My 9-year-old son has never said "I love you." I honestly never gave it a second thought until I realized I was being told "I love you" multiple times daily by my 5-year-old daughter. For the first time, I began to wonder why my son never said it, neither to me nor to anybody else that I know of. While I would never in a million years intimidate him into saying this phrase, the idea that he never said them made me a little sad.

We want to celebrate our child's unique traits, but sometimes their differences can be worrying. We wonder if they seem a little out of step with developmental milestones or when their temperament seems much different when compared with other children?

Absolutely the greatest contribution I can make toward Earth's stewardship is to raise children who care. It's not enough to say we care for the planet: We must live it and model it to our children, and I've learned that this is best done together.

What are your favorite activities to do in nature? What is one activity you can share with your child this week?

One of the hardest challenges with raising a special needs child is trying to keep people, including us as her parents, from attmepting to force her into being a "typical" child. Jackie is different. She will always be different, and I celebrate that difference. That said, it's not all roses. There are some thorns.

I never felt like I could get angry as a child. My parents sure did, but I got the message loud and clear that I was supposed to keep the peace, be good, and above all, never ever lose my cool. As a parent, I found myself getting angry at my child for being angry.

What if I let my daughter be angry? What if I just listened and empathized but didn't try to fix it?

Happy, confident, caring children grow up in an atmosphere of flexibility and trust, supported by respectful and realistic parents who do not see challenging behaviors as indications that there is a problem with their children. Adults and children share many of the behaviors considered to be "problem behaviors" when exhibited by children. Why is there a "problem child" but not a "problem parent"?

Take the Problem Parent Quiz at #normalizenurturing...

One of the best things about summer vacation for children who attend traditional school is that there is no fixed schedule. 

While a summer schedule does not have to be as intense as during the school year, we still want to take care of them in a way that's in their best interest and give them the security of knowing that their parents are in charge and taking care of their needs.

Perfectionism is probably the biggest creativity block I run across. When we speak of perfection, we actually are reaching for an unattainable goal, because as human beings, we aren't perfect.

January is when I look to the future, reflecting on the positive changes I'd like to make in my parenting. Here are my top 6 parenting resolutions for this new year.

Read this article at #normalizenurturing...

I loved my childhood summer vacations, but what is it like for parents?

The approach of summer vacation may be mixed with feelings of worry about how to fill the long hours, what to do about the complaint that "there's nothing to do," how to handle bickering and fighting between siblings, or how to find adequate supervision for children while parents are working outside the home.

Reconnecting after being apart, whether for an hour or during the workday, is essential for families. Children may act out if they feel they aren't receiving enough undivided attention from their parents. To help ease the transition, include some of these simple activities into your transition times to fill your child with the loving attention they need and help them go more calmly into the next phase of the day...

My son is sleeping on my husband's chest, snuggled in an "O" against his broad shoulders in a snuggly nest, resting easy, gently. I want my son to wake up, because I haven't seen him this morning. My husband let me sleep in, because I stayed up last night writing and working on grad school assignments. I woke refreshed and awake, not my usual still-feel-like-I-need-two-more-hours-of-sleep grogginess. Dare I say, refreshed? Yes, I was refreshed.

Read more at #normalizenurturing...

This Father's Day, we meet Thiago Queiroz, a dad who has been absolutely on fire for supporting other fathers in his native Brazil since his oldest of 4 children was born a decade ago. Many dads have been able to "meet" Thiago through his role in the American documentary, Dads.

This morning, it snowed in Seattle. It reminded me of the night Max was born, almost exactly five years ago, when it was sunny and rainy and windy and then, in the middle of the night when we were upside-down with time and date, we looked out the window and saw snow swirling around. I don't remember much about those early days and hours, but I do remember the snow.

Five years ago, newly pregnant, my husband and I were full of expectation and wonder at how much our lives were about to change.

I thought I kept my car clean and tidy.

Then my husband walked in the door, waved a diaper in the air and said, "Hey, look what I found in the trunk!" It was quite a surprise: With our kids being 10 and 7 years old, the diaper era is long gone for us.

I placed the diaper on the kitchen counter. I stared at it and felt a sense of relief and a hint of joy. Memories started to flood my mind. 

My partner and I had asked all the big questions as we got ready for the birth of our son. We'd prepared ourselves both physically and spiritually for what we expected to be a smooth, beautiful childbirth assisted by our midwife. It just never occurred to me that we would need anything besides each other to welcome our child into this world.

How do you feel about your childbirth experience? In which ways, did your experience help you to bond with your baby?

One of the many reasons parents find their way to Nurturings is that they're seeking a community and Nurturings can connect them to local parenting groups. As a parent, I can relate: I enjoy and have come to rely on the parental support of like-minded individuals who may be going through the same joys and challenges or seeking guidance from others who have been there in the past. 

Research has shown that positive childhood experiences help children grow into healthy, resilient adults. These positive experiences can be categorized into what we call the four building blocks of HOPE. Let's take a deeper look at the first building block of HOPE: Relationships. But first, what is HOPE? 

Read more at #normalizenurturing...

We tend to believe that only a few people are genuinely creative, that they are born knowing they are creative and that they go through life with that creative spark undimmed. The truth is, we are all creative, we all have a divine spark within us, we all have the capacity to tap into our originality, and we all have gifts whether we recognize them or not.

When can you set aside 15 minutes of today for something you love to do?