruelly taunts the 10 million Americans who suffer from dyslexia – a condition that didn’t even exist as a condition until printed text came along to stigmatize its sufferers.

“But perhaps the most dangerous property of these books is the fact that they follow a fixed linear path. You can’t control their narratives in any fashion – you simply sit back and have the story dictated to you. For those of us raised on interactive narratives, this property may seem astonishing. Why would anyone want to embark on an adventure utterly choreographed by another person?

But today’s generation embarks on such adventures millions of times a day. This risks instilling a general passivity in our children, making them feel as though they’re powerless to change their circumstances. Reading is not an active, participatory process; it’s a submissive one. The book readers of the younger generation are learning “follow the plot” instead of learning to lead.”

I love this spoof on reading! Brilliant! Cultural criticism of video games is over-rated and is not as harmful as many “adults” fear, often because it’s new and appeals to a new generation who require new skills and ways of being.

Perhaps it is not ‘either-or’ but ‘both-and’ with value from both reading and video games. I always love the quote from “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran where he talks about children:

“You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of to-morrow, which you
cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.”

May we as adults create the lives that are ours to live and allow children the freedom and respect to create the lives that are theirs to live, without with perpetual doom-saying about the next younger generation.

The operative word here is “trust.”

Tuesday is Take Care of Sebastian Day, who is now sleeping after creating with play dough and markers and reading numerous books. I so appreciate having this time with him every Tuesday. He is a precious, happy cutie, and I love watching him grow!

The Joy of Love and Life Radio show last week “Conscious Parenting, Joyous Families” was FANTASTIC! And lots of fun for all of us!

I was a featured guest along with two other brilliant women Charlene Nelson and Sarah MacLaughlin both of whom have valuable books for parents and children.

You’ll definitely want to listen to the call if you didn’t get to listen live. You’ll hear lots of useful tips to make parenting more fun and joyous for you and your child.

You can listen in iTunes or download it free to your iPod here.

After you listen, let me know what you think in the “Comments” section below. Any questions?

Enjoy! This will make you smile!

No one wants their child to be gullible. Yet parents and teachers unconsciously do things that encourage it. Webster defines gullible as “easily deceived or cheated, naive.”

What makes a child gullible? A tendency to go along with what someone is telling you without thinking for one’s self. Not trusting one’s self.

Psychologist Stephen Greenspan,  author of Annals of Gullibility: Why We Get Duped and How to Avoid It,  recently appeared on NPR’s Science Friday to talk about his being duped in the Bernard Madoff's money-making  scheme, which fooled many clever people.

He made two very revealing comments during the interview.

1.    His mom always told him,”Don’t be so willing to do what your friends tell you.”

2.    He described himself as having “a tendency to be a nice guy and to do what people tell me.”

To listen to his interview, go here.

One secret to lessen your child's or students' gullibility is to support her child to think for herself and to encourage individual discernment, both at home and at school. When parents and educators try to do the thinking for children, they unknowingly diminish a child’s self-trust, autonomy, and awareness.

Denise Clark Pope in her book “Doing School”: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students reports on a high-achieving sophomore in high school who explained “sincerely that, ideally, he wishes he could forget about the grades and just do the work the way he wants to do it. He wishes he could write papers the way he would like to see them written, instead of how the teachers want to see them.”

Kevin says with a sigh, “I wish I could say I’m an individual, and I am not going to sacrifice my individuality for a grade, you know…just write for writing’s sake.”

This is one place gullibility begins—when a young person feels they have to pay attention to others more than to herself. She becomes a people-pleaser and stops thinking for herself.. Then she is more easily prey for others who want take advantage of her naivete.

I just
bought three beautiful books for holiday gifts from the Global Fund for Children. The Global Fund for Children’s mission
is to advance the dignity of children and youth around the world. GFC pursues its mission by making small
grants to innovative community-based organizations working with some of the
world’s most vulnerable children and youth.

One of the outstanding contributions
GFC makes is by a dynamic media program that, through books, documentary
photography, and film, highlights the issues affecting children and celebrates
the global society in which we all live. Their books are BEAUTIFUL and
inspiring!

The books are for children ages
infant to early teens. I bought two copies of Global Babies, a boardbook for
infants and toddlers with close-up photos of babies from several areas of the
world. This book was recognized by Oprah as outstanding.

The other book I bought is Come Out
and Play, which has full-color photos of children playing around the world. Photos
include Playing a string game in Egypt, Riding a tricycle in the Dominican
Republic, Flying a kite in China. These books make excellent conversation
starters with children about different cultures and the lives of people around
the world. Make sure you have a globe handy!

Plus the books are reasonably priced
for these interesting economic times.

With a
small investment of money, you have a beautiful book for a child, you support a
non-profit that makes an important contribution to children who need it most,
and you expand your child’s global awareness. What a delightful investment and
way to share the joy of the season!

Recently I heard an inspiring interview on our local public radio station.
The interview was with environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist and
best-selling author Paul Hawken. Paul shared about the hope and optimism he
gained from doing the research for his latest book Blessed Unrest, How the
Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming.

At age 20, Paul dedicated his life to changing the relationship between
business and the environment, and between human and living systems in order to
create a more just and sustainable world. His work includes starting and
running ecological businesses, writing and teaching about the impact of
commerce upon the environment, and consulting with governments and corporations
on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy.

Paul’s ideas validate the power we each have to make an impact in the
world. Millions of people doing one thing to make our planet a better place
makes a difference. If you’d like to listen or download his interview, click here.

I look forward to reading Blessed Unrest. Here is what Viking
Press says about his new book. "Paul Hawken has spent over a decade
researching organizations dedicated to restoring the environment and fostering
social justice. From billion-dollar nonprofits to single-person dot.causes,
these groups collectively comprise the largest movement on earth, a movement
that has no name, leader, or location,  and that has gone largely ignored
by politicians and the media. Like nature itself, it is organizing from the
bottom up, in every city, town, and culture. and is emerging to be an
extraordinary and creative expression of people’s needs worldwide.
      

Blessed Unrest explores the diversity of the movement, its brilliant
ideas, innovative strategies, and hidden history, which date back many
centuries. A culmination of Hawken’s many years of leadership in the environmental and social justice
fields, it will inspire and delight any and all who despair of the world’s
fate, and its conclusions will surprise even those within the movement itself.
Fundamentally,       it is a description of humanity’s
collective genius, and the unstoppable movement to reimagine our relationship
to the environment and one another."

If you’d like more information about Paul and his work, you can go to Wikipedia or his web site.