Theme: Love and partners: How has a co-parent supported your dedication to natural parenting — or not?

Deadline: Tuesday, Feb 2. Email your submission to us by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time: mail {at} HoboMama.com and codenamemama {at} gmail.com.

Carnival date: Tuesday, Feb. 9. Before you post, we will send you an email with a little blurb in html to paste into your submission that will introduce the carnival. You will publish your post on Feb. 9 and email us the link if you haven’t done so already. Once everyone’s posts are published on Feb. 9 by noon, we will send out a finalized list of all the participants’ links, to generate lots of Valentine’s link love! We’ll include full instructions in the email we send before the posting date.

Please submit your details into our web form: This is new for this month, and it will help us as we compile the links list. Thanks for your help! If you don’t want to scroll sideways, you can enter your information at this webpage instead: February Carnival of Natural Parenting participant form

Please do: Write well. Write on topic. Write a brand new post for the carnival. And just a note for this topic in particular — we don’t want the carnival topics to be exclusionary. If you don’t have a co-parenting partner or don’t experience love in that relationship, your story is just as valid as someone who does, so we welcome all perspectives. Please also feel free to be creative within the gentle confines of the carnival structure. If you’re feeling so inspired, you could write a poem, a photo essay, a scholarly article, or a book review instead of a regular blog post (though those are welcomed, too!), as long as what you write is respectful of the carnival’s intent. If you want help determining that ahead of time, please talk with us.

Please don’t: Use profanity of the sort that might be offensive to more sensitive readers, or their children. Submit irrelevant or argumentative pieces contrary to the principles of natural parenting. You don’t have to agree with all our ideals — and certainly you don’t have to live up to them all perfectly! — but your submission does have to fit the theme and values of the carnival.

Editors’ rights: We reserve the right to edit your piece or suggest edits to you. We reserve the right to courteously reject any submissions that are inappropriate for the carnival. Please also note that since there are two co-hosts, on different schedules, conferring over email, that our personal response to your submission might seem delayed. Don’t be alarmed. We also reserve the right to impose consequences if the responsibilities of the carnival are not fulfilled by the participants.

If you don’t have a blog: Contact one of us (mail {at} HoboMama.com and codenamemama {at} gmail.com) about potentially finding you a host blog to guest post. Please write your piece well in advance of the deadline in that case, so we can match you up with someone suitable. But if you really have something amazing to write — why not start your own blog? If you want advice, I find Scribbit’s free Blogging in Pink ebook to be a very helpful and down-to-earth guide, for beginners on up.

If you have questions: Please leave a comment or contact us: mail {at} HoboMama.com and codenamemama {at} gmail.com.

If you are a (former or current) participant or supporter and want our delightful button to put in your sidebar, grab this code and proclaim to the blogosphere that you are a natural parent!

In the meantime, stay in touch with us to make sure you get the latest news on the Carnival of Natural Parenting: