I believe in God, and in Jesus Christ.
I believe in family.
I believe in unschooling and other alternative forms of education. I believe that people learn best when they are able to decide what, when, where, how, and from what or from whom they will learn. I believe in learning and living in freedom.
I believe that children should be treated kindly, gently, and with respect.
I believe in mindful parenting and parenting without force, coercion, and punishment. I believe in treating my children (and all children) the way I would like to be treated.
I believe in regular length breastfeeding (what most of the world refers to as ‘extended’ nursing). I believe in co-sleeping, baby wearing, and informed choices about vaccines, circumcision, and health care.
I believe in natural and healthy eating. And I believe in cupcakes.
I believe in making mistakes and learning from them.
I believe in playing in mud puddles, wearing pajamas all day, having ice cream for dinner, and slurping the milk at the bottom of the bowl of cereal.
I believe that life is to be enjoyed.
You are welcome here exactly as you are, whether you agree with all, some, or none of the above. I hope that we can discuss intelligently and maturely, and ultimately all learn from each other. While you’re of course free to disagree with anything you read at any time, if it makes you feel the need to call me names and hurl obscenities, you should know that 1) I will no longer publish them (unless it’s to point out your grammatical errors. That’s always fun for me) and 2) it’s an incredible waste of your time. While I’m flattered that you would want to hang out just to insult me, the internet is a big place, and there’s lots of room for all of us. These are just my opinions… it’s not worth getting upset over. There are plenty of blogs out there that won’t make you so angry, and I’ll wish you well while you go find one.
If you’re still here, I’m happy to have you! I hope my words entertain, challenge and inspire.
Yay Jen! I especially love your note to dissenters. 🙂
Thanks! I worked on the wording of those couple of sentences for quite awhile. 🙂
I’m so sorry that you have to say all this to the dissenters. And it sounds like from above that it weighs on you a bit. It confuses me that you seem to get so many negative comments, expecially as you’re not that controversial. What you say makes perfect sense to me! And your words certainly do entertain, challenge and inspire me!
Thanks. I’m at peace with it, though 🙂 I don’t think I’m that controversial either… but then again, to me I’m normal. 😉 Thanks for the support!
I’ve been reading your blog for awhile, mostly because I find a lot of what you say encouraging. Even when I don’t agree with your point of view, it gives me another way of looking at an issue and makes me feel a greater freedom to choose my own way of living. I especially love your recent post on reading and an older one I found on socialization!
It can be hard to stand for what you believe in while allowing others to do the same. Your writing seems to imply that you have found a way to do just that, I never feel like you are being pushy. Thanks for taking the time to share a bit of your life.
Glad to have you here, Heather. Thanks for the kind words. 🙂
rock out sister! Love the part about publicly calling out grammatical errors!
Hee hee. I would never call someone out if they were making a kind or helpful comment…. but when somebody says, “Your an idiot,” I can’t help but think that’s fair game. 😉
Thanks so much for powering on through attacks! And I’m sorry to hear about them. I am glad you keep on writing. It helps me to feel like less of a weirdo parent 🙂
I have read a few of your posts and I especially liked this post because I have done or believe many of the same things. You remind me of what I want my best self to be. While my own children have been determined to bear some of the labels you mentioned, I believe sincerely that God doesn’t see us as people needing to be fixed, but people who need to be more mindful of his grace and of what’s important. It is not always easy to be trusting, respectful, and kind to children because no one is perfect. But, we can strive for that ideal and we can abide in Him who shows us the way.