One of the things that bothers me to no end is how fathers are underappreciated. I won’t ever forget how, despite his exhaustion and the emotional toll of worrying about his wife and baby, no one took care of my husband during our baby’s birth. The most ironic part of this story is that because… Read More Helping My Husband (Not): How The Best Intentions Can Go Wrong
Every parent I know had a certain image of what life would be like with their children. And every parent I have talked to tell me the same thing: that life with their children is not all like what they thought it would be. What happens next is also really interesting and has got me… Read More Enjoying the Reality Instead of Grieving the Fantasy of Parenthood
Speaking of guilt: I’m a very avid advice seeker. I mean, why not prevent things from happening by getting the advice to do just that, rather than fall into the same trap as others have? And so, right after we got married, my husband and I started reaching out to our generous and loving friends… Read More Dealing with Parent Guilt: Some of the Best Advice I Got
This is a very difficult post to write, mostly because of the sensitivity of the topic at hand. But please bear with me—I think it is an important topic that we, as members of a community, really need to deeply think about and, hopefully, be inspired to do something about. There is something so horrific… Read More From Nurturing to The Opposite: The Dark Forces that Take Mothers from One to the Other
Someone asked me a really interesting question recently. She asked me: are you teaching or educating a child? My initial response made me look like a wide-eyed deer caught in the glare of oncoming headlights. After a few clarifying questions though, I realised that her view is actually really thought-provoking, and thankfully she was OK… Read More Teaching or Educating: What is the Difference, if there is any?
Just like so many others around me, I have been struggling with my relationship with mistakes (as reflected in this, this, and this post). The beacons lighting the way to a better me become major obstacles to my development when they are seen as negative feedback. Taking the time to observe a baby at play… Read More Learning From The Little Ones: Daily Lessons In Perseverance
A post I wrote back in September 2008 about doing your best out of fear triggered a reflection on the difference between disciplining your child versus teaching your child discipline. My husband and I feel strongly that we do not want to discipline our child in the sense of saying no to everything we think… Read More Teaching Discipline Rather Than Disciplining
I am a bit of a nerd, just in case you haven’t noticed yet. I love reading studies and reflecting on the implications of the results found. However, I also can be quite harsh when it comes to studies that demonstrate a combination of laxity in their data analysis and over-confidence in their interpretation. I… Read More Parenting and Marital Happiness: Not Mutually Exclusive
The way I understand the Bahá’í Writing, we are created in the image of God, and we can understand Him better by working on the various aspects of our spiritual selves. I also understand that we are told that one of the main purposes of marriage is to have children. It makes sense to me… Read More The Life of a Parent: Gaining Insight into a Different Kind of Love
My blogging journey—an incredible, fulfilling one that has given me so much—started almost nine and a half years ago right here in Sahar’s Blog. I never intended to stop blogging—that is, until I had a baby. I had always intended to take a short hiatus when each of my children was born. When my first… Read More Why I Decided To Take Precious Time Away From My Baby To Start Blogging Again