Melani Ladygo - Confident Child. Confident Parent.

09/10/2026

"Just five more minutes."

A plea, a threat, a reward, a peace offering... Magda Ge**er knew time could hurry us past what matters. Slow down. Observe more.

The rest will come.

07/24/2026

I can't recommend this preschool highly enough! Want to see why? Attend their open house this Sunday morning. You don't want to miss this! (And check out the director's book - Peacemaking with Preschoolers by Heather Malley, Susan North, and Enrico Gnaultai, PhD!!)

RSVP for your spot here: https://www.caterpillarcottage.com/contact

email me to RSVP at [email protected] or visit our website to sign up.

06/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/melani.ladygo/posts/pfbid0pLzjNHP8FjWUqMLHBwPqDYet3ZCPYjB5ys4MBhGjdfS4yzxYcueYkzBk7CPrSb1il

There's still time to join! This class is starting June 13!

Send a message to learn more

05/31/2026

There's a blue moon today, so naturally I sent a newsletter.

In it: a conversation from class that helped me finally put words to something I've been carrying since last year's conference. About what it means to raise children who are truly comfortable in their own skin.

And about what this work quietly asks of us, too.

Link in the comments.

04/28/2026

Friends, today is our Day of Giving for RIE, and I want to tell you why it matters to me personally.

If you look at my profile picture, you can see it on my face: pure joy. That's what it feels like to be in the room when a baby is truly seen and respected. When a parent gets to slow down and watch. When something real happens between people... even very small ones.

I first encountered the Educaring Approach almost by accident. It rewired something in me. It gave me a way of seeing children that felt true in a way nothing else had. Not as objects to be managed or problems to be solved... but as people. Whole, capable, worthy of real respect from their very first days.

RIE has been doing this work for 48 years. I have been part of it for over 20. And today, as part of the 100 Voices for RIE campaign, I'm asking you to add your voice too.

Whatever you can give, you're helping keep this work alive for the next parent who needs it, and the next baby who deserves to be seen.

https://rie-giving-day-2026.causevox.com/p/melani-ladygo

04/26/2026

This week's newsletter is about a little girl, a hug fest, and what happens when you trust the process long enough to see it work.

It's also about Tuesday. 💛

03/08/2026

I have some exciting news to share... I was recently invited to speak on Janet Lansbury's podcast, Unruffled, and the episode dropped this week! 🎙️

Janet and I have known each other for a long time, and I have such deep respect for the way she brings Magda Ge**er's Educaring® Approach to so many families around the world. Being in conversation with her about this work was a real honor.

We talked about a question that sits at the heart of everything I do: why do parents need RIE? And the answer, at its core, is this: permission to exhale. To step back. To trust that children are capable, and that we don't have to be constantly teaching, redirecting, or intervening.

As Magda said herself... perhaps it is a more comfortable life we could create. 🌿

02/15/2026

Happy Valentine's Day. The world is heavy right now. I feel it. You feel it.

But there is still light when you know where to look.

This week I went to a tea ceremony hosted by a mom from one of my RIE classes. No agenda. Just stillness, warmth, and presence with one another. Somewhere between the first pour and the last, I found my center again.

That's what RIE builds. It starts with how we care for babies, but it becomes something more: a community of people showing up for children and for each other. And that is the antidote to the heaviness.

RIE's 36th Annual Conference is March 27–28. Dr. Peter Gray keynoting. 14 workshops. Practitioners from around the world. Online and in-person options.

Please come. And please share this with someone who needs it...a teacher, a caregiver, a friend who would light up knowing this community exists.

01/01/2026

The new year arrives, and with it I'm reminded of thresholds.

Watch an infant at a doorway -
One foot on familiar ground
One foot lifted toward the unknown.

Same child, same day, two thresholds.
One she navigates low and steady.
The other, more boldly upright.
Neither better. Both authentic.

This is what we've always known through RIE:
Babies don't perform movement, they discover it.
They don't pretend confidence they don't feel.
They don't shame themselves for the steadier path.

As we enter 2026, perhaps we can take our cue from these young teachers.
Discovery, not performance, is what matters.

Read the full reflection (link in comments/bio) 🦋

12/07/2025

This week, on my way through Burbank & Balboa, I had one of those sudden rushes of memory — the kind that hits you right in the chest. I used to turn up that street every Saturday with my car full of equipment, heading to teach my RIE in the Wild classes.

Those years (2020-2023) of teaching in parks all over the Valley were wild in every sense — new babies, new families, new locations…sometimes too wide open, sometimes too close to soccer games and birthday parties. But we always found our way. And eventually, we found our sweet spot on Balboa.

That time holds such a tender place in my heart. We gathered in heat, cold, wind, and rain — committed, trusting, creating something meaningful together in the middle of a very uncertain world.

This week, one of those families shared a reflection that really got me: Her six words of gratitude:

“Edith living life with RIE in her back pocket.”

I love that so much. RIE isn’t something we “do.” It’s something we carry — into school, friendships, parenting, and how we move through the world.

Marika’s story (shared in full in my newsletter) is about her daughter starting kindergarten this fall… and how reconnecting with another child from their RIE in the Wild group grounded her, comforted her, and reminded their whole family of the community they built during those park days.

It was such a beautiful reminder of why I do this work, and how deeply these early connections matter — for kids and for parents.

If you were part of those RIE in the Wild mornings, thank you. You’re still in my heart. 🌿💛