What is Gentle Parenting?
Gentle Parenting here at The Gentle Parenting Institute means something slightly different for everyone, but I like to think there are some basic overlying principles. Like respect, and channeling empathy towards others; patience; forgiveness of self. It draws from parenting philosophies such as Attachment Parenting, Conscious Parenting, and RIE, and I like to pull in child-centered educational philosophies as well like Montessori, Reggio, and Waldorf. I try to base everything on the basic principles of behavior, since the science of behavior is the foundation of, well, everything we DO. I believe that when parents have an understanding of the science, combined with the philosophies of respectful parenting and child-rearing, we have a wonderful and all-encompassing approach called Gentle Parenting that can be applied to SO MUCH MORE than just parenting. Learning about and knowing these theories and principles impacts how you relate to others; builds your own skills in empathy, makes you a kinder, more patient person. It changes your life for the better. During one of our parenting classes, I asked the question “What does Gentle Parenting mean to you?” and received one of the most inspiring answers:
”Gentle Parenting means building a relationship with my child; getting to know who she is as a person and having a strong relationship with her as she grows. I have a great relationship with my own mother, and I want the same thing for my daughter and I.”
Building strong relationships. That’s the foundation of Gentle Parenting. Because when we can build strong relationships with our children, based on trust and love, we’ll have stronger families, healthier people, and a stronger world.
A Message From Our Founder, Kristen MacNeil, MA/CAS, LBA
Who I am, and How was GPI started?
Hi! My name is Kristen and I am a Licensed Behavior Analyst with a background in School Psychology.
In 2012 I was pregnant with my first little one. I was super nervous about a lot of things (like any other first-time mom). Many of those things revolved around the stress of feeding, sleep training, potty training, disciplining…etc. Everything I thought I knew just seemed so…harsh. Rigid. I skimmed through some mainstream parenting books and immediately put them down. Just the stress I felt reading them was enough to make me feel like a baby was a burden, not the small, amazing human I was miraculously bringing into existence.
When I had my little girl I decided I would parent her by instinct. After all, parenting books didn’t always exist, right? My daughter had trouble sleeping on her own, so I brought her into bed with us. I was terrible at maintaining feeding schedules, so I simply nursed her whenever she seemed hungry. Naturally, I was questioned about some of my decisions and I figured I should look for some things, like research or articles, to back me up. That’s when I stumbled across The Other Baby Book: A Natural Approach to Baby’s First Year, by Megan McGrory Massaro and Miriam J. Katz. I felt so validated in everything I had been doing. More searching led me to other folks promoting positive parenting, gentle parenting, attachment parenting, and so on. I loved it. It felt so natural because it WAS natural. It was parenting instinctually.
I also started noticing that behavior science was the undercurrent of parenting this way. And I just so happen to know a little about that… So this leads me here: my journey in Gentle Parenting, using behavior analysis methodologies as tools to help me be the parent I want to be. I really hope you find my posts useful, helpful, and encouraging. Thank you for visiting!
I love hearing from you! You can get in touch with me here:
info@gentleparentinginstitute.com
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