Conscious parenting? What's that?

Conscious parenting? What's that? Aren't all parents conscious?

I've never heard the phrase until now, but I think I agree with what it's about. Many parents walk past their misbehaving kids, ignoring bad behavior on their way to work, the computer, the visitors. Many parents choose to distract their children in the midst of a fit and therefore, decide to completely miss out on a great disciplining and teaching opportunity. Many say "kids will be kids" and fight no battles instead of saying "kids are kids, but that's no excuse for their whiny bratty attitudes". Some of them just yell on and on without actually addressing the issues at hand.

I confess, at one point or another, I have been guilty of these things. Especially now that I have two. It's so hard to address every single act of rebellion, every raised voice, each unjust act done against a friend or sibling. And all with a loving and nurturing attitude and tone of voice. It takes soooooo much effort and time. It takes true consciousness. Some days, I feel as though all I did was discipline and redirect.

Michael over at Is This Co-Parenting? explains conscious parenting in her guest post for Bellies and Babies. I don't agree with every single thing, but over all, I think conscious parenting is extremely important for mothers and fathers to strive for. Showing our children respect will teach them to respect others. Not letting them get away with both negative actions as well as negative attitudes is vital in teaching them how to love their neighbor. Bribing, turning our eyes, giving in-these things might spare us seconds of embarrassment in a grocery store, but it's doing our children a disservice. We must always be thinking long term.

Sometimes I measure the success of my day by how many loads of laundry I finished. If it's clean AND been put away, even better! I want to encourage all you parents out there-if the house is a wreck and you had cereal for dinner, but your children's hearts and minds were cared for, then it's been a good day. A successful day. It's the stage of life we are in. Let's embrace it.

It's a battle worth fighting. Honestly, if we don't take interest in our kids during these early years, who will? And the early years, they go by so fast.

Thoughts? Comments? Has anyone read up on "conscious parenting"? Am I way behind in all this??

**we had this exact discussion in our adult Sunday School class yesterday at church...I still have SO much to learn from other parents. Parents who have TEENAGERS, AH!