This is a very special episode, with a lot of laughter, where I talk with Belynda Smith, who is an Aware Parenting instructor and Hand in Hand Instructor and also copy editor. Belynda shares about her journey to Hand in Hand Parenting and then Aware Parenting, and how she came to be the copy editor of The Emotional Life of Babies, my book which is about to come out.

Belynda shares about Listening Partnerships, and I explain why I often tell other parents about how many Listening Partnerships she has.

We then go on to talk about the process of editing the book together, including the enjoyment and ease of it all. We talk about the length of it and the cover, as well as the nuanced approach of Aware Parenting with a baby that it describes. I share about the process of feeling called to write it and how and why that happened. We talk about all the parents' stories in the book and I talk about how delighted I was that most of them used their real names.

I'm so grateful to everyone who has shared their stories, who has been a beta reader, to my Marion's Books Support Team, and to those who have shared a testimonial, and more.

Belynda asks me about how I've sustained my excitement about this long, and I loved responding to that question, about how in our culture we often have not only our sadness and rage suppressed, but also our excitement and exuberance. I share about how much I've enjoyed all the steps and the collaborative process of finding the title and the subtitle and so on, including with the help of the father of my children. We also talked about the invitations throughout the book, including for self-compassion, and the research triangle that I talk about in it too.

The book will be out any day now!

You can find out more about Belynda and her work at: https://belyndasmith.com.au/

On her website, you can also sign up for her free ebook on book sharing for connected families.

Her podcast is called Tales from The Toolbox. https://www.facebook.com/talesfromthetoolboxpodcast

If you want to be notified when The Emotional Life of Babies is out, I'll be sharing about it on my main email list. If you're not on it, you can sign up here: http://eepurl.com/8ifhn

I'll also be sharing information about how you can support me and this book, both by email and social media. My website is www.marionrose.net