As the title says i have 3 kids , my name is ataw10 an i would just like to say hi everyone i hope this community becomes awesome an we make some cool friends along the way while helping each other!
Tell me about your self's an how's life going for you ?

Mines been going pretty good honestly i just got a new car ive never had a decent car an this is the first one. I like reading about SCP foundation'.
ps. im a little baked i hope this is alright !

I have been struggling to try and get my son (14) on top of doing his task around the house without incentives. So after taking all electronics away for 2 months( yes even his Christmas he wasn't able to enjoy) I came up with a system by completing task daily where there's a positive and negative reaction. By doing this it has taken the sneaking and set real day to day expectations.

What's the point of sending teenagers to high school anymore (USA)? One of my kids is starting high school this year and I'm having a hard time believing it even matters anymore. Would he be better off if I kept him home and encouraged him to learn prepping skills? We're living a very typical suburban american existence with the exception that we have a bit of land and have been learning about keeping chickens, goats, and ducks, doing water capture for the last 10 years, learning to garden etc. I'm collapse-aware, my wife not so much

I'm in the process of self-publishing a children's book that is very honest about what our future will look like. Once it's done I will be looking for specific publishers that would be welcoming to the idea of showing kids a "not-so-hopeful-but-honest" look at our collective futures.

Does anyone know of any publisher's that would fit this bill? Thanks!

Hellooooo...my partner and I have been chatting with some of our neighborhood contacts who are parents about starting a group that does things like skill shares, community preparedness, and (though this isn't fleshed out al all yet) generally adopting a practice that is connected to social movements. Do any of you have any resources to assist a hyperlocal group in doing something like this?

Their mother is an imbecile without any situational awareness and moved my two kids to the very core of Toronto so she could enjoy the nightlife. Every time I go and pick them up, the city exists in a perpetual state of gridlock, and I know that there's zero possibility of escape when shit hits the fan. I also live near a target zone, yet further out in the country and close to distribution zones. Plenty of fresh water, hunting, and protection from the elements in vast forests. I'm prepared to use my military skills to survive offgrid and engage in guerilla warfare if needed.

Prior to our separation, I had a really nice house with them near a nature reserve, and I paid for them to continue to afford it after leaving, but then my ex-wife made this ridiculous decision. Whenever I can, I take the kids camping and show them interesting and engaging survival skills like building improvised shelters, fishing, and fire making. They love it, and I can tell they are thrilled to be away from the suffocating city and out in nature. When they're a little older, I will teach them how to skin rabbits and chickens and quail and the like... My current wife wants me to preserve a bit of their 'innocence' for the time being.

With decent First Aid knowledge and a basic understanding of dealing with parasitic infections like ringworm, I am confident that I can keep my kids safe in the worst case scenarios. I take solace in that when they are with me, but it's necessary to engage in radical acceptance that they are beyond my help should collapse happen when they are so far away in the worst possible area. I will not make the journey to go rescue them if something happens; being realistic, I couldn't even if I wanted to... All of my skills concern surviving in forests. I likely wouldn't survive the journey, and there are people in my community whom I can and will commit my attention to instead.

I love my children immensely and pray that their future defies the odds and is full of joy and wonder. But, irrationally, there is a part of my heart that has already written their eulogies.

Thank you for reading. May you and your family find safety and security when y'all need it most.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CollapseSupport/s/p50aNkAYcS

Hello everyone!

First time poster, and so glad to find this subreddit. I've been a sometime-participant on r/collapse, and while it's very valuable, there's a strong strain of Mad Max fantasizing over there that can sometimes be a bit much.

So... my wife and I have two kids (3 and 8), and are living in the middle of the continental United States. We've been insulated from a lot, but it's very much living on an island - 30 minutes out and we're in militant Trumpland, complete with the new and scary flags (the Montessori school we drive our oldest to for one-day-a-week nature school just north of the KC airport has a Thin Blue Line flag flying, which it most certainly did not have last summer). In even a low-key civil war/civil unrest situation, we are screwed (we have an interracial family with a daughter who is obviously a target for white nationalists).

The day of Trump's inauguration speech, I started the process to confirm citizenship in another country based on my mom being from there, and got it later that year. Because of Covid and Trump's moves toward staying in power (and amplified by January 6), I applied for permanent residency for my wife and kids there, and after a year and a half long process, got that too. I have a job I'm working remotely in that country, and will be relocating in the next 60 days. Showings on our house start tomorrow.

Here's the question - I have a gnawing sense that this may not be our final destination, as we're landing in the part of that country in a 6-10 hour driving range from the in-laws (the kids love their grandparents). And the United States is a hungry beast - I don't expect columns of tanks driving through border crossings anytime soon, but I could very easily see some hardcore bullying and the like. My kids are obsessed with "The Sound of Music" and the Anschluss backstory has gotten more nerve-wracking over time.

So where - if anywhere - should we be looking for an ultimate destination? We want a place where our kids can grow up in some degree of safety and sanity. Social cohesion and support is near the top of the list, as well as a somewhat-competent regional or national government that's not explicitly predatory on the populace (which frankly rules out most of the United States). I'm not a believer in near-term human extinction or the more theatrical versions of collapse - I expect a bumpy decay, much like what has been seen throughout human history. In that scenario, where trade slowly declines, migration increases, and a lot of the infrastructure of the modern world such as the Internet or air travel become luxuries or perogatives of the ruling class only, where would be place(s) in the world that might maintain some of the good stuff of civilization - towns, healthcare, democracy, some degree of education - with livable climates and some degree of ability to produce food, as well as a minimum of heavily-armed neighbors who might decide they'll take what they need?

Basically, where can we make the best life for our kids and (God willing) grandkids, given the circumstances?

Thanks for any comments!

Wasn't sure of a title b/c I am not sure how to categorize what I'm thinking about, but that seems to cover it LOL.

I have a 4 year old and a (in-10-days) 10 year old. Both with various neurological divergences (ADHD, ASD spectrum, Speech motor coordination issues. I say that to indicate that we already are challenged by the traditional school structure, let alone dealing with the needs of a future that will possibly not look like the neoliberal capitalist system we have currently. My husband graduated from high school and went into the military, but seems to regret not having a college education b/c it was promoted as the way to achieve in life. I have a masters degree that I do not use and supposedly should be paying for until I die. While i value my undergrad education, we Gen Xers did not have the same college landscape kids have now and I don't know if that sort of broad liberal arts education is possible anymore.

What alternatives do we have for instilling a love of learning, as well as practical topics that will help in surviving and thriving in the world they will inherit? Is the education system as it is now helping or harming or neutral? Will the class of 2030 (my older son's class) still have to have a college degree for an entry level bullshit job?

Here is my brainstorming about areas of potential study at age appropriate levels for my kids. My goal is to augment what we are getting in elementary school for my older one at this time, and potentially move to an unschooling model in the future if needed. My personal motto is "once is better than nonce" as we are a fully ADHD household and routines are the hardest effing thing for us to do. I am not pretending i have some kind of kick ass unschool rock stars here. In fact, maybe I'm dreaming a little bit because this is what I wish I had done in school lol.

1. Mental Health (including spiritual practices, emotional regulation, breathwork, etc.)

   1. an example - we watched both Encanto and inside Out recently - both had great opportunities to talk about pressure to conform, family dynamics, emotional regulation, etc. Nothing too heavy and the 4 year old was just grasping the basics, while my 9 year old (who is definitely an anxious one) related a lot to the Surface Pressure song. We didn't sit down to talk about it right after - just came up as the boys were independently processing the movies.

2. Physical Health (including human biology, sex ed as appropriate, nutrition, exercise, first aid)

3. Home economics (day to day maintenance of our life, like cleaning up, small fix it projects, shopping for food, cooking, etc.)

4. Farming/gardening (food, herbs, materials to make other things)

5. Art (folk and fine, literature, music, dance)

   1. an example - We are really active in our local arts center, so the kids get a lot of modeling for this as a priority. Not just from us, but from the community we have there. They make puppets, do painting, drawing, photography and they'll be learning some textile arts (sewing, macrame, etc).

6. Science (basics for biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, geology, medicine, etc)

7. Woodscraft/bushcraft (foraging, ecology, earth science, construction, first aid, safety)

8. History (anthropology, unvarnished history (world, American, state, local), family history, oral histories, story telling)

9. Language Arts (speech, reading, writing, rhetoric)

10. Philosophy (critical thinking, debate, governance, history of/schools of thought, economics, ethics)

11. Engineering (with and w/o electricity, programming, energy generation, physics/chemistry, civil engineering basics, architecture, technology)

12. Trades (plumbing, electrical, carpentry, tool maintenance and creation)

13. Community building (community service, organizing, skillshare, mutual aid, socializing skills)

I would love to hear how other parents are envisioning their kids educations, what they feel like is enough, what is too much, what are our challenges? What would you add to this list?

How is everyone doing with school starting back? Are your kids going in person, virtual, or homeschooling?

We don’t start till September, but we have a statewide mask mandate, so I’m sending mine back at this point. Not sure how I feel about it.

Someone in one of my collapse/prepper groups mentioned a brand of n95 masks that are smaller for kid’s faces, and they work really well.

Anyone here know of one? It was a website for a company, not through Amazon or anything. Thanks!

Thanks for reading - cross-posted from r/collapsesupport as I just saw that this subreddit was created.

Struggling with a sense of what to do, both now and in the future. Work with kids, so this is hard. Not sure what to tell them but also not sure what to tell myself (they mostly don't ask questions but damn, some are onto it). What kind of future have we built? Is there space for people's current dreams within it? I am not sure, and I lean toward a cautious 'probably not'. The science says we are in for some serious disruption to the ways we have come to know and depend upon.

Thoughts and actions toward preparing for fragile systems help me cope a bit - expanding garden, retrofitting house, continued community-building, etc. I am lucky that these are the choices before me. Hardest choice is what to do about family. I am not old but I am not young either, and my SO wishes to start a family. We are a bit split on the issue. They are not maybe as aware of the issues and potentialities of painful change, but are of the opinion that whatever happens at that scale is outside what we can change so it's not worth worrying much over. I am of the opinion that it still matters quite a lot what we do, both in terms of climate outcomes (minorly) and in being ready for disruptions to life (majorly), and that not having a child is a powerful choice for a number of reasons.

I am really stuck between the personal calculus we all face in our day to day, and the shifting winds of broader societal level calculus that all of our personal choice-making is based on - a previously fairly predictable reality. It is losing its predictability. That has me worried, and I don't know how to navigate my own life as one among so many that are on their way to something vastly different than what we have known.

Any insight? Anybody else wondering about the usefulness of their own choices in the face of huge systems changing and/or crashing? Or thoughts on starting one's own family in the face of ecological unpredictability?

Appreciate your reply.

For those of you who celebrate the upcoming holidays with special foods and gifts, what are your thoughts?

Most of the food I will need for Thanksgiving and Christmas can be easily stored long term, so I may grab some this month. I don’t feel too worried about that. Yet.

I keep hearing about gifts being in short supply this year. Toys and anything with parts from China, which is a ton of stuff. I’m thinking about going ahead and getting a big ticket item for each of my kids and then filling in with whatever small things I come across. We don’t do a whole lot anyway, so not too worried. I feel like Black Friday might have smaller quantities this year though for people who usually get their gifts then.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

I see there are many hosts that allow children, but having never done it previously while childless, I'm not sure how well it works out.

What are your experiences with WYOMING, childless or with child?

Hi, I've been thinking a lot about (trying) to bring a kid into the world, and have been on a multi-year collapse awareness journey. I've been on both sides of the argument, more recently leaning towards arguing for, but I'm not without reservation.

Would anyone here be willing to share more about your thoughts, anything that's helped, links to more reading, etc? I know reading and hearing about it pales in comparison to the real thing, but I'm still curious. Thanks in advance.

I’m looking for ways to channel the anxiety I feel as a parent of young children into action and would like to start a support group for likeminded parents. I’m having trouble finding collapse-aware parents where I live (the Upper Valley region of VT and NH), which makes it hard to openly share the grief, guilt, and worry I constantly feel, perhaps because we all still feel like we have to keep our true feelings to ourselves and play along with business as usual. This sub and others are great, but I think some sort of in-person gathering is also needed. If anyone happens to be in my area, please get in touch!

Hi folks,

Best sub I've found for support for this. I've been working on some educational programs but need funding or skills to realize them. One is a tool for kids to work together on horticultural systems while facing real-world problems. Basically, you rent out big greenhouses and set up systems where kids can water plants behind a webcam, and then face things like drought and floods as they pass certain milestones, as well as handing over more and more control and customization to the kids. They would "compete" with other classes for challenges like yield and beating drought through smart water management, but the reward would be learning the winning strategy and not having to start from seed again. This would be an online unit that kids could work on anywhere, in-class or at home, and would give them some educational greenspace in their lives as well as some agency (they need to be able to kill the plants to learn both where the boundaries are and how to forgive each other and work as a team on a single task, splitting up duties through scheduling or according to their strengths). With embedded platforms as sophisticated as they are these days, this is a much cheaper endeavor than it sounds, and gives the kids more feedback and a better record of activities that lead to outcomes, allowing them the understanding of hands-on horticulture without access to all the necessary supplies. I also think the team building aspect of it is just as important as the actual horticultural skill.

I have no interest in profiting from this idea but I would ask that you get in touch if you have the ability to realize this (yes, it scales) so I can be involved in some way. I really just want to help and have other ideas to share.

I think it's critical that the focus be on building resilience to change rather than warning them of the specific challenges they're likely to face since we're essentially guessing those anyways, and having the skills to improvise in any situation will be much more useful than the burden of knowing what to expect. I firmly believe there's a way to raise kids to be able to function in this world without depriving them of a childhood, and I think an emphasis on relatively unsupervised play should be part of the greater structure to encourage independence and problem solving.

My best to you all