parenting

Folks, how's the fam? How are you? I am still not well 🤒.

• 🗨 Join us on Matrix! #parenting:genzedong.xyz (read more here)
• 👶 Past parenting threads.
• 📖🌈 Click here to go to the "Story Time" post for this month.

The parents never hit their child (back), by the way, only she may hit them if she asks, and is allowed to.

Two excerpts that explain the underlying philosophy:

In the world, Nic points out, women are largely on the receiving end of violence, and in his family that was contrasted with his mom, who would teach the kids judo and jujitsu techniques. His aunt was a national judo champion, and the best judoka in the family. People would come to spar with the family, and they would be paired with his aunt, who is 5-foot-4 on a good day. He grew up seeing pictures of her throwing 200-pound men, their heels flying in the air. Then he would see other people’s families, in which violence was just framed as a negative, end of story.

Margo wants some of Nic’s female relatives’ confidence for our daughter—whether or not she wants to be a martial artist, Margo wants her to be physically prepared for life. Margo has felt so unprepared physically for so many scenarios she’s found herself in, starting with being a young woman in New York City, getting grabbed and groped and followed home and jerked off to on the subway. She wonders how she could have responded differently to all those incidents if she’d had a practice of physical mastery that wasn’t dependent on size or brute strength.

After a lifetime of seeing those dynamics, Nic wants the same thing for his children that he was given: the power to protect themselves and the people around them, and the knowledge to be able to know what does and doesn’t warrant a physical reaction. “I give them a space in the home to practice learning those parts of themselves,” he says, “so if they are in a situation, they are not in that space for the first time.”

“I just want to cultivate children who can protect themselves.”

I like that it involved a girl in this case, but it could also allow boys to still fight eachother as a form of consensual play, and accepting "no" for an answer. Just saying "all violence is bad" can lead to problems down the line when they can no longer control themselves and have zero experience.

Folks, how's the fam? How are you? Sorry for the late thread, I have not been well 🤒.

• 🗨 Join us on Matrix! #parenting:genzedong.xyz (read more here)
• 👶 Past parenting threads.
• 📖🌈 Click here to go to the "Story Time" post for this month.

Folks, how's the fam? How are you?

• 🗨 Join us on Matrix! #parenting:genzedong.xyz (read more here)
• 👶 Past parenting threads.
• 📖🌈 Click here to go to the "Story Time" post for this month.

Folks, how's the fam? How are you?

• 🗨 Join us on Matrix! #parenting:genzedong.xyz (read more here)
• 👶 Past parenting threads.
• 📖🌈 Click here to go to the "Story Time" post for this month.

sitting here like suppressing the urge to help when I see him mess up in a way that he will only realise in 5 steps and then reverse them one by one. Very proud of his tenacity though.

I wasn't really sure what to title this, this is just a vent post if anything.

Today is the first day of school where I work, It's generally a good day for the kids, plenty of activities and not a lot of hitting to books, just time to reconnect with friends and ease into the year.

Every year they have bouncy houses, and every year they are provided by the Army National Guard. They have guys out here in their uniforms, and their big ass truck that screams, "FREE TUITION" on the side.

I remember having recruiters hassling me near the end of High School, but man, middle school? Now, I don't know if these folks are hanging back and simply supervising, or if they're actually chatting up the kids about the National Guard. I'll tell you, I'll be priming my kids to tell them to buzz off when they're entering this grade level.

Folks, how's the fam? How are you?

• 🗨 Join us on Matrix! #parenting:genzedong.xyz (read more here)
• 👶 Past parenting threads.
• 📖🌈 Click here to go to the "Story Time" post for this month.

The kid supposedly just walked up and punched my kid in the cheek in class, and chased them with scissors just a few days ago (corroborated by the teacher).

I know shit happens, and they're a resilient kid, so it's not too big a deal. But I also want to raise hell to get this kid away from them. What's the next incident going to be?

I understand the structural and societal issues here - the kid probably doesn't have a great home life, and the school doesn't really have anything they can do that will help him.

Idk, just feeling conflicted and looking for thoughts.

I have been investigating this but several sources expose different dates ranging from 6 months old to 3 years old.

Wanted to check with you all for a recommendation.

In one of Parenti's talks he refered to his son (who was still a babe at the time) as a "Red Diaper Baby". I thought it was amusing. Just trying it out.

Anyway folks, how's the fam? How are you?

• 🗨 Join us on Matrix! #parenting:genzedong.xyz (read more here)
• 👶 Past parenting threads.
• 📖🌈 Click here to go to the "Story Time" post for this month.

This topic comes up somewhat regularly here. If you have kids, what can you do to at least give them the best shot at understanding and embracing your communist / Marxist / dialectical materialist views? We usually come up with a couple big picture ideas, but over the last few weeks I've been jotting down very specific, concrete actions you can take. This list is not meant to exhaustive - I'm hoping you all have great ideas to share, too. But this is what I've come up with so far:

(And to clarify something, I'm 100% convinced to do need to be somewhat intentional and didactic about your values and views if you want your kids to share them. To think "I'm just going to let them find their own way, I don't want to influence them" is 1,000% lib shit. I'm not even sure most liberals think that way.)

Be a good parent: This one seems obvious, but it's so important it bears repeating and should be at the top of the list. You should be a good, involved parent for a number of reasons anyway. But, if you want your kids to share your views, being a good parent is the #1 way to encourage that. Or at least, being a shitty parent is a surefire way to make sure your kids rebel against everything you care about

Get organized: Get involved in an org, even if it's something like DSA. It can be an actual org like PSL or even just helping feed homeless folks in your town. Your kids can see how you have a great grasp of reality thanks to materialism, which might make them inclined to think you know what you're talking about. But if they know you see the problems in the world, but aren't doing anything to change that world... I can see how some kids might see that as kinda hyprocritical.

Learn history, especially from a materialist perspective: This is easy for me because I love history, even long before I was a Marxist. But if you don't enjoy history, I think you should at least push yourself and try to understand at least the materialist history behind what your kids will learn in school (so for American kids, making sure you understanding things like how the constitution was formed, how African-Americans have been held down throughout history, etc.). Especially if you are American, this is easy because most Americans are dumb as shit when it comes to history, and K-12 history teachers aren't much better. If your kids see that you know what you're talking about, they will largely trust your analysis. So when your kid hears in class that "the US fought the Korean War because the Soviets wanted to take over", they will know to come to you and ask if that's true - because they know you likely have a much more thorough and accurate answer.

For little kids, read history books to them: Right now my kid loves Nelson Mandela, because we have a couple books about him. I happen to believe that fostering a love of history can definitely help point kids in the right direction (even if by itself it probably won't turn them commie). Just make sure it's "good" history and not just that crap that glazes the founding fathers.

For older kids, engage with them on what they're learning in school: Good idea for all subjects, but especially for the social sciences. Ask questions. Be genuinely interested. While like said above, you need to be didactic but older kids especially aren't going to want to hear you rant about how Stalin saved the world from fascism for 15 minutes every time he comes up. Know when to just ask and listen with them.

Stay on top of current affairs: Keep up with the News Mega! All the stuff I said above about history applies to news & current events.

Play some commie podcasts when you're in the car with them: I feel like I might get push back on this, so let me explain. When I was a kid, my parents had news radio on whenever we were in the car. And even if I didn't understand what was always being talked about, I know for a fact I absorbed a ton of information passively that way. I believe that is a big reason I'm as interested in what's going on in the wider world today. I know we're generally down on leftist podcast but the reality is there's a ton of good content out there.

Try to have answers ready for when kids ask about what you believe: I think especially for younger kids, it's good to have simple answers ready that they can understand. And don't worry about being precisely correct in your response. When your kid asks “are we republicans or democrats?” or “do you vote for republicans or democrats, keeping in mind they may have a hard time understanding a complicated response. Say something like “I vote for whoever helps poor people or immigrants or people who work for a living”. That's much better than trying to explain the drawbacks of electoralism to a 7 year old. Obviously you can be more detailed and precise with older kids.

Try and have leftist adult friends who also have kids: Believe me, I get how hard this. It's nearly impossible to find any broadly leftist parents in my area, much less those who have time for socializing. So this is more of an ideal to try and reach, not a concrete action. But I think having some friends around who share your views - and have kids who can befriend your kids - is very effective. Just hard to pull off.

Push back hard against any transphobia or homophobia: Whether you see it IRL or in media, don't hesitate to be clear with your kids what being LGBTQ is about and that anyone who against LGBTQ rights sucks. I say this because I was raised in an environment very hostile to LGBTQ people. Just the other day, my kid wanted her two Barbie dolls to get married. For a fraction of second, there was that old voice in the back of my head saying "they're too young to understand". But of course they're not, and I explained how of course two Barbies can get married. Kids DO need to understand the validity of LGBTQ identities at a very young age.

If you're white, teaching anti-racism is important: Because if you're white, it's incredibly easy to fall into the trap of "well I'm not racist and no other white people I know are racist, so racism must be over". It's easy because white society pushes this notion so hard. You absolute have to teach kids about systematic racism and how they actually do need to stand up to racist pricks, because they will encounter them.

That's the list I have so far, would love to hear your additions.

Hey folks, how's the fam? How are you?

Feel free to join us on Matrix: #parenting:genzedong.xyz. Learn more here.

Hey folks, how's the fam? How are you?

Feel free to join us on Matrix: #parenting:genzedong.xyz. Learn more here.

Hey folks, how's the fam? How are you?

Feel free to join us on Matrix: #parenting:genzedong.xyz. Learn more here.

Hey folks, how's the fam? How are you?

Feel free to join us on Matrix: #parenting:genzedong.xyz. Learn more here.

It's a lady talking about raising her three sons without smartphones until 16 and without social media until 18. Do kids in America commonly end up having personal smartphones before 16? She talks about how one of her sons had to scan a QR code for schoolwork. He is some age younger than 16 so I find that a bit insane.

It's something that my nephews caretakers do. He is less than two years old right now. There are a couple of people that the kid is extremely attached to which I think is normal. If they have to leave, they do it behind his back when he is distracted. I asked an LLM if this was a commonly used method and it said it's called "slipping out" but it's an LLM so...

Maybe I am being naive and sentimental but I don't know how to feel about it. It is convenient for sure. Taking care of a child is challenging as is. But at a basic level it just feels like a bad thing to do. Lying to a child and leaving behind their back. The child is showing a behaviour that I think could be a side effect of it but it could also just be normal. The child gets upset if one of the aforementioned people that he is overly attached to, for example, go to the bathroom to take a piss. And it's worse when only one of them is at home. They to go take a piss behind the kid's back so he doesn't notice.

Any of you all have experience with something like this? I guess it's natural for a child to get attached to certain people but oftentimes the most convenient way to deal with an issue is not the best one.

Didn't know this week would be a decade but here we are.

Feel free to join us on Matrix: #parenting:genzedong.xyz. Learn more here.

How's the fam? Burgerlander's, hope you had a safe 4th of July weekend, don't loose any fingers. Showed this video to Kid1 the other night and she wants to hear it all the time now 😅. It's cute, and I think, a nice affirmation.

Feel free to join us on Matrix: #parenting:genzedong.xyz. Learn more here.

I used to make spaghetti for a two year old and it is the only thing that I have seen him eat willingly. He eats it like a fiend.

The mother wants to introduce more fibre in his diet but I am out of ideas because I suck donkey ass at cooking. I once tried oats-banana-cinnamon pancakes but the child spit it out because it tasted like shit. (I have posted about it before.)

If you have medium or high fibre recipe suggestions please share. It's a bit of an odd request so sorry about that but I don't know where to turn to. The internet is a search engine optimised wasteland.