THE MANIFESTO OF THE IDLE PARENT
We reject the idea that parenting requires hard work
We pledge to leave our children alone
We reject the rampant consumerism that invades children from the moment they are born
We read them poetry and fantastic stories without morals
We drink alcohol without guilt
We reject the inner Puritan
We don’t waste money on family days out and holidays
An idle parent is a thrifty parent
An idle parent is a creative parent
We lie in bed for as long as possible
We try not to interfere
We play in the fields and forests
We push them into the garden and shut the door so we can clean the house
We both work as little as possible, particularly when the kids are small
Time is more important than money
Happy mess is better than miserable tidiness
Down with school
We fill the house with music and merriment
We reject health and safety guidelines
We embrace responsibility
There are many paths
More play, less work
From Tom Hodgkinson's The Idle Parent.
7 comments:
sounds good! I've ordered a copy from my library...
Love it (the manifesto, not so much the book in places lol)!
ah...thank you, I needed to re-read this:-) blessings for a happy chilly holiday from the south east!
xx
Oh yes! That could have been written by me, all of it!
Yeah, in general I think it's great, specifically though I am not quite *there*. Like I find parenting pretty hard work, so must be doping something 'wrong' :lol Trying to hard the Idler woukld say no doubt :lol
I love this book! I found it in the library (haven't found it again since, maybe I'm going to have to buy it so I can read it again some time). It made me think so much of how I grew up that I e-mailed my parents and thanked them for being of the "idle" type. I don't think my mum got it, she said she found it much harder to let go the reins than my dad. His response indicated that he consciously chose to give us those freedoms, hovever hard he sometimes found it to allow his precious daughters out into the world relatively unfettered, and that he always just hoped that he had given us enough guidance and sense that we would be safe. The idle way isn't always the easy way I guess. It's certainly the way I would like to parent.
I like that. Thank you
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