Happy Monday, Parenting People!
It has been nearly a year since I launched this platform, and today, I wanna stop and say thank you for sticking with me while I learn and grow this TJ Parenting resource hub.
While libraries are being censored, ICE continues to terrorize our communities, and gender-affirming care is in danger of being stripped away, having a space where we can talk honestly about liberatory parenting strategies — not rooted in white supremacy—is incredibly important. So, thank you for making this space possible!
I want to thank DJ, Melissa, Adriana, Navidad, Erica, and everyone who’s contributed through annual or monthly subscriptions. Your support means I can keep building this space and keep taking the paywall down. Because of you, I’m able to share tools freely with parents who might not be able to afford them otherwise. I can’t say thank you enough.
Transformative Justice parenting isn’t a defined thing. It’s more like a mysterious life form discovered in outer space that we’re studying together. Every time I get the chance to sit down and talk to other parents about the shape TJ Parenting takes in their lives, the values and practices become more visible.
Take, for instance, this conversation with DJ Grubaugh during our latest TJ Parenting Lab. We discussed autonomy, imagination, empathy, and boundaries with a lot of details and examples from our own lives. And then DJ dropped this truthbomb:
“When you’re secure in your parenting, your children feel more secure too.”
As the parent of a toddler, she is grappling with:
How to parent with people who aren’t in alignment with your parenting strategies without backing down on your values or losing relationships with the important people in your life?
How do we regulate ourselves, manage fear, and help our children confront risk while experiencing safety within our parenting?
Are there talking points for ways to discuss what’s happening in the world (the rise of fascism, state-sanctioned kidnappings (ICE), loss of social supports, etc.)?
This platform is intended to create a space for parents and caretakers to explore liberatory parenting strategies together. As your portal keeper, I am here to hold the door open, but I’m nobody’s expert. I did my best to answer her questions based on my own parenting experience, but I’d love to hear your reflections too.
I’ll be dropping these questions into our chat this week, so be sure to join the conversation!
If you’re a paid subscriber who hasn’t gotten the chance to watch or listen to the full conversation, pop over to the podcast tab.
Upcoming TJ Parenting Labs
Our next TJ Parenting Lab is scheduled for Monday, July 28th at 7:30 pm EST/6:30 pm CST. Participation in each session is offered at no cost to paid and free subscribers. All you have to do is subscribe to the Galaxy Guide Substack and join us LIVE. Click here to learn more!
Note: After 24 hrs. TJ Parenting Lab recordings are available to paid subscribers only.
What’s New on Galaxy Guide?
My friend Ana has been writing for Galaxy Guide for 2 months now. She is so many things, but her weekly posts have made it clear to me that she is a daydream artist coming to you with invitations to see the world a little more topsy turvy so you can actually see it more clearly.
If that doesn't make sense to you, you probably haven’t read her posts. I’m going to drop the paywall on this one so you can get to know her better. This post inspired me on a day when my chest was filled with anxiety. I pulled a blanket out of my trunk and ate my Costco hot dog while looking for shapes in the clouds. I noticed a lightning bug getting shade on the underside of a leaf and took note of all the wildflowers I could identify in the field just outside of the parking lot.
This is what daydreaming looks like as a coping mechanism.
Will you accept her assignment?
Assignment: Dream a Little Dream
I believe deeply in the power of dreaming. It’s maybe one of my few coping mechanisms that both protects me from a disorienting onslaught of information, and still bears fruit. As a child, I spent countless hours laying on the floor and staring at the cieling wondering what would it be like if up was down and down was up? Considering how empty the house…
Dropping the Paywall
In addition to the great questions DJ brought to last week’s TJ Parenting Lab, we also reviewed the P.A.U.S.E. tool for self-regulation created by BEAM. So today, I’m dropping the paywall on the post with my reflections so you can follow our conversation.
You’ll always be able to find created and curated TJ Parenting resources in our Star Maps.
If you’re a parenting person who’d like to join me for an upcoming LIVE conversation on Substack, click here to sign up. I’d love to chat with you.
Until next time,
Tashmica
PS - Don’t forget to follow @TJ_Parenting on Instagram for more good questions and TJ Parenting affirmations.
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