Tag Archives: Slow Family Movement

Last updated by suzlipman at August 1, 2013.

‘Fed Up with Frenzy’ Blog Tour Coming to a Screen Near You

Posted on July 30, 2012 | 9 comments

As many of you know, my book, Fed Up with Frenzy: Slow Parenting in a Fast-Moving World, will be out August 1.

I am very eager for you to learn about all the fun ideas and projects I’ve collected to help your family slow down and reconnect. To do that, I’ve assembled an all-star team of bloggers to join the Fed Up with Frenzy Blog Tour to share their thoughts about the book and some of the ideas and projects inside.

Here is a partial list of bloggers and dates on the Fed Up with Frenzy Blog Tour. Please visit their sites for reviews, activities, tips and book giveaways! (And also, because they’re all wonderful sites with great information about kids, crafts, gardening, nature, free play, education, slowing down, creativity and family fun!)

August 1 Power of Slow Review

August 2 Grass Stain Guru Guest post

August 4 Exploring Portland’s Natural Areas Review

August 7 Red, White & Grew Guest post

August 9 Slow Family Living Review/Activity

August 15 Fun Orange County Parks Review

August 17 Let Children Play Guest post

August 22 Jen Spends Review

August 24 Becentsable Review

August 27 Real Moms Love to Eat Recipe

August 28 A Place Like This Review

September 5 Rhythm of the Home Guest post

September 5 Mummy’s Product Reviews Review

September 6 Jump into a Book Review

September 6 Modern Day Moms Review

September 7 7 on a Shoestring Review

September 8 Dad of Divas Review

September 10 Go Explore Nature Interview

September 12 Active Kids Club Podcast!

September 13 Love, Life, Family and Then Some Review

September 14 Go Explore Nature Activity

September 14 Adventures of the Alpha Mom Review

September 15 What Mama Wants Review

September 18 Traveling Mel Review/Activity

September 19 Allison Abramson Review

September 20 Imagination Soup Review

September 21 Chi-Town Cheapskate Review

September 21 Frugal Mama Review

September 24 Go Gingham Review

September 24 Adventures of the Alpha Wife Review

September 25 Play Equals Peace Interview

September 26 A Little Yumminess Review/Recipe

September 27 Bright Copper Kettles Review/Craft

September 28 Parent Palace Review

October 1 Noble Mother Review

October 2 Frugal Mama Guest post

October 3 A Little Bite of Life Review

October 4-18 The WELL Inkwell Online Discussion

October 8 Love, Live, Grow Review

October 12 Skinny Mom Review

October 15-24 Erin Goodman 10-day Family Recharge

October 17 Erin Goodman Review

October 20 I’m a Teacher, Get me Outside Here Review

November 14 Mama Scout Review

November 15 Frog Mom Blog Review and Activity

November 27 Salt and Nectar Web chat

December 4 Bliss Beyond Naptime Audio, Frenzy-Free Holiday
Plus Video, Simplicity Parenting with Rhythm

December 7 Polliwog on Safari Review

January 3 Non-Toxic Kids Review

July 27 Hill Babies Review

Dates To Be Announced (this site will update):

Life as Mom

Nature Moms

Ask a Nanny

The Movement Academy Project

Connecting Family and Seoul

Would you like to join the blog tour? Please give me a shout. I’d be thrilled to have you join.

Blog tour badge by my talented husband, and the book’s illustrator, Lippy.

Tweet This Post

9 Comments

Posted in Community, Crafts, Deck Garden, Giveaway, Holidays, Home Ec., Lost Arts, Nature, Play, Reading, Recipes, Seasons, Slow News, Sustainability, The Great Outdoors, To Market

Tagged Fed Up With Frenzy, Food Blogs, Frenzied Famiies, Frenzy Book, Garden Blogs, Helicopter Parents, Mom Blogs, Overscheduled Children, Overscheduled Kids, Slow Family Living, Slow Family Movement, Slow Family Online, Susan Sachs Lipman, Suz Lipman

Slow News: Slow Family Movement Featured in USA Today

Posted on October 10, 2011 | 1 comment

Slow Parenting is in the news again, as more and more parents are discovering that dialing back the amount of organized and scheduled activities for kids can lead to more family time and the sense of fun and calm that accompany it.

USA Today just featured the slow family movement, in an article that originally appeared in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, and features my compatriots at Slow Family Living, Bernadette Noll and Carrie Contey, whose workshops, workbooks and wisdom have been helping families slow down.

The article shares the ways in which some families have chosen to slow down and their creative solutions for making family time fun, meaningful and a source of memories and bonding.

Much current research backs up the need for the kinds of free play and family togetherness that doesn’t happen when children are constantly engaged in organized activities. Some of this thinking comes from Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, author of Building Resilience in Children and Teens, who assures us, “There are no more valuable means of promoting success and happiness in children than the tried, trusted, and traditional methods of play and family togetherness.”

Perhaps that’s something to think about as we enter the busy holiday season.

Time Magazine Cover Story: Can These Parents be Saved?

Posted on November 19, 2009 | Leave a comment

Just out today, it’s already making the rounds as Time magazine’s most e-mailed story, its new cover piece: Can These Parents be Saved?

” … We just wanted what was best for our kids”, Nancy Gibbs’ piece begins, before detailing the ways in which extreme, fear-based safety practices, and efficiency models best left at the corporation door began infecting childhood. She writes:

We were so obsessed with our kids’ success that parenting turned into a form of product development.

The backlash against overparenting has come, she says, in part driven by changes in the economy:

… a third of parents have cut their kids’ extracurricular activities. They downsized, downshifted and simplified because they had to — and often found, much to their surprise, that they liked it.

The article is a fascinating snapshot of the conundrums many parents face. We want to protect our children and give them opportunities, yet for some this has come with the dawning realization that many children are overcoddled, over-directed, and robbed of down time, free play, exploration, and the confidence and mastery that can come with making ones own discoveries and mistakes. In short, it’s the realization that, for all the attention, we are not doing our kids any favors.

Gibbs quotes Slow Movement pioneers Carl Honore and the Slow Family Living workshop folks, whom I have blogged about at length, as well as Lenore Skenazy, whose book, Free-Range Kids, is a tome of common-sense parenting in an often hysterical age.

Last weekend, I attended a lecture by Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, author of A Parent’s Guide to Building Resilience in Children and Teens, which I highly recommend, as it walks parents through the set of tools children need to grow and prosper. Ginsburg cautioned against the perfectionistic streak in many parents who unwittingly add stress to their children’s lives by trying to professionalize their activities, and by being involved in harmful, rather than fruitful, guiding ways — including attempting to eliminate stress, rather than teach children ways to cope with inevitable stress.

I was struck, too, when Ginsburg said that creativity was a component many young adults now lacked. This was exhibiting itself in an inflexibility in the workplace and in relationships, no matter the field. How to foster creativity in the young? Play with them, encourage them to play on their own or direct the play (if you’re involved). In short, have fun and get out of the way.

For more Slow Family Online pieces about children, slow (joyful) parenting and play, see:

Gopnick: Babies Learn by Playing

Why Can’t She Walk to School?

An End to Overparenting?

Huffington Post Book Club Pick: In Praise of Slowness

About Slow Family Online