Babies Project Writing – Page 2

Coronavirus Updates

(as of April 6)

At Babies Project, we talk (a lot) to parents and other caregivers about the importance of helping their babies transition from their active periods, where their attention is directed outward, to a more inner focus, where they can rest and integrate their experiences. We teach them “baby ball,” a way of holding their baby to support them in this cycling inward. In baby ball, a baby can gather into themself within the enveloping, living container of their caregiver’s body and arms.

As always, what we teach about babies applies to humans at every stage of development. … Read more

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Update: Preparing for Caring at Early Head Start

Our project with Ellyce DiPaola, IDME and EdD candidate at Teacher’s College, Columbia University, which involves offering our Preparing for Caring: Touch, Handling & Bonding Practices (PFC) workshop to an Early Head Start community in NYC, continues.

In March 2019, we held a focus group with prospective participants and received valuable feedback about how we can best present the material to suit the population.
The three of us (Ellyce, Amy and Sarah) gave a presentation titled Preparing for Caring: Circles of Support about the project at the Body-Mind Centering Association annual conference in July 2019. We were heartened by the

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Big Picture, Little Picture

(from Fall Fundraising 2019 Newsletter #4)

…there are so many things to love besides one’s own offspring, so many things that need love, so much other work love has to do in the world.
– Rebecca Solnit, from The Mother of All Questions

We unpacked our tagline one sentence at a time in our previous letters, and in this last letter, we’ll wrap it up by adding context and perspective. (You can catch up here on “be with,” “be a witness,” and “be in relationship.”)

Why did we choose our tagline and why are … Read more

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Unpacking “Be in Relationship”

(from Fall Fundraising 2019 Newsletter #3)

I learned a great deal about how to interact and hold my baby, along with how to encourage play and curiosity. Equally as important, I feel more grounded and confident in my approach to raising my baby.
– Laura, mother of Oliver

My daughter’s confidence and curiosity has grown, and our relationship is stronger, because of the knowledge we gained at the Babies Project.
– Kimberly, mother of Laura

Each day, Olivia moves more independently and we observe that she is becoming more confident and happy. As she is blossoming, we also feel empowered

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Thoughts on Meeting a Baby

written by Sarah Barnaby on 10/21/2019

In our work at Babies Project, we meet new people every day. Many of them are babies. We’d like to share what we’ve learned from our experiences, with the support of our values, principles and ongoing conversations and questions. We offer this in the hope that it might lead to more fruitful, mutually enriching meetings between babies of all ages.

As a foundational principle and framework, we believe that babies come in as whole people with a sense of agency and the ability to make choices. The non-verbal aspects of an interpersonal interaction, which are always present, come forward … Read more

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Unpacking “Be a Witness”

(from Fall Fundraising 2019 Newsletter #2)

We’ll continue unpacking our tagline, this time focusing on the second sentence, “Be a witness.” That can mean so many things – what do we mean by it?

Being a witness means being aware of our own experience and responses as we witness a baby (of any age). Can watching and noticing our own experience help us not project our experience onto the baby?

The intention to “be a witness” means reserving judgment and evaluation, at least in the beginning. It’s a commitment to not start with a polarized lens – of good/bad, success/failure, … Read more

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Thoughts on “Good Job”

written by Sarah Barnaby on 10/17/2019

One of the most common phrases we hear caregivers say to their babies and toddlers is “good job.” We have some thoughts on this ubiquitous expression that we’ve been sharing with parents and caregivers, and we’d like to share our perspective more widely.

We hear “good job” most often in the context of parents and other caregivers expressing their excitement in seeing their baby accomplish a new skill or milestone – rolling over, grasping a toy, taking their first steps, falling well. When we hear it, we (sometimes) invite caregivers to consider re-framing their response.

We might point out that … Read more

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Unpacking “Be With”

(from Fall Fundraising 2019 Newsletter #1)

I have learned to get on the floor more with him.
I have learned to observe more and entertain less. 
I have learned to be present with him.
– Hedy, mother of River

We’re hoping to persuade you to support us by unpacking our tagline:

Starting with the first sentence, what do we mean by “be with”?

“Being with” is a counter-balance to “doing to” and “doing for.” It’s an alternative to already thinking we know what is needed, to going in with an intention of fixing or of making progress … Read more

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GEEK NIGHT: Agents, The Intentional Stance, Cells & Babies

Tuesday, October 15, 2019
6:00-7:30pm

with Sarah Barnaby & Amy Matthews

“The intentional stance,” a term coined by philosopher Daniel Dennett, is a tool for predicting the behavior of semi-autonomous, interactive agents.

This simple theory of intentional systems is a theory about how and why we are able to make sense of the behaviors of so many complicated things by considering them to be agents. It is not directly a theory of the internal mechanisms that somehow achieve the rational guidance thereby predicted. The intentional stance gives you the “specs,” the job description, of an intentional system — what

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Developmental Movement: Elders & Babies

written by Sarah Barnaby on 10/08/2019

At Babies Project, we offer developmental movement education for “babies of all ages.” What do we mean by this?

We have a common personal history. We were all once babies. (We could also go further back and say that we were also all once embryos, but we’ll stick to babies for now.)

Our earliest experiences as babies are still with us. This includes our process of learning to move in gravity and space, knowing where we are and orienting ourselves, and finding our way from birth to walking. This process has influenced our movement as adults: our patterns, preferences, … Read more

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