From API’s Publications Team
The Public News Service published an article featuring API Co-founder Lysa Parker’s perspective on U.S. President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama’s family values.
“The children are a striking example of well behaved, respectful children who have been raised without the use of spanking,” she said.
With the Obamas to be the first White House family in half a century to have young children, Parker believes the presidential family’s very public lives mean they will be able to shape the way American families parent their children.
“I’m most impressed that Mrs. Obama has elected to stay with her children the first year, to help them transition into their new school and into their new lifestyle in Washington, D.C.,” Parker said.
To read the entire article, go to www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/7538-1.
According to an article on InTheNews.co.uk, “One in Four Aussie Kids Have Parent with Mental Illness,” mentally ill parents are more likely to form insecure attachments with their children.
I frequently receive e-mail from parents who practice Attachment Parenting (AP) across the United States and in other countries asking for help and support in custody cases when they are contemplating shared joint custody of their infants, toddlers, and preschool children.
My experience as a single attachment parent started when my son was 19 months old and I was seven and one-half months pregnant with my daughter.
As the lone parent of two little girls four years old and two years old, one of the hardest things I find about doing it on my own is the fact that I am constantly “on duty.”
Our children model our behavior. When surrounded by people who love them and respond to them sensitively and empathetically, they learn to respond this way to others. In my view, the API principle of Responding with Sensitivity best illustrates the concept of Attachment Parenting (AP). I may or may not adhere to all the principles of AP, but if emotional responsiveness does not permeate my parenting, then I question whether I can cultivate a strong bond with my children.
Many attachment parents say that the API Principle, Striving for Personal and Family Balance, is the cornerstone of Attachment Parenting (AP). We tend to be less emotionally responsive when we are struggling to achieve balance in our families, and this lack of responsiveness may impact the quality of attachment between us and our children. We may need help when our family life is out of balance, but the wide range of parenting advice can be confusing, even overwhelming.
It’s one thing to understand how remaining calm, supportive and objective can be a great service to our children and another thing to do it when we’re exhausted, frazzled, and sleep-deprived.