Welcome to Rockzipfel

Rockzipfel is inspired by Authors who agree to non-coercive child rearing methods, by Attachment Parenting Philosophy and all those pioneers out there who believe in One World for children and parents instead of separate spaces for different ages, as exist in kindergartens, schools, offices, elderly homes…

The Rockzipfel project was established for a short time in the Plagwitz neighborhood of Leipzig, Germany, with the help of financial donations and aid-in-kind from many people. Now it operates on the 2nd floor of a Victorian-era house in the neighborhood of Lindenau. With 160 square meters, the space boasts of 7 rooms, including a kitchen and bathroom.

In Rockzipfel, parents can work (freelance/home office), study, surf the internet, or just spend time socializing and networking. By helping each other with babysitting, and with the help of volunteers, parents can work or take time for themselves, their hobbies or errands (be it on-line or not).

Rockzipfel promotes attachment and respectful parenting, and serves as a platform and venue for workshops addressing nursing, diaper-free, slings, wraps etc. It also hosts discussion groups about respectful parenting, as well as groups and classes for kids (music, languages, painting…).

Children can meet other kids, make friends, learn, surf the internet, play, see their parents working, nurse on demand, be diaperfree if they want… they can have working parents but still be with them!

Newspapers have reported about us. People stood in front of our display windows and used to read our seemingly interesting texts about attachment and respectful parenting. Many people are interested in our project and want to come to visit us. We are making a difference!!!

Rockzipfel needs your help.

We need more donations to survive past the first year.

Please help us and donate via PayPal. Any amount helps!

Thanks a lot!

How else can you help?

• spread the word – tell people about our project and that we need financial help.
  send us cool stuff – books for our library, interesting links, networks that we can join – and tell us if we can help you with anything from here! We’ll mail you our address.
• help us refine this text: Please send us corrections for a better English! (and after that is done, please tell us when this line can be deleted because there are no errors left!)

(What does “Rockzipfel” mean???)

In German, we have the expression: “Am Rockzipfel hängen”. This would look like this. Here is one translation: “to be tied to one’s mother’s apron strings”. Literally, “Rock” means “skirt”, and “Zipfel” meas “corner” or “lappet” – like when you pull on a skirt, what you get in your hands, that’s a “Rockzipfel” – here’s another here’s another cute picture.

In English, it sounds a bit more negative than in German, though in German it is used negatively too, for children who are “clingy”, who are too shy to leave “mommy’s apron strings” or not independent enough, for example, to go to kindergarten without crying. The general/traditional consensus is that they “should,” though.

With this name, we’re confidently showing that a “clingy” child has the right to pull at her mother’s Rockzipfel – we’re saying Yes! to all Rockzipfels that children create. We want to show that it is possible to for parents to both work and be together with their children, and that pushing kids toward independence will not necessarily produce autonomous children. On the other hand, saying yes! to children’s needs will enhance the chance that they genuinely will become autonomous.