happy childhood & idle parenting

Words of wisdom: 'How to begin to educate a child. First rule: leave him alone. Second rule: leave him alone. Third rule: leave him alone'

(...)The idle parent is a stay-at-home parent. (...) We find fun in our own backyards. (...)

Quand j'ai lu cela, je n'ai plus eu honte de mes propos et du fait que j'aime passer beaucoup de temps à la maison, laisser jouer les petits seuls, notamment dehors dans le jardin lorsque le temps le permet ("retourner le jardin" dirait leur père, qui ne voit pas d'un oeil aussi positif que moi le fait de les laisser à eux-même ;) pendant que je tricote, bouquine ou sirote mon thé, gardant un oeil sur eux, au travers de la baie vitrée du salon.

The idle parent is a thrifty parent. (...) With thrift comes creativity. "Waste is unpoetic, thrift is creative," as GK Chesterton wrote. With no money, you start to discover your own inner resources. (...). Fun does not need to be expensive.

Ramasser des coquillages en bord de mer.
Même si le vent souffle fort, quelle bouffée d'air pour les corps et les esprits, et de beaux souvenirs pour les petits.

We don't care about status and career advancement and how we are perceived by others. We are free of all of that rubbish. We simply want to enjoy our lives and to give our children a happy childhood. What greater gift could there be from a parent? If our children tell their friends in later life that they enjoyed their childhood, I would count that as a great achievement. Better to have a happy childhood than a high-achieving one that brings a big psychiatrist's bill in adult life. (...)

Manifesto of the idle parent
We reject the idea that parenting requires hard work
We pledge to leave our children alone
That should mean that they leave us alone, too
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 fill the house with music and laughter
We don't waste money on family days out and holidays
We lie in bed for as long as possible
We try not to interfere
We push them into the garden and shut the door so that 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

Full text from Tom Hodgkinson - The idler & The idle parent