I had another food experience this month that I have not had the chance to write about on the website. I was having reactions to Martel asking me to cook or prepare certain foods and then once he tasted it, deciding he did not want to eat it for one reason or another. As my annoyance grew one day, I stopped myself and thought about what I really wanted for Martel and his relationship to food. What I realized was that Martel having a healthy relationship with food and only eating when he was hungry and the foods that were right for him were more important than my inconvenience.

It reminded me that I am in this spiral of learning and that even though sometimes I think I have completed the learning I need to about a particular issue, I will often come back to it from a new viewpoint, like a spiral. Learning is not linear, but rather more like a spiral where we come back to certain things over and over again, but hopefully from further up the spiral as we integrate our new learning into our lives. I will be talking about this issue more on a conference call with Barb Lundgren on July 28th. You’ll see more information about joining me on this call at the end of the newsletter.

Although I have not had much chance to post new articles on Parenting for Social Change, I have been involved in several interviews on-line and had an article published in a new digital magazine.

The other big news is that I am working on a book that builds on the articles on my website. Look for this book to be published before the end of the year. I will keep you updated on my book progress throughout the summer and fall.

Here are links to some of the interviews on-line where you can hear me talking about parenting and the process of overcoming our socialization and supporting children in becoming who they are.

Rethinking Everything Magazine

Interview with Sarah Parent on Co-Creator Network

The Sociable Homeschooler

Freedom and Responsibility Conference Calls

On July 28 at 12 noon CST Barb and I will be discussing The Spiral of Learning, Growth, Freedom, and Responsibility.
The idea of learning as a spiral comes from Paulo Freire’s discussion of praxis (action and reflection). It is the notion that learning is more like a spiral than a linear progression of knowledge and skill development. For us as parents, rather than progressing linearly, we will often revisit the same challenges. When we consciously reflect on our actions, we hopefully revisit the issue from a perspective that is further up the spiral, requiring thoughtful work on our part. We hope to talk with all participants about the thoughtful process that is required of us as we challenge ourselves to upgrade our actions, our communication with children and teens and move to a place of real confidence and unconditionality.

To participate in the conference call, dial in at noon CST July 28th to 1-218-862-1300, conference code 537274.

To learn about all 7 conference calls, you can visit the Rethinking Everything Conference home page and click on Freedom and Responsibility Conference Calls in the right hand column.

Thanks again for all your support! If you plan to attend the Rethinking Everything Conference over labor day weekend in Dallas, please drop me an e-mail at tbrett @ parentingforsocialchange.com. I would love to meet up!

All the best, Teresa