Difficult Starts and Their Effect on Child Development (in Honor of Developmental Disabilities Month)

by Jane Samuel

Nature versus Nurture.  Which is it? Is it both? Nature is our gene-pool – what we bring to the table. But what does nurture include? Is it only the environment after the baby is born or does it include the in-utero environment? How much of a role does either play in child development? And that of our children whose past – genes or otherwise – we don’t know? The ones who come to us with a whole other life and blueprint?

These questions and many others related to this topic make up what continues to be one of the leading debates in child development. Luckily for certain children the research – and mainstream reporting of such – is finally beginning to catch up with what we as mothers have perhaps know all along. When a child has a difficult start in life, whether inutero, at birth or after, it can leave its mark on the    child’s development for months and years after. […]

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Cyma’s Picks: Nurturing Mothers Rear Physically Healthier Adults

by Susan Chaityn Lebovits

Nurturing mothers have garnered accolades for rescuing skinned knees on the playground and coaxing their children to sleep with lullabies. Now they’re gaining merit for their offspring’s physical health in middle age.

In a recent study published in the journal Psychological Science, Brandeis psychologist Margie Lachman with Gregory Miller and colleagues at the University of British Columbia and the University of California, Los Angeles reveal that while children raised in families with low socioeconomic status (SES) frequently go on to have high rates of chronic illness in adulthood, a sizable minority remain healthy across the life course. The research sought to examine if parental nurturance could mitigate the effects of childhood disadvantage. […]

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Mindful Meditations for Mothers

by Rachel Snyder

Withdraw

You can search the shelves for supplements and tonics, but the only way to get over overwhelm is to withdraw.  Get clear on your priorities and back off everything else. Politely decline your directorship for another year – and see who shows up with new energy and ideas. Attend fewer and fewer meetings, forget to sign up for anything, and take home no assignments. Withdraw from the school spotlight so someone else can step forward. Make an appearance now and then, but resist the pressure of perfect attendance. Some other mom can supervise. Somebody else can host. Surely there’s another with a car who can drive. Ignore the idea that the association, the co-op, the hospital, the club, or the team can’t make it without you. Create a space for someone who’s ready to serve. The world has limped along for millennia without you. It can go a bit longer even if you withdraw.

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What’s In a Word? Love…

by Valerie Gillies

“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet” – Emily Dickinson

This is Love Month.  Such a loaded word.  Some languages have many words for love.  Ours has one.  The word that we used as teenagers, with the “o” shaped like a heart to describe our racing pulse and new-found obsession with the object of our desire, is the same word that is used to describe connection with the Almighty and car preferences. That’s a lot for four letters to take on.  But, perhaps one word is the best option, since “love” includes more possibilities than a million words could cover.  Might as well stop at a single word and increase the definitions. […]

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Ah, February (An Anti-Romantic Love Essay)

by Andrea Lynn

Ah, February. The month of love. Spare me. Always my least favourite holiday, Valentine’s Day, edging out New Year’s Day by a whisker. Both holidays of forced expression of love, or joy, both awkward for the singletons at the party or restaurant, surrounded by the coupled. […]

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Guest Blog Post: A Valentine’s Day Salute to Parenthood’s Impact on Marriage

by Len Filppu

This Valentine’s Day, I’d like to put in a good word or two about marriage. Statistical studies show that married men live longer than single men.

I’m not sure about marriage’s impact on wives (I’m afraid to look), but as a husband who became a first time dad in midlife, I’m happy to subscribe to this notion. You see, my children are pre-teens, and I still have plenty of work ahead preparing them to be able to make a great living in order to support my dreamed and schemed about lavish retirement lifestyle. (Just kidding.) […]

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Heart Facts: How Well Do You Know Yours?

by Beverley Golden

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, everywhere we look we see the signs. Roses, doves and lovebirds. Of all the symbols we associate with Valentine’s Day, the heart is the one that most defines it. Juicy, plump and bulging red hearts adorn all things related to this holiday, devoted to love. Perfect heart images appear, almost magically, everywhere on everything, moments after the Christmas season has ended. […]

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10 Ways To Love The People In Your Life

by Tara Sophia Mohr

“At the end of life, our questions are very simple: Did I live fully? Did I love well?” ~Jack Kornfield

We all grow up with some healthy stories about love and some unhealthy ones. I learned some beautiful, life-giving ideas about love, ideas like these:

  • Loving people means believing in their potential.
  • Love means treating people with kindness and gentleness.
  • Loving the people in your life means celebrating their successes and cheering them on.

But I also grew up with some stories about love that I came to see weren’t so helpful. Those ideas about love bred problems in my relationships. […]

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Date Night…All Year Long?

by Jane Samuel

I know what you are thinking.

“Dating? What is that? Is that where I put on me-clothes, doll myself up and hold my husband’s hand across the table of a fine restaurant? Sorry, no time for that. I think I hear the kids calling.” […]

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