This blog was created as a “pass it forward” in honor of my mom and dad who modeled gentle living and parenting.
They were the one’s who placed in my hands the rare boons to share with others about why it matters to be kind, to be gentle, to listen, to marvel, to take time, and to love. A child “feeling” felt, “feeling” seen, “feeling” connected even before words and abstractions are formed in their brains.
Children are children.
It is that simple.
They are not little adults as centuries believed.
They need time to grow and develop.
That time is called childhood.
It is often surprising to adults to learn that childhood encompasses pre-birth until early adulthood and is that way because of the development of our brains.
I am a Pied Piper of sorts, a child whisperer, and hold a reverence for this unique and special development of time. I have had the opportunity to study children in a masters program but even before then as I learned to look closely and empathize with children on a deeper level. The more I associate with this time period and these human beings the more respect I have for them. I worry about the trend that is taking childhood away. I wish to stop it. And if I can’t, I wish to do as the Pied Piper did and toot my flute to lead them to a place where they can thrive as who they are. But of course that is not reality.
Childhood is necessary.
Because children are not small adults they do not think the same way adults do. They are learning at a rapid rate and their brain has not completed growing. In fact their brain capacity far exceeds adults brains. Children have their own developmental time frame to learn. They are discovering their own budding strengths and abilities. We help or hinder that discovery. Children need time. They deserve to feel safe, nurtured, and loved. They need this time to help them become healthy happy adults later. It is up to adults to care enough and sacrifice enough for that to happen!
This blog will not only share things I have discovered and will soon discover along my journey with children and in my studies but also share philosophies from my upbringing. Many ideas include traditional values and old fashioned thought processes. Many of these philosophies are shared and backed by sociology and psychology. The intent is to support the child and give them the best possible way to thrive.
Whether it matters or not I add my experience with my own marriage of 40+ years and with my five treasures, treasures in-law, and growing numbers of grand children.
I have a bachelors in secondary art education and a dual MAT in early childhood and childhood education from birth to age twelve. I also have a masters in Clinical Psychology and Spirit Mind Body Certificate. Much of that study focus was on development, perinatal, and mother/child relationships including attachment theory. I am in a post grad fellowship at U-Mass Medical School becoming an Infant Mental Health Specialist so you can see childhood is at the core of my passions.
I hope you will join my quest to save this fragile fleeting time because there is only one lifetime and in that lifetime, there is only one childhood…
and all children everywhere are entitled to a blessed one.
Only One Childhood 