Ben, adjusting his sling
The investment that I'm making now towards the parenting of my future grandhchildren is the brainwashing, er, teaching of their parents.
Each of my children were nursed until they were preschoolers, slept with us as babies and were always being worn or carried by someone. Stronger immune system, less crying, reduced risk of SIDS and higher IQ aside, the reason that we've chosen to parent the way we have is because I want things like natural birth, breastfeeding, baby wearing and homeschooling to become the norm rather than being "alternative" choices.
When Delilah says that she doesn't know why people would want to go to the hospital to have a baby if they aren't sick or Patrick points out to me that wearing a backpack and sitting at a desk is bad for kids' backs and those school kids are going to need a chiropractor, it gives me hope that they'll be saying those same sorts of things to the person they marry. Whether Delilah chooses to have her baby at home, in a birth center, or at a hospital, she's being raised with a consumer mentality that will mean that she'll be comfortable telling a caregiver that she's not going to pay them if they can't get with the program. And hopefully one day, Patrick's children will have the option to choose where they want to do their learning.
Thinking about it makes me want to have more children. Even if my four only have 2-3 children apiece, that's ten or more granchildren, followed by generations of healthy, positive, balanced people :)
That, or my kids, in an act of rebellion, will all end up as public school teachers who take their kids to McDonald's after work. Shoot.
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