Greetings!
They want to know...
As a subscriber to API Links, the concept of attachment parenting is certainly one you recognize, probably embrace, and perhaps even advocate. For a great number of people, the concept of parenting with empathy, respect, and fostering secure attachments is unknown, misunderstood, or a decision yet to be considered.
But their curiosity was piqued this month, as indicated by the tremendous amount of increased traffic on the API website--in just one day, API saw a spike of 452% more homepage views, 331% more visits to the API Principles, 1,270% more hits on babywearing, 1,277% more hits on Pregnancy & Childbirth. Many were led to search the internet on attachment parenting, and they discovered API. And that's not to say it's not already a busy site--with thousands of visitors every day representing more than 150 countries last quarter alone.
What got the best of them that particular day was Mayim Bialik, most known for her title role in Blossom, sharing some of her attachment parenting practices.
We applaud Ms. Bialik, though we're sure she would agree that you don't have to be a television star to let people know about the benefits and importance of attachment parenting for children, families, and the world.
Help us let everyone know how they can:
- Prepare for Pregnancy, Birth, and Parenting
- Feed with Love and Respect
- Respond with Sensitivity
- Use Nurturing Touch
- Ensure Safe Sleep, Physically and Emotionally
- Provide Consistent and Loving Care
- Practice Positive Discipline
- Strive for Balance in Personal and Family Life
More on the API Principles of Parenting...
You can email API Links to a friend and be an API star!
We're still basking in the joy of the API 15th Anniversary event, with lots to share with you. And now we're gearing up for AP Month and hope you are, too!
Be sure to check out our next API Live Teleseminar with Ina May Gaskin--spots are filling up fast; our AP Month membership special and contests; a special free forum chat where you can ask questions about marriage and parenting; current and upcoming API Reads discussions; and more.
Sincerely,
Samantha Gray
Executive Director
Attachment Parenting International |
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14 Days and Counting...
October is AP Month! |
Family is forever. And the importance of attachment between parent and child does not end with infancy.
This year's theme--" Attached at the Heart Through the Years"--highlights the fact that our parenting role continues past childhood. Moreover, it's never too late to pursue a great relationship with your child.
Attachment Parenting is a joy-filled parenting style that prepares our children to have happy, healthy relationships the rest of their lives. It enriches the lives of parents and children of all ages.
Set some goals today that will benefit you and your child throughout the years and join in our contests to help celebrate AP Month!
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AP Month contests for fun and inspiration
Deadline: September 30 |
 It takes creativity to be a parent...
...so show it off and have some fun by entering one or more of our 2009 AP Month contests now through September 30. We're celebrating our second annual AP Month this October with a theme of "Attached at the Heart Through the Years," and we're starting now to build involvement, excitement, and awareness. Through our contests, we hope to reflect illustrations of the variety of ways AP manifests in families through the years. Get the whole family involved in AP Month this year--all ages can contribute and enter the:
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15th Anniversary Highlights
A weekend together |
 You know it was good when the top response has been...
..."You should do it again--in every region!"
MP3s and DVDs of the event will be on sale soon in the API Store.
Our overwhelming gratitude for all their generous contributions to API goes to the Think Tank participants, Belmont University, The Copper Kettle, our Grammy-winning artists and their talented children, Roger Day and the Mosquito Burrito Brothers, the silent auction donors, the API Board, and all the many volunteers. Thank you! |
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Parenting News
For your information... |
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Alfie Kohn: When a Parent's 'I Love You' Means 'Do as I Say' in The New York Times. more...
Spanking detrimental to children CNN report on Duke University study. more...
Pets prefer attachment parenting. A Connecticut presentation on animal hoarding and parenting. more...
Early Spankings Make for Aggressive Toddlers, Study Shows. Kids spanked at age 1 also had worse performance on cognitive tests at age 3. more...
Sounding like your mother? "Mothers, but not fathers, follow their own mom's parenting practices" and "fathers who were spanked as children were less likely to spank their own children." more...
Study: being active as a preschooler pays off later in childhood. Being active at age 5 helps kids stay lean as they age even if they don't remain as active later in childhood, a new University of Iowa study shows. more...
Blossoming into parenthood. Interview with Mayim Bialik on parenting. more... |
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Ina May Gaskin: Special Delivery...and Plan B
Monday, Sept. 21 at 9 EST/6 PST |
"Special Delivery: The Gift of Loving Your Best Birth (and Making Peace with Plan B)" with Ina May Gaskin on Monday, September 21.
Spaces are filling up fast!
Join us as we talk with Ina May Gaskin on API Live!
Register now and listen in as API Co-Founder and co-author of Attached at the Heart Barbara Nicholson and former NBC anchor Lu Hanessian discuss natural birthing with Ina May Gaskin.
Submit your questions for Ina May at API Live in advance, and we will try to address them during the call.
You can support API's mission and take advantage of the knowledge and experience Ask API Live's special guest by signing up today. Every dollar of your sign-up fee goes toward education, support, and outreach for parents in need. And don't worry about last-minute conflicts--everyone who signs up will receive a link to download the MP3 the week after the event. |
Marriage and Parenting
Join us October 5-9, free chat with Imago expert |
Give us some feedback in our parenting polls:
"Marriage, Partners and Parenting" is a free API Forum chat series in which parents are encouraged to bring couples questions to the guest host. Our host is an Imago practitioner who will lead and facilitate discussion and offer insights into the unique attachment approach that Imago features. |
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The AP Month Membership special is BACK!
Be sure to get in on it! |
Come celebrate our second annual celebration of AP Month with API. Just as we did last year, we want to celebrate again by bringing back the best month-long membership promotion we have all year, in honor of AP month: Buy one NEW membership and receive one FREE gift membership--what a wonderful way to give the gift of attachment parenting! Some have said that holiday shopping is starting now so why not purchase a new membership and have a one holiday
gift membership already ready to give.
When taking advantage of this promotion, not only are you providing yourself with more tools than ever to help you parent in this mainstream society but you're also giving this same opportunity to a family member, friend, neighbor, etc.
Already a member? Renew your membership and receive 1 FREE MP3 of your choice! You can take advantage of this offer for yourself or give it away as a gift.
This membership promotion starts at the beginning of October--watch the website for details as the next notice won't be until mid-October--and the membership promotion expires October 31, 2009. |
| Your API Book Club
Sleeping with Your Baby -- for those practicing it -- and reading it too |
 We are currently in our second and final month of reading and discussing the book Sleeping With Your Baby by Dr. James McKenna. If you haven't read this book with us as of yet, we invite you to do so so that you can join the discussion. Don't have the book? Come buy it inside the API Store.
There have been quite a few posts regarding what people's sleep arrangements are with their children. Stop by and tell us what your sleep arrangements are so that others can benefit from reading the way your family sleeps comfortably and attached with each other. As an attachment parent, you know that ensuring safe sleep, physically and emotionally, helps our children to trust and welcome the nighttime hours of sleep. Our children will not only be safe but they will recognize that their parents still care for them even into the night. Why not share what your nighttime experience was as you were growing up or share the number one comment you hear the most about bed-sharing or cosleeping? Share this with us inside our forums or our API Reads Yahoo Group.
What book is next on the list? Attachment Parenting:Instinctive Care for Your Baby and Young Child by Katie Allison Granju. Read the following review on the Amazon website from one reader:
"I've read all the Sears books AND the Meredith Small book (all excellent, no doubt about that) and this new book is an important addition to the attachment parenting literature. It is chock full of information that I've never seen or read ANYWHERE else. I am an experienced parent of two, and I found myself taking notes and highlighting sections of this book to show other parents. A few examples are the scientific info on natural ages of weaning from anthrpologist Dettwyler, the strong info on the risks of uneccesary bottle-feeding, the unequivocal condemnation of cry-it-out sleep training, the incredible resource lists, the side-by-side comparison of slings, backpacks and snugli/frontpack-style carriers, the info on breastfeeding and working outside the home... I could go on and on."
We are hoping to secure an author chat with Ms. Katie Granju, so keep posted. But in the meantime, purchase your book so that you can be prepared to jump right into the discussion starting October!
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Visit Our Sponsor
Make plans to attend! Lysa Parker and Barbara Nicholson will be presenting and hosting API's exhibit. There's still time to register!
Celebrate the Magic of Normal Birth at the Lamaze International 2009 Annual Conference in Walt Disney World, Florida, from October 1-4, 2009. |
Roger Day CDs and DVDs on sale now!
Uno, Dos, Tres: API said Hello Sunshine to Roger Day as he participated in API's 15th Anniversary event with a Roly Poly fundraising concert for children and My Invisible Dinosaurs of all ages.
Fifteen years ago, API decided to Dream Big and help get parents Ready to Fly with parenting information and support. Lysa Parker and Barbara Nicholson said, "I Got Hands and we can help parents Turn Off the TV and say I Love You (More Than My Shoe). When there is a Rumble in the Jungle, we can Reach Up and remember Happy Hippos Hopping and that Life is a Miracle."
For all those volunteers and their families who Jump Up and Turn Around and worked so hard to Open Up the Coconut, this concert was in their honor, and children under the age of 1 and who don't know their Rockin' ABCs were free of charge.
Join Helicopter Harry, Zoe, Zachary, and Marvin, the Marvelous Moose, and visit the API Store, to purchase Roger Day CDs and DVDs just in time for the holidays. "We are so grateful to Mosquito Burrito Roger Day," said API event organizer and Parachute Girl Art Yuen. He agreed faster than Tookalamoga the Turtle because he knows It's a No-No to Kiss a Rhino!
About the API event organizers, Roger said, "I like Yaks!"
Can You Point Your Finger at the API Store? Then you can support API with every purchase, and it won't cost My First Loose Tooth.
So, put on your Monster Face before The Goodbye Song (Roger Day products go away after December 31) and get ready to join The Bear Who Sings Boogala, Boogala, Bah, Roger Day!
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| Make a note to contribute today |
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What children's charity do you support?
Supporting API means you're empowering and educating a vital community resource that serves children throughout their lives and engages in cost-effective prevention of problem behaviors: Parents.
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| Support API and serve the API community |
Affordable, Targeted Advertising
If you are an organization, company, or small business and interested in being a sponsor of AP Month--with lots of benefits--we want to hear from you!
Contact Kit Dulin, API's Advertising Manager.
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| API Welcomes New Leaders! |
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Samantha Gray with TriCities Parenting API in East Tennessee! |
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Professional Membership |
| API offers resources and support for professionals working with parents and children and advocating attachment parenting in their practices. |
| Start an API Support Group!
Become an accredited API Leader |
API has updated the reading list to include a variety of media options in order to accommodate different learning styles. The reading list (now available for applicants after they have submitted their paperwork) includes books, DVDs, CDs, and websites.
Applicants will be required to read Attached at the Heart by Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker, Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg, and Hold On To Your Kids by Gordon Neufeld. In addition, applicants pick four other resources from our list to review. Leaders may assist applicants by finding resources to review and holding monthly book club gatherings to discuss one or more of the required materials.
Bring API to your community, and we'll help and support you. |
| Shop and support API
Cafe Press and the API Store |
API's Store is open for business and growing.
You can now purchase books, back issues of publications, DVDs, upcoming live and recorded API Live teleseminars, memberships, and more.
Visit Cafe Press' API Wear and Gear Shop for t-shirts, mugs, stickers, buttons, and more. Check out the AP Month resources!
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API Forum... what's new?
Coffee Talk and Good for You |
If you haven't yet, be sure to check out Coffee Talk (a general chit-chat forum) and Good For You! (a health & wellness forum). These forums will be a place for parents to talk about things that fall beyond the scope of API's 8 Principles of Parenting, so they will have their own guidelines. Check it out! |
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API in the news, on a blog... |
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The Attached Family
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The Attached Family Feeding our Children issue is coming to your mailbox now!
Special 15th Anniversary The Attached Family free edition is still available! This issue is shining the spotlight on API Co-founders Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker's new book, Attached at the Heart, the culmination of all that they have learned in the past 15 years at the helm of API...plus the years when the idea of API was still forming. Click on the link above to download a free copy of this magazine issue. | |
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