Welcome to the Sunday Surf, a tour of the best blogposts I've read throughout the week.

Does anyone else feel like the Christmas season is racing by? Stop, stop, stop! I want some of that kid-perspective of Advent-lasts-foreeeever-and-when-is-it-going-to-be-Christmas-already, because I can't believe it's almost here and we've done about … oh … 5 things on our list of 100 possibilities. I'm trying to slow down a bit and just enjoy it, regardless. We have our tree and stockings up now, so that's nice!

I thought you'd want to enjoy this epic bedhead from Alrik's nap.

I also gave him a haircut that day. You'd think that was because of or after the bedhead, right? Nope, the haircut came first and apparently unleashed even more volume. But the back of his head's pretty much always like that. We got off easy with Mikko and his self-styling locks.

Of course, not that we do much at all to keep this kid looking this cute.

I've got links saved up for you!

6 days ago (1 note)

#gentle discipline
#respectful parenting
#responding with sensitivity
Expectation and Intentions | Parenting Gently →
Having unrealistic expectations, for example expecting your toddler to sit quietly during dinner for an hour, sets parents up for frustration – thereby undermining gentle intentions.  Imagining malicious intention can be even worse.  Imagine your 11 month old throwing food off of their tray.  If you imagine she is doing it intentionally to annoy you your reaction will be very different than if you imagine she is having a great time learning about her power over objects.
1 week ago


#Pinterest
#the mommy wars

An Open Letter To The Mama Who Makes Me Feel Bad | Diary of a First Child →

To the mamas on Pinterest:

Thank you for making me feel bad challenging me to be less lazy, to pick a few things up and to try a new activity. To switch off the TV and hand over the glitter pots.

[…]

Thank you for helping me realise that you doing what you do to the very best of your abilities isn’t an indictment on me. It’s just you celebrating your strengths as I compare, identify and then celebrate mine! And also for showing me that you can’t make me feel anything, and I own my feelings and should take responsibility for them rather than blaming you for being great.

1 week ago (7 notes)

#fat acceptance
#Size Acceptance
#Plus Size
#bullying
View high resolution 
The Militant Baker: WHAT AUTOCOMPLETE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT FAT HATE AND WHY IT NEEDS TO STOP
1 week ago (1 note)


#decluttering
#minimalism
#cleaning and organizing
#organization
#clutter

Day 51: Five Reasons To Get Rid Of Clutter – Or Why I Want To Live In A Hotel | 100 things 100 days →

I want to think of arranging my house as if I live in a hotel. One of the best experiences in my life was living in England for a summer during college and having a whole bookshelf for about 10 books and a whole closet for half a dozen outfits — it felt decadent and right. And it was SO EASY to clean up!

But the best thing about the Firelight Lodge (or any hotel for that matter) is that we each checked in with only 1 suitcase each full of our favourite things.

And that has to be the single most compelling reason for getting rid of clutter that I can think of. Seriously, have you ever walked into a hotel room and thought:what this place is missing is a whole lot of my crap?

Sure, sometimes a comfortable bed or a sharp knife would be a pleasant addition, but do you miss your 46 tea towels or your laundry day underwear? Do you ever get a hankering to fix that broken flashlight you’ve been hanging onto?

I didn’t think so.

Twitter party:

Join us TOMORROW for our monthly #NatParNet Twitter party! This month we're talking Breastfeeding & Pumping with guest The Leaky Boob and sponsor Snugabell. Prizes, info, FUN — join in! 7 p.m. Pacific / 10 p.m. Eastern, Monday, December 16.

Giveaways:

Didymos DidyTai baby carrier from Caribou Baby — ARV $190 {12.19; US/Can}
The DidyTai is a mei tai-lover's dream carrier: the snuggliness of a woven wrap combined with the convenience of a buckle carrier. Enter to win this fabulous carrier before the giveaway ends Thursday!

Lots more exciting giveaways on the natural parenting giveaway linky — add yours, too!
Natural parenting giveaways

Surf with us:

We love following along with fellow Sunday Surfers. If you have your own post of reading links to share, please link up your post on Hobo Mama or on Authentic Parenting. The linky will go live every Sunday, and you can link up any day that week. You only need to add your post to one of the sites, and the linky will automatically show up on both sites.

You can get the Sunday Surf button by Jenna Designs and some code to add to your post from my Sunday Surf page.

Check out previous editions for good reading, and you can find more shared items during the week at my Tumblr blog, Hobo Mama's Shared Items.