Cool To Be Uncool
Mainstream society no longer presents being wonderful hands-on parents as a "cool" life achievement - especially for women. The focus has shifted from children becoming fulfilled human beings to them growing up to tick off societally imposed cookie-cutter checklists.
Parents often stress about ensuring their children's school grades are stellar, however, many do not think about training and teaching their children how to elevate their emotional intelligence. By this, I mean teaching children how to understand the psyche of both themselves and others. This will help with empathy and with mapping out a more realistic reality. It instils observational skills, increases cunning, and enhances the ability to think independently and critically - qualities that a society which values conformity usually does not encourage. Although society does not reward letters after one's name for these skills, they are vital in increasing the likelihood of your children being successful - by their own definition - and fulfilled. Furthermore, it serves as a solid buffer, as it is very difficult for children to be loved in exactly the way they would like. This emotional intelligence will temper the unintentional pain caused by natural human-to-human misunderstandings and miscommunications - which can occur even with loving parents who have the best intentions.
Open-ended pretend play is also being dismantled by many traditional forms of education. The reason why open-ended pretend play is so important for young minds is that it enhances creativity. It involves creating hypothetical scenarios and creativity is required for problem-solving. Consider the children currently being raised by tablet games - most of these games have predetermined outcomes, framed within strict confines. One cannot cultivate an independent thinker if creativity is systematically eliminated. Geoffrey Miller explained that during ovulation, aside from traditional masculine traits, women are also attracted to higher levels of creativity, particularly verbal creativity. On a primal level, we recognise that creativity is important.
The best way to ensure that your children become independent thinkers is to be present enough to provide emotional validation and to create a safe environment. You want to nurture their self-awareness, creativity, and curiosity so they will search for the truth. They should question everything they encounter, because, at the end of the day, you do not want your children to fully adopt your beliefs either. You want them to have the tools to discern the truth for themselves. This is much harder to achieve if you are in survival mode, which is why the concept of family is important to uphold - yet it has been gradually and strategically dismantled, piece by piece.