Download January 2010 Issue PDF

Resolutions and Reflections

for Parenting in the New Year

The planet we call home has completed yet another trip around the sun and a new year is upon us. Since this time of year is replete with resolutions, declarations, and celebrations, we’ve dedicated this issue to offering exercises and questions to inspire reflection on the potent business of parenting. Nancy Samalin wisely said, “Our children give us the opportunity to become the parents we always wished we had.” As you read through this month’s issue of Hum Mums, we hope you’ll steal some quiet moments to consciously reflect on this ‘opportunity’ by exploring at least one of the activities or questions that fill these pages. Starting the New Year with some thoughtful intentions, goals, and hopes for your parenting is a gift not only to you but your little one as well.

The activities shared in this issue are taken from The Center for Nonviolent Parenting’s Parent Education Manual.

Heart Drawings
(From the Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting’s Parent Education Curriculum)

Draw a heart. Imagine yourself as a newborn. Put words inside the heart that describe you when you were born. Outside the heart, write the messages you think you received from your family as you were growing up.

Now, think about your child. Turn your page over and draw a second heart. This is your child’s heart. Around the outside of the heart put the message you want your child to hear as she grows up. Inside the heart, imagine the feelings you would like your child to feel as she grows up. Inside the heart, imagine and write the feelings you would like your child to feel as she grows up.