Wordless Wednesday: AP with Older Kids
Written by NPN_Admin on January 5th, 2011
Attachment Parenting, Parenting Philosophies, Wordless Wednesday
This week we asked: How do you continue to practice attachment parenting with children who are past the baby stage?
From Saundra: “Anya (age 10) and I at a three-day outdoor music festival. Leave her at home with a sitter?
Oh, NO!!! We dance together!”
From Shannon: “This is my friend Willow with my daughter. I used to help Willow’s mother every summer when Willow was little. Her mother is one of the ones who taught me how to parent in an attached way. It has been a joy and an honor to know her kids as they grow into loving and family-connected adults.”
Shannon blogs at Pineapples & Artichokes.
AP with older kids means celebrating the first lost tooth, even as it pains you to watch them grow up!
Tannah’s mom, Shae, blogs at Yay for Home! She also wrote one of this week’s fabulous theme posts, “Attachment Parenting With Older Children,” which gives thoughtful encouragement and suggestions for continuing the connection as your children grow.
From Deb: “My husband and I practiced AP with our older children through homeschooling, always being there for them, and spending lots of happy family time throughout their lives. This is a photo of Will (18), Terry, me, and Christina (13) in Central Park during a homeschool/family trip to New York City that we took in combination with Will’s Professional Skaters Association conference in Connecticut in May 2003.”
Deb blogs at LivingMontessoriNow.com, where you can read more about Deb’s homeschooling experiences with her now-adult children.
From Jessica: “This is what our bed looks like most nights. Definitely a family bed!”
Taryn (6 years old), Peyton (3 years old), Daisy (about 4 months)
Jessica blogs at Magical Madness.
AP is passing attachment values on to the younger generation. Christy’s daughter Kimmy, age 2.5, wears her Pablo doll in the Baby Bjorn carrier.
Christy blogs at 3 Moms and a Kitchen and her personal blog, Adventures in Mommyhood.
From Dionna: “As Kieran rolls into his preschool years, we are finding that attachment parenting fits our needs more than ever. Gentle, respectful parenting has established an incredible foundation of love and trust, one that we want to continue throughout Kieran’s childhood. (And our preschooler isn’t too big for continued breastfeeding, babywearing, or cosleeping, either!)”
Dionna blogs at Code Name: Mama.
Emma gets some much-needed Mama cuddles — big kids need physical contact, too!
(photo credit: Mona @ kirida dot com)
Daddy takes time to get down on the floor and play games with Emma.
Kristin blogs at Intrepid Murmurings.
From Mama Mo: “I’m the ‘older child’ in this picture. My mom attachment parented all three of us before there was a name for it. Attachment parenting never truly ends! My mom has influenced so many parents (current and future) through her example and advocacy. This is a picture of us together during my pregnancy with twins, who are now being naturally parented with lots of help from Nana!”
Mama Mo blogs at Attached at the Nip.
Tell us: What does AP look like for your family, once your kids are beyond the Baby Bs?
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I love these!
While I’m not at all eager for my daughter to grow up, I look forward to the experiences that naturally parenting an older child will bring! Thanks for sharing these 🙂
It’s great to see how all these older children seem to have such positive relationships with their parents after an AP childhood. Thanks!
I loved seeing the photos of how others are using AP as their children grow older. AP is definitely rewarding throughout the years – and the rewards continue when our children are adults! Thanks for using my photo!
I love all these photos and stories! Thanks so much for submitting them (at the last minute), everyone!
It’s so heartwarming to see how connection can continue even as our children grow.
it’s funny how it never occurred to me before in this context, but the photo and caption from christy @ 3 moms & a kitchen really resonated with me. i’m an attachment parenting nanny who wore the 3 yr old most of her life until her sister came along and i still wear her 20mos old sister quite often. AP really is about passing the principles on to the next generation. when we’re at home, the girls pull out their little backpacks, wear them on their chests and squeeze their baby dolls or cuddle toys between the straps (for an ergo-like effect). they walk around cooing and stroking their little ones, and it melts my heart because i know that i’m doing something right. thanks for posting this.
Aww I love these!!