Plus calming secrets, the dumbing down of girlhood and more.

Monday Medley: Leave the kids alone

There are so many interesting stories circulating right now that I may have to write two Monday Medleys this week!

Jay Griffiths of The Guardian postulates that leaving our kids alone is the best thing we can do for them. This is not a new idea but she defends it well, and it’s really worth the read.

While it’s normal for our kids to have tantrums as they grow and learn, we are adults who know better and it’s up to us to provide examples of what healthy expression and anger management look like. One way you can do this is to imagine yourself as a superhero.

Did you know that the founder of Mother’s Day later fought to have it abolished? She hated the commercialism that developed from her original idea to simply honor mothers.

Some folks are wondering if unschooling is a fad or “here to stay,” and it makes me laugh because I consider most human learning prior to the mandatory attendance of schools unschooling—which is, of course, most of our history.

Do you work at home? Here are 7 tips to help you manage work and caring for your young children.

This post at Pigtail Pals about how American Girls (and toys in general) are dumbing down our girls is also worth a read.

Buzzfeed’s article “24 People Who Are Really Nailing This Parenting Thing” is making its way around the Internet, and while some of these photos are really lovely or funny, some kind of turn my stomach. What do you think of them? I’m thinking they should have stuck with a solid theme here.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia