L.R. Knost's Blog, page 12
December 17, 2012
Our Children, Our World, Our Responsibility
My heart is broken. I’ve lost a child to stillbirth and many more to miscarriage, so I know loss all too well, and yet I have a six-year-old and can’t even imagine what the parents of the twenty precious children slain in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are going through. The stray toys and shoes left [...]
December 12, 2012
A Toddler’s 12 Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me A necklace of macaroni. On the second day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me 2 peek-a-boos and a necklace of macaroni. On the third day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me 3 bear hugs, 2 peek-a-boos, and a necklace of macaroni. On [...]
December 6, 2012
Homemade Infant Formula~An Alternative to Commercial Formulas?
At Little Hearts/Gentle Parenting Resources, we promote and support breastfeeding as the best source of all a baby’s nutritional needs for the first year and beyond. But we also recognize that there are cases in which a mother has a legitimate supply issue, a medical issue, has to be on medications that are contraindicated in [...]
November 29, 2012
Bookish & Craftastic Advent Ideas
The countdown to Christmas is about to begin, so here are some of my all-time favorite book-related and crafty ideas for a fun and meaningful Advent! Book Advent~Every year I put away all of our Christmas and winter-themed books and then pull them out on the 1st of December to make a Picturebook Christmas Tree. We read one each evening for a bedtime [...]
Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids~An Interview with Dr. Laura Markham
Dr. Laura Markham’s website, AhaParenting.com, is one of my favorite go-to resources to share with parents. With sound advice based on clinical and personal experience and supported by research, Dr. Markham offers excellent guidance for parents looking for help in their gentle parenting journeys. Now, there’s a new resource from Dr. Markham that I’m delighted to share with you: her new parenting guide, [...]
November 27, 2012
A Very Toddler Christmas~24 Tips for a Safe, Stress-Free & Jolly Holiday
What do you get when you cross a curious toddler and a Christmas tree covered with glittering, dangling ‘toys’ and enticing, shiny lights? At the very least, a season of toddler chasing and redirecting, and at the worst a season of shattered-glass hazards and tree-scaling, toppling nightmares. So what’s a parent to do? Must we scrap the tree so we can have [...]
November 24, 2012
The Taming of the Tantrum: A Toddler’s Perspective
So parents, here’s the scoop on tantrums: They’re your fault. Okay, okay, so maybe my toddlerdom contributes to them a teensy-weensy bit, but seriously… You with the obsession with brushing teeth and bedtimes and matching clothes, enough already! Does it ever even occur to you that there’s another person (Yes, I am an actual separate person [...]
November 21, 2012
A Few of my Favorite Things
Thanksgiving is…well, a time for giving thanks! So here are 100 of my favorite things, each of which I am deeply, truly, whole-heartedly thankful for… 1.) I am so very lucky and grateful for having such an adorable, awesome, hardworking, resourceful, loving, and amazing hubby! 2.) My children~From a boy, a girl, and a baby over 25 [...]
November 10, 2012
7 Tips and Traditions to Make Giving a Standard of Living
As we head toward Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, I wanted to share some of the wonderful ideas I’ve been gathering about making gratitude and giving a standard of daily living along with a celebrated part of the holidays. Some of these ideas are ones we’ve done in our family for years, and some are new ideas I’m excited [...]
