Balancing the wants and needs of the whole family

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Balancing the wants and needs of the whole family

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It's normal for your child to want your complete and utter attention every moment of the day; that's developmentally normal and healthy. It's not healthy for you to give that attention all of the time, 100% of the time. It's not realistic or reasonable because there are things that you need to do as a parent. You need to make dinner. Parenting is such a hard job. Parenting can be exhausting. Babies and toddlers have so many wants and needs, and it's true that they need a lot of your time and attention. But they also need and deserve time on their own. And they need to learn, we talk about in the beginning, we cooperate much more with the baby. And slowly we ask them to cooperate more with us. It is about balancing the wants and the needs of everyone in the family, not the parent giving until they have nothing left to give. In order to be a good parent to your baby, you also need to take care of yourself. And so sometimes it's okay to say, "Mommy's going to finish doing this, and then I can help you. I know that you want me to come and play with you. i need to finish making the dinner and then I'll be with you."

See Lisa Sunbury, MA's video on Balancing the wants and needs of the whole family...

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Lisa Sunbury, MA

Parent Educator

Lisa Sunbury has dedicated her life to caring for, supporting, and advocating for infants, toddlers, and their parents. She has over 20 years experience working in the field of Early Childhood Education, in a variety of roles. After earning a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Lesley University, she worked as a nanny, and as an infant/toddler teacher in several respected childcare programs. While attending a workshop led by Diana Suskind, which focused on the unique needs of infants and toddlers in child care centers, she was introduced to Magda Gerber’s philosophy of infant care. Intrigued by Magda’s work, she went on to study with her for three years at the original home of RIE (Resources For Infant Educarers), in Silver Lake, California. There she earned a certificate of completion in the program to become a RIE Associate. She has taught RIE Foundations through University of California Santa Barbara, presented at several early childhood conferences, and had her writing published in the RIE Newsletter and the Giant Encyclopedia of Activities for Infants and Toddlers. Her most recent work has included growing her website, Regarding Baby, and caring for a wonderful family that includes two young children. She maintains professional memberships with the National Association of Early Childhood Education (NAEYC) and RIE, and is proud to serve on the board at Santa Cruz Toddler Center.

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