The Consciously Parenting Project

The Consciously Parenting Project To join our discussion community, please request to join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/consciouslyparentingcommunity

We're an International organization dedicated to creating resources based on the latest research to create connection in families. We provide classes, both in person and online, workshops, retreats, teleseminars, articles, a DVD, and books. Appointments available via phone, Zoom, or in person by appointment only in Palm Harbor, FL

Episode 3 of Thriving Humans is live.Today we're talking about what kids need as they grow — using the Circle of Securit...
05/15/2026

Episode 3 of Thriving Humans is live.

Today we're talking about what kids need as they grow — using the Circle of Security framework to explore ages 4 and 8 specifically.

What does it mean to be a secure base for a four-year-old? What does an eight-year-old actually need from us, and why does unstructured play matter so much?

But here's the part that surprised me when we recorded this:

The ages that are hardest to parent are often the ages that were hardest for us to live through. Whatever was happening for you at 4 — that's what your body remembers when your child is 4. Same for 8. Same for every age.

So this episode isn't only for parents. It's for anyone who wants to understand why certain ages still feel charged.

Listen wherever you get podcasts. (Link in bio.)

Reflection: What was happening for you at age 4 or age 8? What did you need then?

One of the things Meredith and I dig into in Episode 2 is what we thought we'd parent differently — and what we actually...
05/14/2026

One of the things Meredith and I dig into in Episode 2 is what we thought we'd parent differently — and what we actually did parent differently.

Some patterns we broke clean. We did the opposite of what was done to us, on purpose, and our kids got something different.

Some patterns we kept and didn't realize we were keeping. We were so focused on the patterns we were determined to break that other ones slipped through. Our kids inherited those.

And some patterns are still being revealed to us, by adult children who are kind enough to mention them.

This is the actual work of conscious parenting. Not perfect parenting. Not breaking every cycle. Just being willing to keep noticing.

Tomorrow: Episode 3 drops. We continue the conversation, this time looking at what kids need at ages 4 and 8 — and what those ages have to do with our own histories.

Subscribe so you don't miss it.

Mark your calendar.Meredith and I are hosting a Radical Rest Retreat the weekend of June 19-21. Online, from wherever yo...
05/13/2026

Mark your calendar.

Meredith and I are hosting a Radical Rest Retreat the weekend of June 19-21. Online, from wherever you are.

What we mean by "radical rest" isn't sleeping in or taking a vacation. It's discovering the kinds of rest your particular nervous system actually needs — and giving yourself permission to have them. There are at least seven kinds of rest, and most of us are running low on three or four of them at once.

The retreat is built around helping you notice what your body has been asking for — and what's been getting in the way.

Registration opens soon. We'll send the details once the page is fully ready. For now: save the date.

June 19-21. Online. Limited spots.

Most of us are still moving through the world as the version of ourselves we were five, ten, twenty years ago. The roles...
05/12/2026

Most of us are still moving through the world as the version of ourselves we were five, ten, twenty years ago. The roles we took on. The identities we built. The way we learned to be in order to belong.

But you've changed since then. You've been through things. You've learned things. You've outgrown things.

Who are you now?

Not who were you. Not who do you think you should be. Who is actually here, today, in this body, looking out at this life?

Some of you may notice the answer doesn't match the way you've been living. That's information. You don't have to do anything with it yet — just notice.

If the old versions aren't working, you have permission to be someone different now. You don't need anyone else's permission. You don't need a reason that satisfies other people.

You get to decide who you are.

The plan dissolved. The baby arrived. Whatever we thought we knew got rewritten by reality.Episode 2 of Thriving Humans ...
05/11/2026

The plan dissolved. The baby arrived. Whatever we thought we knew got rewritten by reality.

Episode 2 of Thriving Humans is out — Meredith and I get honest about the gap between the sitcom version of parenting and the actual thing. The patterns we broke. The patterns we didn't notice we were keeping. The slow, messy work of figuring it out as we went.

Whether you're parenting right now, long past it, or just trying to make sense of the family you came from — there's something in this conversation for you.

Listen wherever you get podcasts. (Link in first comment.)

Today is Mother's Day.However it's landing for you, whether it is tender, complicated, joyful, painful, all of those at ...
05/10/2026

Today is Mother's Day.

However it's landing for you, whether it is tender, complicated, joyful, painful, all of those at once, you get to choose how you move through it.

You can choose to be with people, or alone. You can choose to celebrate the mothers in your life, or grieve the ones who aren't here, or sit with the complexity of mothers who are still here but couldn't be the mother you needed. You can choose to step away from the holiday entirely if it isn't yours.

If you're a mother yourself, you can choose what receiving looks like today. You can let people make you breakfast, or you can ask for the morning alone. You can choose to be present with your children, or take a long walk by yourself. You can choose to feel proud of the mothering you've done, or grieve the ways it didn't go how you imagined.

Whatever today is, your feelings about it are information. Not a problem. Not something to fix. Information.

What does today ask of you, and what will you choose?

You get to decide what is best for you.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day.A day that means something different to every person who reads this. Sweet for some. Complicate...
05/09/2026

Tomorrow is Mother's Day.

A day that means something different to every person who reads this. Sweet for some. Complicated for some. Heavy for some.

Whatever the day holds for you, you have choices.

You can choose how to spend it. You can choose what to feel without judging the feeling. You can choose who to call and who to skip. You can choose to celebrate, or grieve, or rest, or all three.

Take a moment today to ask yourself: what do I want tomorrow to look like?

You get to decide.

A weekend reflection as Thriving Humans takes shape:I've been at this work under different names, different frames for a...
05/09/2026

A weekend reflection as Thriving Humans takes shape:

I've been at this work under different names, different frames for almost three decades. What I'm realizing is that the slow building has been the gift. None of this happened overnight. I learned what I needed to learn at the speed I could learn it.

If you're in a season of slow building yourself, wherever it is, whatever it's for, this is your reminder that slow doesn't mean stuck. Slow can be the right pace.

Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is honor your actual speed.

A reframe I keep coming back to:We've been taught that rest is what we do AFTER we live. We can rest after the work is d...
05/08/2026

A reframe I keep coming back to:

We've been taught that rest is what we do AFTER we live. We can rest after the work is done, the kids are asleep, the to-do list is finished. But the to-do list is never finished. So we never get there.

What if rest is the ground? Not the reward. The foundation. The thing you stand on while you live, not the thing you collapse into when you can't live anymore.

What changes when you treat rest as foundational instead of optional?

One of the moments from Episode 1 that I keep thinking about.So many of us have been told that exhaustion is a problem t...
05/07/2026

One of the moments from Episode 1 that I keep thinking about.

So many of us have been told that exhaustion is a problem to fix with more sleep, more vitamins, more discipline. But there's a kind of tired that doesn't come from any of those things. It comes from living in a way that isn't actually ours.

If you've been feeling that, you're not alone. You're also not broken.

Episode 1 of the Thriving Humans podcast is live now. We talk about exactly this: the kind of tired sleep doesn't fix, and what it actually takes to come home to yourself.

Listen on Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2614745/episodes/19110762​). Apple + Spotify coming soon.

Address

526 Alt 19
Palm Harbor, FL
34683

Telephone

+17274871333

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Consciously Parenting Project posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share