Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
More is not necessarily better. I think I fit the description of a free range kid and so does dd#2. I happen to agree that kids need to spend time with peers. It's our job, as parents, to get them ready to leave our nest and start their own.
You should care what studies say. Studies are the only way we can take off our blinders. To ignore them is foolish. What we think is good for our kids may not actually be good for our kids because we can't look at our own situations without bias. That's why we need studies. They give us pause when our feelings are out of line with reality.
Unless, according to earlier posts, we are speaking of money.
And statistical studies have a funny way of ignoring the human element-- which, when one deals with humans, is short-sighted at best.
More is not necessarily better. I think I fit the description of a free range kid and so does dd#2. I happen to agree that kids need to spend time with peers. It's our job, as parents, to get them ready to leave our nest and start their own.
You should care what studies say. Studies are the only way we can take off our blinders. To ignore them is foolish. What we think is good for our kids may not actually be good for our kids because we can't look at our own situations without bias. That's why we need studies. They give us pause when our feelings are out of line with reality.
No we shouldn't care at all what studies say. We should be true to ourselves and spend as much time with our kids as we feel we should.
We don't need studies, as my father in law, a pediatrician, once told me, young girls have been birthing babies ever since we have evolved, they even have dropped them on their heads, you will do fine, just do what your gut tells you is right.
Starting at age 3? You may have teens who are capable of coming home to an empty house, but many of us have preschoolers. I'm not ready to shove them out of the nest quite yet.
Even teens who are capable of coming home to an empty house are not necessarily best served by doing so on a regular basis. Aside from the much-referenced opportunities for misadventure, the company of someone who cares what you've done or are thinking is not only edifying, but pleasant. (That of course assumes that the adult in that equation does care.)
Ivory....I have to wonder why it's so important to you to "win" this discussion? Why do you care what works for other families? If you are confident in you choice (and you continually insist you are), then good for you. Why must you follow it up by discounting the choices of others? I just don't get it.
I'm just wondering why people would have kids at all if they don't want to spend time with them. I had great times with my son --loved all the hugs,, times reading together, taking him to movies, swinging in the park, exploring museums (so funny when he asked why all the people had no clothes on at 3), climbing up to waterfalls, exploring caves, the first plane trip when he thought we were going to blast off like the space shuttles we watched being launched, watching his concerts, band and jazz band performances, plays on the football field, debates, graduation from college, wedding--the joy on his face as he saw his daughter being born.
Why do people have dogs if they are just going to crate them for 8+ hours during the day and 8 ours at night and tell them to go away and play by themselves.
For those people it makes more sense to work, work, work, no kids, retire early with more money,to do all they thing that they put off doing,that is if they don't drop dead or get hit by a semi first.
I wonder what amount of time you are thinking of when making this statement.
I wonder what amount of time you are thinking of when making this statement.
Any
working or not working--wanting to spend time with our kids and enjoying it and they will know we want to be with them and not that we think time with them is wasting money.
working or not working--wanting to spend time with our kids and enjoying it and they will know we want to be with them and not that we think time with them is wasting money.
I got a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, reading this. OMG, if only some people actually realized that this is exactly what they're doing.
working or not working--wanting to spend time with our kids and enjoying it and they will know we want to be with them and not that we think time with them is wasting money.
I got a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, reading this. OMG, if only some people actually realized that this is exactly what they're doing.
I don't think most parents feel this way, but it is heartbreaking to know that there are some people who view life as a series of money making opportunities broken up by the monotony of childcare.
I don't think most parents feel this way, but it is heartbreaking to know that there are some people who view life as a series of money making opportunities broken up by the monotony of childcare.
If any parent feels this way I feel sad for them. For me, time with my daughters could never be replaced with money. And what some people don't realize is that kids grow up and move away. It's never going to be easier (or cheaper) to spend time with them than when they still live under your roof!
Neither one of my DDs live where I do () so I am still making the Time vs. Money decision on a regular basis. I would rather spend money on gas, plane tickets and hotels and spend time with my kids than put more money in my bank account. And I will NEVER regret that choice.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
my my my ironing blankets???
You may have teens who are capable of coming home to an empty house, but many of us have preschoolers. I'm not ready to shove them out of the nest quite yet.
Nicely put!