Category Archives: Character Development

I Run My Family Like a Company to Keep Us Together

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I’m busy, so busy that it could be easy to not care about family meetings. Yet, I believe in running my family like a business to an extent. All good organizations need meetings to reflect, plan, celebrate, and grow. From extended family meetings at my grandparents’ to the one I run now in my own house, family…

Didan Ashanta

About Didan Ashanta

Didan Ashanta is the author of "Jamaican Green Smoothies" and a LifeDesigner who blogs about eating your way to vibrant health at DidanAshanta.com. A native of Jamaica, she currently lives in the Tokyo, Japan with her husband and 3-yr-old daughter.

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11 Beautiful Black Dolls Beyond Barbie and Doc McStuffins

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When shopping for toys, I always try to find toys that represent my children.  There has been an increase in diverse dolls since I was a child.  I am happy that there are more mainstream dolls with various shades, such as Barbie, Kenya, Baby Alive, Princess Tiana, Tip, and of course Doc McStuffins.  While mainstream…

Angele

About Angele

Angele is a wife to a wonderful creative husband, mother to two beautiful intelligent daughters and lover of art, education and laughter. She is the creator and author of ABC remix

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How My Son’s Ballet Lessons Are Helping Him Develop Character

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I’m a big believer in learning through play. Little children learn best when their imaginations and hearts are in the forefront. This is why I love dance class for my son. From the time they can sit up, the tiniest babies love to move. Toddlers can hardly stand up before they’re bouncing and clapping whenever…

About Alicia B

Alicia lives and took a semester of photography in a small college town that often challenges her resolve to live as simply and as stress-free as possible. When she’s not working, rereading the same children’s books, cooking, or wondering how crunchy she’s become, she’s busy updating her site, liciabobesha.com. You can follow her on facebook.

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How I Use Mealtime for Discipline, Conversation and Education

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There are a lot of things I’m not great at in life, but I excel at dinner time. While serving chicken nuggets in front of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse might make some aspects of my day easier, I refuse. Family dinner is too important. My children’s health, education, and well being mean too much to me…

About Alicia B

Alicia lives and took a semester of photography in a small college town that often challenges her resolve to live as simply and as stress-free as possible. When she’s not working, rereading the same children’s books, cooking, or wondering how crunchy she’s become, she’s busy updating her site, liciabobesha.com. You can follow her on facebook.

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Why My 2-Year-Old Daughter Has a Tablet

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The fight against spoiled children in many Black families starts early. Most new parents I know have had a mother, aunt, or grandmother swoop in and tell them, “You let that baby cry. You’ll spoil her picking her up every time she cries!” As our children get older, the focus on not spoiling them trends…

Dara Mathis

About Dara Mathis

Dara T. Mathis is a freelance writer and editor, the brains behind the lifestyle blog Truly Tafakari, and a lover of great homemade soups.

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Why Speaking Gently to Our Kids is Even More Important in the Era of Black Lives Matter

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While out on a New Year’s Eve run, I passed by a family loading up in their van. Kids piled in quickly and a woman spoke harshly, “I’ve been calling you and calling you. I’ve been waiting here.” Uh oh, I smiled to myself thinking of how frustrating it is when I’m ready to leave…

About Alicia B

Alicia lives and took a semester of photography in a small college town that often challenges her resolve to live as simply and as stress-free as possible. When she’s not working, rereading the same children’s books, cooking, or wondering how crunchy she’s become, she’s busy updating her site, liciabobesha.com. You can follow her on facebook.

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When You Love Your Children, But You Need Some Space

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Photo Credit: Janelle Hamrick   Few things are sweeter to a mother than the sticky kisses of her children. As mommy to my 3-year-old little brown girl, Bean, I never get tired of planting smooches on her chubby cheeks (when she allows me to). When she reciprocates with a bird-like peck, I light up. Her…

Dara Mathis

About Dara Mathis

Dara T. Mathis is a freelance writer and editor, the brains behind the lifestyle blog Truly Tafakari, and a lover of great homemade soups.

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Is it Fair to Force My Anti-Relaxer Stance on My Daughter?

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When I went natural 8 years ago, it felt revolutionary to me. I chopped my relaxed hair off for a number of reasons: I was a broke grad student with no home perm skills; I was curious about my natural hair texture, and I wanted to model self-acceptance for my future daughter. At the time,…

Leila

About Leila

Leila is the founding editor of Baby and Blog. She splits her time between editing hair and culture site, Black Girl with Long Hair, whipping up butters at BGLH Marketplace, and writing here. She adores her husband and two kids, her parents and her friends. But she hates Chicago weather although she is slowly coming to peace with it...

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A Response to “Why I Reject Princess Culture”… Why I EMBRACE Princess Culture For My Black Daughters

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A few weeks ago Baby and Blog writer Angele wrote a very popular and thought-provoking piece about why she rejects princess culture for her daughters. Here, Baby and Blog writer Darcel writes an equally thought-provoking response. I remember the way I felt watching princess films as a child and now I’m able to watch many…

Darcel

About Darcel

Darcel is a single Mama to Three. She writes about her Motherhood journey, their Unschooling lifestyle, and raising a child with Autism at The Mahogany Way. You can follow along with her behind the scenes at MahoganyWayMama on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

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Why Mothers Can Never Be Fathers

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Editor’s note: The Baby and Blog writing team shares a variety of views on the role of a father in the household. Here, our writer Didan expresses her view. Yes! I’m a Daddy’s girl and I hope my daughter grows up to be a Daddy’s girl, too. The bond between a man and his child…

Didan Ashanta

About Didan Ashanta

Didan Ashanta is the author of "Jamaican Green Smoothies" and a LifeDesigner who blogs about eating your way to vibrant health at DidanAshanta.com. A native of Jamaica, she currently lives in the Tokyo, Japan with her husband and 3-yr-old daughter.

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