Have you heard of Mothering.com? Mothering is a wonderful attachment parenting magazine and they have an amazing discussion board on their web site. I’ve been a member since Princess was about 6 months old and they only had 1000 members. Now they have almost 80,000 members so things have really grown over the years. I don't spend much time there nowadays; I usually find myself only heading over to the gentle discipline forum every now and again, mostly because I only have so much computer time and blogging has taken over most of that. Imagine my surprise when I logged on over there for the first time in a while (can you say 3 year old power struggles?) to discover they have set up a whole workshop on racism.

You can listen to the introductory podcast here and then head on over to the forum and take a look at the first exercise - A Conversation about Race. You don't have to be a member to read, but if you want to join in the discussion you'll have to register (and no, I'm not telling what my user name is!). I've found this to be extremely interesting and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. Tell me what you think!

While you're over there, you might consider taking a few minutes to explore the rest of boards. Even if you are not an attachment parenting advocate, there is a wealth of useful information; especially for adoptive parents who tend to use attachment parenting techniques to help foster attachment. The babywearing board is great for any and all talk about baby carriers. They can just go on and on about slings, etc. over there. You may also find the Family Bed and Nighttime Parenting forum helpful if you are interested in bringing your child into the family bed to help with bonding. Interested in cloth diapers? This forum will be right up your alley; these women can wax poetically about prefolds vs. fitteds all day long.

I also recommend checking out:

~Nutrition and Good Eating - great information about eating healthy and cooking for young kids.

~Mindful Home Management - this is where I learned I could clean everything in my house with just vinegar and baking soda (not that I do, but I could!)

~Mothers Writing Group - I've always been to chicken to join. I'm not a good writer!

~Spirituality - a wonderful place to respectfully explore different spiritual paths and talk to others who share yours.

~Health and Healing - I love this forum and have learned a lot here.

OK, I know I sound like I work for the company but really I don't! Promise. I have learned a lot at Mothering and have found it to be a great resource but like everything it needs to be taken in moderation. Some topics discussed there really push my comfort zone and some opinions expressed I sincerely and completely disagree with. You have to take the bad with the good and weed out what doesn't work for you.

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posted at 12:40 PM  
Labels: Adoption, Family, Kids, Transracial Parenting