In Australia you do a visit and stay in the centre to check it out with your child. Next visit is short, and you leave your child for maybe 1 hour. If all good next time usually a half day or two, and then full days. My daughter has been 1 day a week since 3 months old (though is also in sessional Kinder now 3 days a week x 5 hours). Here there is reasonably well funded early learning, but the sector does have some major issues. I’ve been very happy with my centre and my daughter is happy enough there, though she prefers sessional Kinder.

Absolutely!

It really is bad, I agree completely! The few good things are usually available elsewhere anyway.

I knew this and let my child have YT kids for a while with only content I allowed, but even with that… I noticed a real difference in her behaviour when she had more use of it than ABC Kids. There’s something about the way it is designed that is problematic to young brains. Maybe it’s the same for adults using regular YT though!!​

I got rid of YT kids after she had a rare meltdown, and I think she is much happier overall. If I want any content from YT for her that I think is ok, I use YTDLnis and store a local copy - that’s better anyway as it’s there even if the internet isn’t available.

It’s hard. I am enmeshed in modernity fairly thoroughly but I am trying to do better. I have an EV heat pump and all electric house, I try to find others that are also aware of how bad things are likely to get in future, I am doing National Tree Day every year and also growing veges and fruits and herbs at home, and I am trying to limit exposure to and use of plastics (but that is so damn hard unless plastics become illegal…)

Being aware and using that awareness to try and change behaviour is a big focus. But also, don’t be too hard on yourself. We were born into this mess too, we didn’t create it in one generation, and it is likely to be a slower decline from a human perspective rather than instantaneous, though on geological scale it’s basically a blink of an eye. I was super scared of global warming and nuclear war as a kid, and while risks of both have increased I’m still alive and even with a choice to reduce use of certain things, I think I still have a great life, and my daughter has so far too.

Sure, I agree, but I think it’s reasonable to think about limiting procreation ideally to one child per couple ethically who wants the experience of parenting - obviously if you’ve already had more, there’s no backsies, but the pathway of many countries now is even below that number anyway. It’s absolutely sick the Christofascist obsession with forcing women to give birth especially as they really don’t care what happens to the babies once they are born. But if you want to parent, it really is a wonderful thing. If you WANT it, not forced, and not selfishly breeding beyond the capacity of the planet, which no individual is doing if they only replace one for two leaving, that’s the right direction (but it doesn’t work for colonialism, oh noes)

Managed population descent is possible though, even if unlikely, and we can hope that the overall population growth curve is maxed out very soon by choice not by circumstance/disaster.

He was right, and yes, we will indeed see a colossal crash within the next few decades unless some truly magical technology somehow happens, and that would just kick the can down the road a bit further anyway, unless we can rein in the culture of colonialism and endless growth.

Two books that are vital reading in this time:

The Limits to Growth by The Club of Rome

and

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

Parenting is one of the most natural and essential human experiences. Don’t regret it, even if you expect things to be harder for your child or children. Don’t sugar coat things for your kids either, we have hard times ahead. No one can be certain even of next week, and life wants to create life. Each moment is worth it.

I tried to do EC (elimination communication) but wasn’t super successful, but it did mean my daughter was very used to sitting on a mini potty regularly well before we did “proper” potty training with big potty. About a month before 2nd birthday got a book about potty training from the library, and then spent a weekend pants free, and she got it very quickly. Got poops a lot faster than pee though, she only had maybe 2 poops in a nappy after her 2nd birthday, but I had to keep putting nappies on for longer drives or trips because she just wouldn’t tell me she needed to pee. She was pretty much fully toilet trained by 3, but has had a couple of accidents, 2 bed wetting one end of day at childcare. Not sure about those but not too worried about it.

I took two international trips with my now 3yo, one to Thailand and one to Bali, when she was one 1/4 and one 3/4. She was pretty happy both trips except some of the longer flights. I decided not to do longer flights while she is toddler age, so we have only done domestic trips this past year, and fortunately she has been pretty good, but I do centre everything around her, and I’m a single parent. I’m waiting till she is probably or 5 for anything longer now, and can recommend the book Hunt Gather Parent for general parenting advice, though the style is a bit annoying I think a lot of the advice is sound.