by Our Nourishing Partner, Nourishrds

“So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed)”  ~ Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

Not only can we learn so much from listening to the unbiased, unfiltered and innocent thoughts of children, we can also learn a lot from their storybooks.  Thank you, Dr. Seuss.

The Great Balancing Act is something that seems to get more difficult—rather than easier—as the years go on.  For the most part, children have it mastered.  They take time to sleep, eat, play, explore, learn, grow, laugh and cry.  As adults, we tend to lose that concept of balance.  We hardly even take the time to sit down and enjoy a well-balanced meal, let alone play.  Eating in your car doesn’t count. 
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The Emotional Complexities of Pregnancy

by Jeanne Faulkner, Contributing Writer

You can’t really know, what it’s like to have a baby on board until you’re knee-deep into it.  You think it’s going to be a certain way…and it is…but then you learn it’s also something entirely different.  It’s like those pictures that create the optical illusions:  Is it a face or a vase?  Turns out it’s both.  Pregnancy’s like that. Sure, it’s transcendent and miraculous, but it’s also kind of disgusting and uncomfortable.  To say it’s unlike any other physical or emotional experience is self-indulgent and unrealistic (it’s a universal experience shared by millions and millions of people all over the world every year), but it’s also spot-on accurate (no two parents or pregnancies are exactly alike).  The highs are exhilarating and the lows get really down and dirty. It’s hard to get your balance when you don’t know where the floor is from one minute to the next.  Pregnancy’s like that. 
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NATIONAL SURVEY FINDS TODAY’S ‘NEW DAD’ CARING, COMMITTED AND CONFLICTED ABOUT FINDING WORK-LIFE FIT

Boston College Center for Work & Family Released Expansive Study for Father’s Day 2011

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (June 15, 2011) – Today’s dads want to share equally in the duties of raising their children, but most acknowledge that they are not yet doing that, according to a new survey of nearly 1,000 fathers by the Boston College Center for Work & Family.
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Dads can be part of  a Big League Team, a family, with a Big League Dream.

In response to the dramatic trend towards fatherlessness in America, the National Center for Fathering and Fathers.com provides practical, research-based training and resources that equip men in virtually every fathering situation to be involved fathers.

Dads can balance their field, Work – Home – Life, by having a “Playbook” with a Championship Fathering Commitment. (click to listen to Carey Casey, CEO, for the National Center for Fathering and Fathers.com)

Research at the National Center for Fathering identified three key fundamentals of Championship Fathering:  Loving, Coaching, and Modeling 

3 Key Plays:   Loving Coaching Modeling

Loving - Time, talk, and touch to nurture our children as well as honor and respect their mother. Watch this video for a moving example of a father’s love.

Coaching – Shaping a child includes being highly involved and being aware of the child’s needs and interests. This video reveals how a coach (and a father) can motivate and empower.

Modeling – We need consistency as we live out the values we want to transmit to our children. Watch this video about the power—and the responsibility—of being a role model.

To truly make a difference in our culture, fathers also need to Encourage Other Kids and Enlist Other Dads  (Read More…)