But I thought they were both men?
It takes a special kind of individual to brag about their toddler almost getting hurt due to lack of supervision.
There is a weird subcategory of parent right now where every parenting decision is made in service to a larger overarching philosophy that just happens to serve the purposes of neglect. They might call it gentle parenting although it’s not that at all. It’s permissive parenting.
Permissive parenting is at epidemic levels now. I see it near-constantly in my fellow mom-peers: kids who have no shoes, no boundaries, not potty trained, no expectations, no bedtimes, no education and it’s all twisted around to be some kind of point of pride for allowing the child to have a happier childhood than whatever the parents imagine we all got. They interpret it as free, earth mama kind of parenting when in reality they’ve created a dysregulated little monster who still shits in diapers at age 5 and can’t count to ten. This is Becky now. “Haha my feral little free spirit just can’t be constrained by your rigid, ableist standards of behavior.”
And then when the kids get to school-age, suddenly they all have ADHD or ODD or whatever and end up on a 504 when in reality their behaviors would clear up almost entirely if they were transplanted into a family where no meant no.
I don’t think Becky will actually homeschool Hannah. Homeschooling means no free babysitter for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. She’ll loudly proclaim that she’s going to homeschool, sure, but I predict that when push comes to shove, she’ll desperately need a break from the monster she will have created. Assuming she still has custody at that point, of course.
I can’t tell you how many times I have been out and about with my own kids at a coffee shop or a restaurant only to see other kids throwing plates of food or ignoring everyone while playing iPad games at full volume or running around the restaurant at full speed. I do believe the current r/childfree mindset of rabid, antisocial hatred towards children is being astroturfed for social engineering reasons but I also often see examples of extreme parental failure that make it difficult to tolerate children in public.
Daniel taking Hannah for walkies with the dogs in the evenings is already more evidence of parental effort than Becky has ever put into Hannah’s life. Hannah is never going to be “normal” but I hope Daniel is able to present Becky’s own words in family court and establish the threat of parental alienation, lack of supervision, lack of baby proofing, and constant revolving door of non-relative male sexual partners and get majority custody. If he finally has been able to enforce a boundary with Becky, that bodes well for his ability to enforce boundaries with his own child. Saying no, meaning it, and backing it up with action is a very good trait to cultivate as a parent.
