in many areas homeschool kids *can* take some classes at their local public school as well, if one shoudl choose to do that for their child

Yeah, I don't want to put my kids through the hand holding for the dumb kid.

normie FB has tons of resources and homeschool groups for networking

yes, I mean, when I look back at my elementary education of ancient Egypt, for instance- it's just mummies and King Tut and some pyramids... LOL ... SO much important and fascinating history and science, etc, just gets skimmed over . It is disappointing. Homeschooling is such an adventure and you have the freedom to make education fun, meaningful, and thorough...

I'm definitely having my kids Read/watch The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

HAHAHA

i regret not reading the books with our oldest before letting him see a couple of the movies... 😦

You can't really argue with how nationalist it is

very implicit

It's Peak Identity Politics

When I think about it, watching those movies when I was younger may have shaped my views

Movies are alright, I prefer to imagine how they talk and interact.

In most cases I'd agree. but seeing as how I lost my copy of the fellowship on a plane when I was 10 or so, reading never worked out lmao

and the movies are masterfully made, so I'm ok with them

What's the earliest age you can start lettting your son watch UFC? 😃

day 1

Feckin A

Watch it from day one and start training when he can walk save weights until he is at least 13 though.

I no longer recommend Jien Liedloff's book, "Continuum Concept" @@missliterallywho I read it about 10 years ago. I think its bs tbh. I totally agree with living by the rhythms of nature but that book is very questionable imo

Birth control pills are definitely awful. Using natural fertility awareness is ideal. It has always worked for us. Intentionally conceived 3x with no accidents and our children are spaced by 3.5 years+

So plenty of time for extended breastfeeding and allowing me time to recover and revitalize before conceiving again. I love that you're on this track!

What I dislike about Continuum Concept is that i feel like it is in some ways anti-White, and also her observations of childbearing within the primitive South American tribes are put on a pedestal, disregarding European tradition, and I feel like for us we need to find a balance when seeking nature/rhythmic lifestyles, bc we generally lack resources for our own historical info- many aspiring Whites tend to internalize what literature and research that does exist- being that of "indigenous" tribes of the globe. While some of it can be of use, I find that deep down, much of it doesn't resonate as it once did, simply bc it it doesn't represent our folk ways.

If you do decide to read the book I will look forward to seeing what you think of it 😀

Tbh it's been a long time since I read that book, but I think some of her accounts are extreme and unrealistic. Such as relaxing and trusting your crawling baby near a cliff edge. Lol. There is some questionable stuff in there about interacting with babies and if I remember correctly-sexuality stuff that was a major red flag. Regarding the continuum concept, i do think there is a balance to be struck. Hovering parents can be detrimental. We have always tried to allow as much physical freedom as safely possible with our developing children such as tree climbing, exploring water, etc. and it has benefited them in their agility and confidence and mental faculties. But I don't think her book contributed to our patenting style whatsoever, it was more of just observing our children, intuiting and bri g present to immediately step in and help and guide and teach when needed. It is bizarre sometimes to see some parents at the park, for instance. It's like, here they are at the playground and they are instructing the child's every last move. Let's do the slide now, let's swing now, climb on that, do this, no that's too big for you, that's scary, etc. The child is not getting to experience anything for themselves.

i agree! well said!

i look forward to your fresh take on the book after you read it.

since its been awhile for me 😃

https://v.redd.it/d970mn2ctui11

Hi all. Didn’t realize this thread existed until today. Just had number #2 4 weeks ago and #1., 2yo this November, has been really missing 1 on 1 time with mom and now wakes whenever mom feeds and freaks out. We do sleep. Anyone else cosleep? Similar experience? Help? I’m so tired.

Hey @Prestor John , I’ve got a 2 year old and a 4 month old myself. I can’t speak for everyone but I’ve never been a fan of co-sleeping. Of course you’ve “gotta do what you gotta do” but I’ve seen it backfire. I’m friends with two couple that both have 3+ year old children sleeping in their bed at night.

My 2 year old didn’t seem too phased when we brought his baby sister home...at first. But now that she’s more active during the day, he’s started with the jealousy. Every family dynamic is different, and every kid is different, but one thing that worked well for us was to make sure our son was getting plenty of physical activity, he is much more likely to fight naps, or just generally act out when he hasn’t had much exercise.

As far as bedtime/sleeping goes...my wife and I just had a discussion about it to make sure we were on the same page, bedtime is pretty much non-negotiable here. When we moved our son from in a pack n play in our bedroom to a crib in his own room, naturally we had to deal with the “growing pains.” But we set up a sort of timer system. The first night, we let him cry for 2 minutes before one of us would go in. We would not pick him up, but rather just lay him back down and comfort him briefly before walking out. The next night we started at 3 minutes, next night 4...etc. I think it only took 3-4 days before he was falling asleep on his own with no drama. Recently we started dealing with a bit of a sleep regression, where he started fighting his naps, getting out of his toddler bed and coming out at night. Basically I think he’s realized that life goes on outside of his room while he’s napping, and he doesn’t want to “miss out” He can reach doorknobs now and come and go as he pleases, so it actually got to the point where we had to lock his door at nap-time, or else he would come out of his room, or start slamming his door and waking the baby. Once we locked it, the first couple of days he would lay on his floor kicking the door and having a tantrum, if he didn’t calm down after a few mins, I’d go in and just put him back in bed without saying anything, and walk out. He fell asleep on the floor in front of his door a few times but eventually he gave up and started staying in bed.

I’m sure there are a million different methods and expert opinions for parenting little kids, some better than others no doubt. I’m sorry this got way longer than I meant it too.

Tl;dr whatever you do, be consistent. Kids, especially toddlers thrive on consistency and boundaries. They’re getting to that age where they’re starting to test you, and assert some independence. They may not quite grasp “why” the need to

They* need to nap, sleep, etc. But they do understand cause/effect. If you stay consistent, they’ll pick up on that.

I’m no expert by any means, my wife and I are figuring this out as we go along too. It’s by far the most challenging experience of my life. Feel free to message me anytime, it’s great to be able to bounce ideas off of people here, I’m sure there are way more experienced parents here with tons of valuable knowledge

We are pro co-sleeping @Prestor John its quite trad. great for breastfeeding and bonding. at around 2 yo or so the transition to toddler bed is definitely difficult, but better imo thanl etting an infant "cry it out". i agree with Px4 about plenty of physical activity to help with kids' behavior. Also strictly limiting sugar can have huge effects. a little one on one goes a long way. perhaps just mom snuggling and reading books to your toddler while she nurses the nb could be helpful. implementing one small daily thing with the older child that is special just for them can be good too, such as giving them a constructive way to "help" cook dinner

@Volkmom @Px4 thanks! My wife was a nanny and sleep trained multiple kids but totally lost her nerve when it came to ours. She backed up her gut feeling with some research and we didn’t do it. Our soon to be 2yo was sleeping in his own bed earlier this year but with her being pregnant at the time and a heatwave making hi upstairs room a no go zone he came down into our bed. After our daughter was born we realized that we couldn’t switch back right away and wife and I Knie of like it when we all actually sleep.

My big take aways are consistency which we need to get back to and sugar, which he recently has had introduced to his diet. I did just build a high stool with a rail so he can stand next to mom in the kitchen.

@Prestor John see what I mean about every family being different! We opted for the cry it out method (sort of) and our two year old is great about sleeping. Not that I have anything against co-sleeping of course, just wasn’t for us. @Volkmom is spot on about the one on one time, a little extra reassurance and attention can go a long way. And I agree with you both about limiting sugar, with one exception, we only limit added or refined sugars. Naturally occurring sugars, especially in foods with a high fiber content, like fructose in fresh fruit, or lactose in milk/yogurt..we don’t really limit them per se. But we do strictly limit sugary snacks and junk food. We don’t give him juice, they don’t need it and he doesn’t like it anyway. Cookies/candy are saved for very special treats. I really like that stool! I may have to make one for when he “helps” me work in the garage

@Px4 im building one for the garage as well. FYI the bottom of the one in the pic is an IKEA stool we had.

@missliterallywho our 2yo goes to sleep without much fuss. I think most of the controversy is about doing it before 1. I could be mistaken.

@missliterallywho @Prestor John yes you guys are absolutely right, my mom is actually a pediatric NP, so we had a great resource. She told us that you shouldn’t attempt to let a baby cry it out until they are old enough to sleep through the night without needing to eat. Usually 6 months old at absolute minimum. And only after you make sure their other needs have been met, they’re fed, not too warm/cool, in a dry/clean diaper, etc. A child that is crying ONLY for comfort at bedtime, IMO it’s ok to begin letting them cry it out. Learning to self soothe is actually an important skill that they need to learn. I will say that it’s hard to listen to your child cry, but eventually they all have to sleep on their own. The “timer” system my wife and I used was a happy medium between having them cry vs sleeping in our room forever