Trustful Parenting

I was made aware of an interesting article today:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200908/trustful-parenting-may-require-alternative-conventional-schooling

This is the type of parent I would like to become. Right now, I am the quintissential helicopter mom. I have, however, started asking whether she wants my help, so perhaps I am taking baby steps towards trustful parenting. I like to think so. I'd like to be the calm, relaxed mom who accepts the chaotic nature of learning (and life) and teaches her daughter to respect and enjoy that aspect. In reality, I am the Ms. Clean of the universe, constantly scrubbing surfaces with her handy dandy Magic Erasers (which are truly fab, by the way. I can't tell you all the surfaces I've shined with them.)

We read all these delightful picture books and my favorite author/illustrator is Kevin Henkes. He draws the type of family I would love for us to be: relaxed, disheveled, busy, creative. Unfortunately, I have a long-standing disagreement with dishevelment. Somehow, I think homeschooling is going to teach me more than it ever teaches DD.

She is as busy as ever, writing stories and signs and advertisements for her ever-expanding art museum. I've made a real effort to read more picture books this week (somehow the day was getting by without reading any. Horrors!) and we've discovered the magic of the Magic School Bus. Long live Ms. Frizzle (soon to become another of my heroines, I think)!