Writing for balance, an Attachment Parenting tool

The other morning, when we were already late for school, I found my two young boys using cans of foam soap to cover the bathroom in snow scenes. As one son stabbed a foam snowman in the face with a giant carrot, I surveyed the mess and thought, "This is good material." Instead of blowing up, I wrote it down. It was even funnier on paper!

Though you may not read about it in many parenting books, writing can be a powerful and dependable tool for any parent, even if you don't feel all that writing-inclined. It is a good fit for Attachment Parenting International's Eight Principle of Parenting: Strive for Balance in Personal and Family Life, though it could be argued that it has as much of a place within API's Third Principle of Parenting: Respond with Sensitivity in that writing can help parents problem-solve and unlock solutions to child-rearing challenges.