Mojo Mom Podcast with “Free-Range Kids” author Lenore Skenazy
I had a great time talking to Lenore Skenazy this week for The Mojo Mom Podcast. She has so much energy and spirit. Our conversation blew right past the usual half hour mark so consider this a bonus episode!
Listen in:
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This week’s Amy Tiemann talks to kindred spirit Lenore Skenazy, author of the book Free-Range Kids and founder of FreeRangeKids.com.
Lenore has been at the forefront advancing the trend of giving kids more independence and ability to roam and explore. Her work was one of the inspirations for Amy Tiemann to join this cultural conversation with the creation of the new parenting resource, Courageous Parents, Confident Kids.
So join Amy and Lenore for a wide-ranging discussion!
One more bit of resonance: next month on April 19th, the new paperback edition of Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) will be published the same day as the launch of Amy’s special free digital download offer for Courageous Parents, Confident Kids: Letting Go So You Both Can Grow. Visit MojoMom.com to learn more about Amy’s limited-time offer.
Getting my head back on straight!
This past week has been a real head-spinner. I am so proud that we got the new and improved MojoMom.com website launched, but I have not had much time since then to blog or even think!
For the past two weeks I have been in the final, intense phases of book production for Courageous Parents, Confident Kids–nailing down every last detail on the contents and design elements. We’re going to press this week to meet our April 19th paperback and e-book release date. The schedule is coming down to the wire, which was part of the plan to create a timely book, but I really started to feel the effects of the stress this week when I hit a wall of insomnia. When I did sleep I would dream about the book, and when I was awake I would copyedit everything I saw. I walked by a movie poster for the new release “She’s Out of My League” with the tagline, “How can a 10 go for a 5?” I immediately thought, that’s the wrong tag line. It should be “Why does a 10 go for a 5?” (Because you know it would work for a hot girl to go after a not-so-hot guy.) You may agree or not with my edit but the point was that I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about it!
I came across a passage from Henri Nouwen that mirrored how roiled up I am feeling inside. Fortunately this feeling has begun to calm down for me:
As soon as we are alone…inner chaos opens up in us. This chaos can be so disturbing and so confusing that we can hardly wait to get busy again. Entering a private room and shuttering the door, therefore, does not mean we shutter out all our inner doubts, anxieties, fears, bad memories, unresolved conflicts, angry feelings and impulsive desires. On the contrary, when we have removed our outer distraction, we often find that our inner distractions manifest themselves to us in full force. We often use the outer distractions to shield ourselves from the interior noises. This make the discipline of solitude even more important. –Henri J. M. Nouwen, Making All Things New and Other Classics
Don’t get me wrong, I love finishing a new book! But it’s such a busy time that it stirs up the mind and challenges me to settle down again. I am hoping to get my wise friend Karen Maezen Miller to come on The Mojo Mom Podcast soon to talk about these issues, which she discusses so lyrically in her new book to be released April first, Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life.
Reinventing MojoMom.com
Welcome to the new MojoMom.com! After seven years it became clear that it was time to totally reinvent my website, so my original web designer Patty Ayers and I really went for it–blowing up our dear old site and replacing it with a new one that offers a host of new features in one place.
It’s amazing for me to remember back to 2003 when I started launched the original MojoMom.com and think about how much has changed since then. Back in those early days I had to strike a balance between developing the website and working on finishing my book Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family but I knew from the very start that a interactive online presence was important to me.
Since then, wow, now we practically live our lives online! It’s amazing to think I’ve been at this since “blogging” was a new idea, and “podcasting” had not yet been invented!
So as much as I loved my original online home, now it’s time to move out of my little bungalow and into much roomier digs. The great news is on the new site, there is plenty of room to invite in readers and experts and create new opportunities to interact.
The first “Classes and Events” offering that I am hosting is a free webinar training about “Getting Kids to Listen: The 5 R’s of Fair and Effective Consequences” taught by Positive Parenting Solutions founder Amy McCready. I hope you can join us for this training, designed for parents of kids ages 1 to 16–who doesn’t need help in the area of good communication? We’ll be convening online for this live event on on Thursday March 18 from 9 to 10 pm ET.
You can learn more about the training on our MojoMom.com “Classes and Events” page [internal mojomom.com page link] or you can follow this link directly to the official registration page on PositiveParentingSolutions.com
I have such respect for Amy McCready’s teaching. I can tell you from personal experience that her Positive Parenting strategies are respectful, effective, and definitely work to build capable, competent kids–and parents who know how to let kids take on independence and responsibility!
While you are exploring the new MojoMom.com be sure to sign up for our free digital download offer for my next book, Courageous Parents, Confident Kids — Letting Go So You Both Can Grow. I am very proud of this new resource that I’ve created in collaboration with 14 fantastic experts. This is a limited pre-publication offer — one you don’t want to miss! Sign up now and when the new book Courageous Parents, Confident Kids is released on April 19th, we will tell you how to download the entire book for free. The digital book will be delivered in PDF format that you can read on an ordinary computer screen (no e-book reader required) or print out at your convenience.
Our mission is to reach as many parents as we can with this practical and helpful new resource we have created. I hope you’ll use the new “ShareThis” feature on the blog to tell your friends!
Mojo Mom Podcast with Renee Trudeau and The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal
This week I continue my podcast conversations with Courageous Parents, Confident Kids book contributors, talking to Renee Trudeau about the absolutely essential need for mothers to practice self-care. Renee knows that it’s not always easy to practice self care–we each live that challenge every day, and Renee provides a warm and wise voice to help support and guide us. What I love most about Renee’s work is that she is committed to helping each woman unlock her own potential and talents, and showing us how to work together with other women to bring out the best in each of us.
Listen in to this week’s show:
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Renee Trudeau has written extensively about self-care in her book “The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal,” and her training that teaches women how to form and facilitate their own Personal Renewal Groups. Podcast host Amy Tiemann has also written about self-care as a core principle in “Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family.” So these two have a lot to talk about!
Listen in to find out why mothers in particular have a hard time claiming their own self care as a top priority, why it’s really important to learn how to do so, and how to get started. Then make sure you register on MojoMom.com to reserve a free digital download of the new book that is a collaboration between Amy, Renee, and 12 other experts, “Courageous Parents, Confident Kids–Letting Go So You Both Can Grow.”
Sign up now and we’ll send you a free digital download of the new book when it’s released on April 19, 2010.
Announcing our Courageous Parents, Confident Kids book cover and contents
I’ve been “in the hive” all winter working on editing the new book, Courageous Parents, Confident Kids — Letting Go So You Both Can Grow. We reached a major milestone today with the creation of our book cover!
My thanks go out to Dunn + Associates Design and illustrator Jane Mjolsness for their stunning work! In the book creation process, things always begin to feel “real” when the cover is done.
The new book will be released in paperback in April, and best of all, you register to get a free digital download of the complete book by signing up on MojoMom.com
I am very excited to share this innovative parenting resource with you, created in collaboration with the following amazing experts who contributed chapters.
Here is a preview of Courageous Parents, Confident Kids — Letting Go So You Both Can Grow
Introduction by the Editor, Amy Tiemann, Ph.D., author of Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family.
Part 1: The Courage to Invest in Your Own Development
The Transformative Power of Self-care by Renee Peterson Trudeau, life coach and author of The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal.
Tools for Career Reinvention by Kella Hatcher and Maryanne Perrin, founders of Balancing Professionals.
Part 2: Developing Your Own Courageous Parenting Style
The Courage to Let Our Kids Solve Their Own Problems by Maya Frost, international lifestyle design expert and author of The New Global Student.
The Courage to Become Your Own Parenting “Expert” by Melissa Stanton, author of The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide. Visit Melissa at www.RealLifeSupportForMoms.com
The Power of Personal Significance for Kids of All Ages by Amy McCready, parent educator and founder of Positive Parenting Solutions.
I’m Worried I Worry Too Much, But How Do I Stop? by Jamie Woolf, leadership expert and author of Mom-In Chief.
Part 3: Real-world Safety Skills for All
Kidpower: Skills for Safety, Skills for Independence by Irene van der Zande, co-founder and Executive Director of Kidpower, Teenpower, Fullpower International.
How to Say Yes to Your Kids’ Online Activities by Linda Criddle, internet safety expert and creator of iLookBothWays.com
Part 4: Finding Your Voice and Raising It for the Community
Becoming a Political Parent: PunditMom on Mothers Raising Their Voices Online by Joanne Bamberger, journalist and PunditMom blogger.
Building a Family-friendly America: Challenge and Progress Through the Eyes of MomsRising.org by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, co-founder and Executive Director of MomsRising.org
It Takes a Motherhood by Cooper Munroe and Emily McKhann, co-creators of the award-winning online community, TheMotherhood.com
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Our goal with Courageous Parents, Confident Kids is to share core concepts and skills you can build upon to become a courageous parent. When you do so, you can experience tremendous growth throughout your whole family, kids and parents included.
Progress on the new anthology: We have a final title!
I’ve been hunkered down this week in book production mode, with my sick kid at home as well! So I haven’t been able to blog very much. But I have major progress to announce. Not only do we have a completed book manuscript, we have a final title for the new anthology coming out this spring.
Courageous Parents, Confident Kids will be published this April. I am very proud of the breadth and depth of expertise and inspiration we’ll be sharing with you through this new book.
Make sure to sign up on MojoMom.com to participate in our free digital download giveaway, and we’ll send you a digital copy of the brand new book when it comes out!
More details to come…for the next major milestone, I will unveil the book’s cover design!
Top 10 Courage Boosters and
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