Favorite Parenting Links Lately

1. Violet's always been kind of anti-hugs and kisses, especially when it comes to hello's and goodbye's, and we've always tried to encourage her when it comes to close family members, but after reading this I'm definitely taking a much different approach to the whole situation.

2. Life is messy and layered...and that's okay! Love Abbey and her down-to-earth writing style.

3. I've seen plenty of posts from blogging moms who are anti-"Pinterest" party, but I love this mom's to-each-her-own approach. I personally love throwing a big decorated party for my kids, maybe because my mom always did that for us (pre-Pinterest, imagine that!) She'd spend hours painstakingly decorating cakes and making paper crowns for all of us to wear. It always made me feel really special and I want that for my own kids, but sometimes I feel weirdly judged for it.

4. Em Henderson on mom guilt and the balancing act that is the life of a working-outside-of-the-home mom. As a mom who has both worked outside of the home and stayed at home, I can say that both are equally difficult and that the guilt doesn't go away in either situation - the reasons for it just shift. Before I felt guilty for spending 8 or 9 hours a day away from my kid. Now I feel guilty because I have to some spend time cleaning the house AKA not playing princesses, or because want a little time to myself to just read a book or pee alone for goodness sake! But it's nice to feel like other moms are right there with me, so thanks Ms. Henderson! :)

5. The overprotected kid...there's so so much I could say about this. I think all moms try to walk that thing tightrope between giving your kids freedom and keeping them safe. It always seems to me like it's best to err on the side of safety, but maybe we do go too far? I have been trying to think of the ways in which I let Violet experience the "danger" that they talk about in the article. We let her cook with us - she stirs pots of hot food, we let her use scissors, and play near fires both in our fireplace and in the fire pit outside, she loves to wrestle and play-fight, and she loves to jump off of the furniture into a big pile of pillows.

We've just started letting her explore on her own more this winter, mostly thanks to the polar vortex shooting out ice and snow and general frozenness for months on end. I wasn't able to take Violet outside as much as I'd like because even if she didn't mind the cold so much, Lucy was sooo not into it. And walking around outside with a screaming writhing freezing baby while trying to play with your preschooler is just not a good time.

So sometimes Violet would ask to go outside herself (which is a majorly big, HUGE deal considering that she often doesn't even want me to walk into a different room because she'll be alone.) And even though the tiny anxious-mom voice in my head would scream, "Child predators! Stray dogs! Kidnappers! Fast-moving vehicles!" I would force myself to be rational and realize that we live in a very safe neighborhood and that she would be okay in our yard on her own for half an hour for Pete's sake, and I would let the poor kid go out and play already.

And guess what? She didn't die. Or even get hurt. In fact, whenever I'd peek out the window at her she'd be romping around, happy as a clam poking things with a big stick and peeking under rocks and peering through the arbividis looking for a "secwet garden".

We may not have THE Land, but we do have our own little piece of land and I'm now excitedly thinking of ways to make it more adventurous for her.

Are you naturally more on the overprotective side like me or do you let your kids have a little more "danger" in their lives? I'd love to come up with some new ways to give her a little bit more independence.