Loved the IFS piece on asking more questions. While I agree with the premise, I wonder if it is simply too hard for parents to actually implement different practices than (most or all of) the parents around them. Speaking for myself, my husband and I have made radically different parenting choices than 99% of our peers, and while we are confident in our decisions, it can feel a bit isolating.
My questions is this: how can parents who are less certain make these counter-cultural choices for their families/children? What could be done to help them?
Oof, that is hard! I think a lot of this may fall on those parents--find new networks, at least some additional peers with whom you have this in common. But also, it probably varies depending on which issue we are talking about and how strongly we ourselves feel about it. Homeschooling, for instance, hasn't isolated us from friends who chose other options--we will happily get together for playdates etc with them. But perhaps if (hypothetically) we had parent friends who were very screen-reliant, we'd have a bigger problem getting together with their kids, if screens were always involved.
Loved the IFS piece on asking more questions. While I agree with the premise, I wonder if it is simply too hard for parents to actually implement different practices than (most or all of) the parents around them. Speaking for myself, my husband and I have made radically different parenting choices than 99% of our peers, and while we are confident in our decisions, it can feel a bit isolating.
My questions is this: how can parents who are less certain make these counter-cultural choices for their families/children? What could be done to help them?
Oof, that is hard! I think a lot of this may fall on those parents--find new networks, at least some additional peers with whom you have this in common. But also, it probably varies depending on which issue we are talking about and how strongly we ourselves feel about it. Homeschooling, for instance, hasn't isolated us from friends who chose other options--we will happily get together for playdates etc with them. But perhaps if (hypothetically) we had parent friends who were very screen-reliant, we'd have a bigger problem getting together with their kids, if screens were always involved.
YES - good observation, and question!
Those who can, homeschool. Each parish should welcome a homeschool coop to meet there.