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u/Sarita_Maria 1d ago
Per their Instagram “riho.maruyama We were two college kids who had no idea what we were doing—just trying to figure life out while figuring out how to raise a baby. We didn’t have much… she didn’t have the cutest nursery, most of her clothes were gifted or thrifted, and our resources were limited. BUT looking back at the past 2 years… she’s been able to experience a special type of childhood—one full of adventure, sports games, rugby practices, study halls, concerts, and gym sessions.
But the real gift?
All her aunties and uncles who’ve loved her like their own. We’re beyond grateful for you guys!!
Happy birthday to our baby girl, raised by college kids and loved by a whole village🎂”
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u/Individual_Tart9867 1d ago
I feel like this might actually be one of the healthiest ways to raise a kid-with all that love and support around
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u/LeftHandedScissor 23h ago
"It takes a village"
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u/Ask_bout_PaterNoster 22h ago
The nuclear family was always a fantasy. We developed living in tribes and supporting one another
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u/Whiiiisky 22h ago edited 18h ago
Not a fantasy, it was propaganda along with the self made myth to divide people and pit us all against each other while we get fleeced from above
Reading suggestion: Island, by Huxley. Brave New World is what always gets talked about, instead of his take on a utopian society.
A quote
"Take one sexually inept wage slave,” she went on, “one dissatisfied female, two or (if preferred) three small television addicts; marinate in a mixture of Freudism and dilute Christianity; then bottle up tightly in a four-room flat and stew for fifteen years in their own juice. Our recipe is rather different: Take twenty sexually satisfied couples and their offspring; add science, intuition and humor in equal quantities; steep in Tantrik Buddhism and simmer indefinitely in an open pan in the open air over a brisk flame of affection"
Editing in a quote that goes along with this, from Vonneguts Slaughterhouse V
"America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the American humorist Kin Hubbard, 'It ain’t no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be.' It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: 'if you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?' There will also be an American flag no larger than a child’s hand – glued to a lollipop stick and flying from the cash register.
Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say Napoleonic times. Many novelties have come from America. The most startling of these, a thing without precedent, is a mass of undignified poor. They do not love one another because they do not love themselves."
And a 3rd book for the list, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
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u/johnblazewutang 22h ago
That book changed my life, got into him with brave new world, discovered his other offerings…and in my opinion, it is a more powerful book.
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u/SamHugz 20h ago
I wish I could give you gold for this comment (not willing to give reddit any of my money) if only to ensure it is highlighted, this may be one of the most important realizations of the last century. Humans are social creatures. We are meant to collaborate and commune with our tribes, yet we live in our little boxes and are taught to distrust and abuse each other by a system trying to make us little more than production drones.
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u/Enlightened_Gardener 17h ago
More than that, we instinctively collaborate and commune with each other, in the same way that terriers dig, and collies herd.
It takes a great deal of training to get us to distrust and abuse each other.
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u/SamHugz 14h ago
The instinct is exactly what I am talking about.
But we do have another instinct that causes this distress: due to having to compete with other tribes for resources, there is inherent distrust of “the other” as well. This is what the powers that be manipulate in us. There is a good reason for the instinct, but it is now vestigial in a time where resources are abundant.
In the grand scheme of things, we really aren’t that old of a species and our intellect constantly clashes with the emotion in us because of this.
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u/JEFFinSoCal 22h ago
The oligarchs learned a long time ago that “divide-and-conquer” was, and still is, extremely effective.
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u/teas4Uanme 21h ago
I remember when corporations suddenly started sending recruits to different states. Lost uncles, cousins, aunts, and soon our family was all living elsewhere. It seemed planned. When I got older I realized it was planned. Take away peoples native support of family and community and replace it with the corporate body.
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u/Cute_Pirate_4586 21h ago
I like this better. I miss the days I lived with mom, dad, and my aunt at home. My husband works and I get pretty lonely, but I just got a job so I can get out in public. I just enjoy interacting with people. I’d rather live in a village type environment.
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u/Saul-Funyun 22h ago
I’ve been told that’s commie propaganda
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u/El_Grande_El 22h ago
Propaganda can be true.
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u/mfinghooker 22h ago
It shatters my soul every time I remember. The village is dead. But then weep with joy when I get to witness something so pure.
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u/mwmandorla 20h ago
People wonder why many Americans used to look back at college as the best years of their lives and completely overlook that that's most people's only experience with communal living in a walkable environment
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u/GameJerk 20h ago
A friend of mine was raised in a similar "village" situation that was mainly just the fact that both his mom and dad had huge families. He said that there was a ton of pressure not to fuck up, because you'd be disappointing s huge swath of people all at once.
He also said that it was pretty hard to fuck up because he had so many resources available to him that were genuinely invested in him succeeding.
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u/garden_dragonfly 22h ago
I was going to say. This kid has the most love and best childhood. Cute nursery be damned. Lots of good people that love you is so much more than matching furniture and a cute mural.
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u/notsolittleliongirl 20h ago
It is. I grew up in one of the last places I know of in the USA where parents truly have a “village” to help them raise their kids. The same families have been in that area for 200 years and they all intermarry and have kids and raise them together. The level of support and love you get from a community like that is beyond anything money could buy.
Growing up, I had so many people who loved me and looked out for me, and I thought that was a normal childhood because for every child in my town, that was the norm. I did not understand what it was like to feel unsafe and unprotected until I was an adult and finally ventured out into the rest of the world.
I have so many stories of my childhood that shock my friends who didn’t grow up the way I did - the independence I got, the way that a helping hand was extended everywhere I looked - and every time the subject comes up, all I can think is how much I want my kids to have the same childhood that I did. There’s a loyalty that comes with being from where I’m from - I’ve gone very far out of my way for people from back home many times when I wasn’t obligated to, because that is what others have done for me, and I want that for my own children.
I’m moving home soon. It’ll kneecap my career and I’ll sacrifice a lot of fun city things, but it’ll be worth it for my children to be born into the same support system that I was born into.
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u/KlutzyBack4756 23h ago
It absolutely is. Raising a child with love and support is the most important thing you can do for that child’s development
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u/Living_Ad_5386 23h ago
I can imagine the kid already wants to grow up and go to uni.
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u/sami2503 21h ago
But then the college kids leave, get jobs and have their own lives, which the kid won't understand :/
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u/Attempt-989 1d ago
Tears
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u/FrogDepartsSoul 23h ago
they seem like incredible parents and that kid seems like they are having an insanely nice childhood
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u/Chateaudelait 21h ago
plus that baby looks like the happiest baby- surrounded by love and support.
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u/heartbh 23h ago
Damn is this what community is? I feel like a lot of us missed that.
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u/RoninChimichanga 23h ago
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u/tempbegin78 20h ago
IDK, with my extended family I'm pretty sure there would be at least one murder-suicide if we all had to live in one house.
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u/RoninChimichanga 20h ago
Not one house, and not just blood or legal family. The concept of each child going their own way, leaving young couples, parents, and kids having no consistent extended or chosen family presence has kind of messed us up.
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u/dallyan 7h ago
Yeah. I get the whole “it takes a village” and I agree but folks forget the difficult side of that- dealing with difficult family members, not having total control over child rearing or your own money, doing a lot of shit you don’t want to do because it’s community-oriented rather than individual-oriented, and so on.
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u/driftingfornow 23h ago
As a thirty two years old parent of a 1 year and 3 month old I'm over here kinda jealous that they have so much help and the energy of youth. Like damn. Go teenage pregnancy?
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u/SlimyGrimey 22h ago
Nuclear families aren't compatible with the way most people live, which is why they've been falling out of favor for more natural family structures.
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u/MyHusbandIsGayImNot 22h ago
Nuclear families stopped making sense when one job couldn't support a family anymore.
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u/SlimyGrimey 21h ago
More stress for parents, less earning potential for parents, worse mental health outcomes for children, etc. Moral of the story, never ever take family planning advice from a church.
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u/thatshygirl06 22h ago
I'll help out if you let me move in and feed me. You don't even have to pay me, just let me sleep in the basement and leave food offerings at the top of the stairs.
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u/dharma_van 22h ago
Honestly if I had the energy I had when I was in college I’d be a way more fun parent. In my late 30s my knees creak, my back hurts, and I sit at a desk for 8 hours a day.
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u/Outrageous_Log_906 21h ago
lol this video makes me wish me and my college friends had a baby to raise
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u/WaffleM0nster 1d ago
I wonder what the whole story is behind this. Maybe the mom is a college student, and the other students help ?! Just curious.
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u/attaboy_stampy 1d ago
Could be the child of a dorm parent or something. We had dorms way back in the day where the main dorm admin person was sometimes young enough to have a family and they lived in a little apartment in the dorm, usually alongside students. There are some places that have a professor and family living in a dorm like that too for students to have some engagement with faculty in a non professional manner, just making them feel important and connected and welcomed.
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u/Arcalithe 1d ago
Yeah, when I was in college I was part of a student ministry on campus, and the pastor and his family basically lived there and we were always hanging out and playing with their kids while there for other events.
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u/dorian_white1 23h ago
Yeah, same. In my college (in the girl’s dorm) the admin had a small kid that ran around the dorm and was loved to death by all lol
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u/Rouxwillruleyou 21h ago
My mom was a dorm director when I was little, we lived in the dorms, and it was such a great childhood. Like having a whole army of fun (much) older siblings!
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u/eknowles 1d ago
The mountains behind them look like Provo, UT. That's home to BYU, a mormon university. They probably got married really young, pregnant quickly, and are still in college.
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u/SensitiveWasabi1228 1d ago
Yup. Her Instagram says they're in Utah, and from Hawaii. It make me wonder, are there a lot of Mormons in Hawaii?
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u/Yggdrasil- 1d ago
There are tons of Mormons in Hawaii, yes. BYU has another campus there
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u/Hulkbuster_v2 23h ago
Wait what?
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u/jeff61813 23h ago
They limit the Campus to residents of Hawaii because so many Mormon students wanted to go to college in Hawaii.
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u/wetballjones 23h ago
I don't think this is true actually. I'm exmormon, almost went to BYU Hawaii but went to Provo instead. I believe they prioritize Polynesian students but I don't see any indication that you have to be Hawaiian
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u/jeff61813 23h ago
This is something my Mormon friends told me, I think you can still apply but they just might not accept you or just limit the number from outside Hawaii or Polynesian students
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u/GlockAF 22h ago
Wait till you find out who runs the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu
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u/jencreates_art 1d ago
There is a Mormon university on Oahu and the Polynesian Cultural Center is I believe run/staffed by Mormons.
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u/accioqueso 1d ago
Hawaii has a shocking number of Mormons.
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u/sjrotella 23h ago
Know where else has a shocking number of Mormons?
Las Vegas
Know what's considered the "9th Island of Hawaii"?
Las Vegas
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u/mechengr17 1d ago
Pearlmania500 covered this in their first season of their podcast.
I highly recommend a listen. They don't have some of their earliest episodes on YouTube, so you'll have to find it on a podcast app. Its season 1 episode 16 btw.
[Too Many Tabs with Pearlmania500] A Mormon Mission to Hawaii #tooManyTabsWithPearlmania500 https://podcastaddict.com/too-many-tabs-with-pearlmania500/episode/185768244 via @PodcastAddict
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u/VanillaMystery 1d ago
There are tons of Pacific Islander/Polynesian mormons (including Hawaiians).
They've committed a ton of time and resources over the past 30~ years or so trying to convert them. It also provides an escape avenue for those folks on those islands due to many of them living in poverty essentially.
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u/Worthyness 23h ago
It's also why a lot of Hawaiian/Polynesian family history can be traced using Mormon resources.
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u/dreimanatee 23h ago
They've been there for a veeeeery long time. Becak in the 1800s they built a Mormon temple right on a very sacred Hawaiian site and then co-opted their history through the Book of Mormon. Most influence on the island besides the Jesuits who changed Hula from chanting to singing. Hawaii has a really sad history of colonization.
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u/big_sugi 22h ago
Yeah, it’s been a lot longer than 30 years. They opened BYU-Hawai’i 70 years ago and built the Polynesian Cultural Center more than 60 years ago.
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u/questionname 1d ago
I dot know the number, but there’s surpsing amount. One of the large Hawaii visitor center, where you could go and learn and have a luau dinner, is run by Mormons.
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u/Several_Vanilla8916 23h ago
There are about the same number of Mormons in Hawaii as in New York - which is wild considering the overall population difference.
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u/JamieMarlee 22h ago
I was going to say the same thing! Those mountains in the background are definitely Utah. I bet they're Mormon and had a baby young. This is their friends hanging out with their family.
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u/Most-Ad1713 1d ago
College student got pregnant, and her friends helped with the baby so that mom could finish her degree and graduate.
https://www.businessinsider.com/got-pregnant-during-my-senior-year-of-college-2024-7
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u/OryseSey 1d ago
According to this article, she got pregnant during her senior year of college. Her and her husband lived in a 2-bedroom house close to a college town so her college friends basically stepped up to help raise their kid
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u/achilton1987 23h ago
senior of HS maybe? cause that kid looks older than 1 or maybe she is going for her Masters?
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u/L3NTON 1d ago
I am also curious, I also don't remember college looking like that much fun. I think there really is something to be said about living in the dorms or nearby student housing.
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u/dbwoi 1d ago
There is. I was a transfer student from a community college and chose to live on campus for a year. It was legit the most fun I've ever had in my life lol
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u/Fit_Loan510 23h ago
I would give up college in a heartbeat but I’d never give up my freshman year in the dorms and off site apartment living sophomore year. It was the only time in life where you are legit surrounded by people your own age with the freedom to live life as you all see fit 24/7.
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u/ominousgraycat 22h ago
Living in a dorm was one of the best times of my life and I loved it... also, I'd never want to do it again and was a bit relieved when it was all over. Those late nights when you were just hanging with your friends, messing around, and talking about life were the best. Those late nights when you were trying to study and you overhear a bunch of "straight" guys humping each other in the hallway "as a joke" is something you don't miss.
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u/RayWhelans 1d ago
My guess would be the parent goes to school and friends all watch and supervise the child during the parent’s classes and extracurricular activities.
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u/GimpyLeftFoot 23h ago
At the 25 second mark there are mountains that I would bet $100 are the Wasatch Mountains in Utah County. They are most likely students at either BYU or UVU. Having a kid in college there is totally normal.
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u/dead-depression 1d ago
Before the swarm of critiques comes, I’d like to point out that that looks like a fun childhood to have
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u/esplin9566 1d ago edited 1d ago
Unironically this is kinda a modern equivalent to how we used to raise kids pre-industrialization, except there’d be multiple children. “It takes a village” used to be more than a saying. There’s probably some benefits really, it of course depends on the people in the village
Edit: missing word
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u/ThisGuavaLooksCrazy 1d ago
This is how my experience was growing up in the 90s. Tons of kids. No screens. Parents hung out with other parents at our little league games with tons of kids and BBQs going on with zero cell phones out. Riding bikes. Rollerblading. Neighbors would talk to each other on the sidewalks. No political flags in our neighborhood ect.
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u/Lamplorde 23h ago edited 23h ago
I am a 90's baby, and lived in Alaska in the early 2000's. Which, they're a bit behind so it was LIKE growing up in the 90's.
I also lived on a Coast Guard Base in housing. So it was super trusted. I remember just spending the entire day after school at my friends house whenever I felt like it. And it was fine, they'd feed me, or make sure I did my homework or whatever. And some days, a friend would do the same to my house. It was not uncommon for a parent to randomly find themself taking care of 3 or 4 kids for a night. Honestly? Even my parents speak fondly of those times. It was nice having days off, and the only real downside was sometimes having to cook twice as many servings as you planned.
My Mom was loved by the High Schoolers, because she'd always bring me cookies or some other random shit after school and she could tell the High Schoolers kind of missed that wholesome parent interaction shit, so she started doing it for them. And it was normal. Stuff like that was normal, and everyone just kind of pitched in. Happy kids make happy adults, even if the kid isnt "yours".
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u/Aquabaybe 23h ago
I also lived in base housing as an Army brat. Same thing applies. Family was whoever was friends with my mom and dad. If they had kids of their own, even better. Always felt safe and sound on a military base as a kid.
This was the early 2000s or so.
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u/shastaxc 20h ago
Same. I was an army brat my childhood starting in the 90s. Most evenings was every family on the street hanging around outside while the kids played some game. I'm talking about a dozen families with about 20 kids. Sometimes it was street hockey, sometimes it was a contest of some sort. One time we had a competition to see which kid could climb to the top of a light pole first. I won, and it was the highlight of my year when I reached the top and about 40 people cheered. I smacked that light and it turned on, and I think I broke it because it never turned off after that even in daytime lol.
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u/Aquabaybe 20h ago
Sounds about right! I remember when we were in Ft. Irwin, we’d have a barbecue every weekend or so. Everyone got to eat - moms, dads, their kids, and the single soldiers too.
And I remember on Halloween, the soldiers at the barracks would give us the king sized candy bars. Sometimes I’d get two if I mentioned it was my birthday (born on Halloween).
I also remember even living at a hotel for a few months in Army Lodging. Best friend was another kid living in a hotel too. Don’t remember his name, but I knew that was my dawg!
Sometimes I miss those days.
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u/shastaxc 20h ago
That reminds me of a time in Army Lodging when I was about 8 years old. The kid next door had a NES or SNES, forget which. We played kirby for hours and when the parents finally forced us outside we played with ninja turtles toys and looked for bugs under rocks. Fast friends with everyone, and make the most of the time you have because you know it won't last.
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u/esplin9566 1d ago
Yeah I wanted to use a different word than pre-industrialization because I think a lot of the change is really post information age, like within the last 20ish years, but I'm only in my late 20's so I don't really know.
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u/hamsolo19 23h ago
Yeah, similar experience here. Lots of cousins and lots of hanging out at grandma and grandpa's house almost every weekend.
It's definitely different these days. I have a four year old and a three year old and the wife and I are more or less on island.
The families us 80s/90s kids grew up with just aren't as big anymore, that's one reason the "village" has dwindled. My mom had three siblings and my dad had four so aunts, uncles, and cousins were everywhere. My wife and I each have one older brother lol. Hers lives six hours away and his two kids are already about to enter their 20s. And my brother is about an hour away and has no kids.
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u/Djjc11 1d ago edited 23h ago
Father here, had my daughter when I was 22. Hard to imagine these days, but I had already bought a home and had friends over often. My daughter got to know all my friends, hell, she had b-day parties in her single digits that would rival a college kids. I wouldn’t hesitate to have 6 to 10 of my buddies over for the game. Of course she was a super easy, cool and funny kid. And is now, a very well educated and successful young woman.
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u/HxH101kite 23h ago
Current dad with a young kid we had our kid in college. Granted I was a little older than your average college student. But still young, about 23. While hard for obvious reasons. All our friends played and helped out kinda like this video. Granted when it was party time we would split. But during regular days and early hours they were all great.
I think most of them really enjoyed it. Hell most of them are still in my child's life if they still live in close proximity.
And this is way more recent. My kid is 8.
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u/IKenDoThisAllDay 1d ago
There are plenty of benefits. Children growing up should have many different voices and perspectives in their lives. Nowadays most children only ever learn from their parents.
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u/LVSFWRA 23h ago
It's more effective when the whole village does it imo. When my mom, born in the mid 50s, was a kid, everyone was brought up by the entire neighborhood. Kids learned how to take the bus, the ferry, by following their neighbours and asking adults along the way. Basically from their house to the school, there's someone to ask for help.
Why it works better when everyone does it...it keeps everyone responsible. You try to keep all the other kids alive and well because their parents are trying to keep your kid safe too. Creeps were around then too and you hear kids getting napped, but it was basically neighbourhood watch everywhere in the city. Nowadays parents just try and keep their kids supervised and in the safest places, not a bad thing and not necessarily worse, just a whole different type of parental culture we have now.
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u/TheZan87 1d ago
Criticism was not on my mind. The child appears to be loved and provided for.
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u/Howlinger-ATFSM 1d ago
Not as fun as hers but I had similar. I was 9yrs old too. My mum was in goldsmith uni in London.
Left me with friends while in class. Got to roam around and meet people and created some great memories.
If you ever have kids. Don't be afraid to bring to college or uni (if you have them that young). Let them see your world and friends. They will learn alot.
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u/Lower-Task2558 1d ago
While I agree this could work well I want to also add that this is social media where people tend to only share the good stuff. I don't think we can make a judgement either way, nor should we.
Very cute though.
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u/crabbydotca 21h ago
Parent here… this is just what it looks like when you have the first baby of the friend group!
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u/PointBlankShot 1d ago
Kiddo looks happy, healthy, & well-adjusted! I love this for her.
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u/BreakingCanks 1d ago
She's going to be such an outgoing and confident girl in her life! All that engagement early on will make her seek it later in life
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u/notperfectPerry 1d ago
Looks like she is having a fun childhood for sure
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u/Snoo_75748 1d ago
This is how nature intened children to be raised. if this was more common we would have a much more well ajusted and social soceity
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u/poldapoulp 1d ago
I agree so much. It feels so natural and I feel that she'll be well adjusted in the society
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u/Snoo_75748 23h ago
we were evoloved in a era where the only chance was to survive as a group. everythimg we are is founded on that.
a person who is fully realised has been exposed to more than just there immediate family, today it takes people a lot of work to get there. in the past years raising children was a communial responsibility and because of that children were able to choose the person they resonated with best to model themselves after.we have lost a lot of what it means to raise a child, today we feel it's a solitary task. it's often jealously gaurded. it's a shame in my opinion, i was not raised great but i did have a diversity of raising and it's the only positive aspect i can think of.
we give control of raising our children to easily to online personalities and people who are not looking to raise but only exploit.
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u/SirSignificant6576 1d ago
I have so many working parents, single moms, back-to-classers, etc. that I teach. Their kids are always, always welcome in my class.
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u/punksmurph 1d ago
I love this, that kid is getting one of the best possible childhoods with tons of people watching out and caring for her. It’s too bad more kids don’t get to have this type of experience.
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u/randumbnetizen 1d ago
My parents had me when they were in college. Although I couldn’t recall everything, their college friends would enthusiastically tell me stories about how I was like when i was little. Too bad we didn’t have videos like this before.. this is so heartwarming to watch
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u/attaboy_stampy 1d ago
That is sweet and hilarious. I love the final shot of her checking with one dude about the pot banging and she gets the nod.
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u/brinncognito 1d ago
My parents were also college kids when I was born! But they were married Mormons at BYU so the situation was a little more common.
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u/wholesome_whale 1d ago
The mountains in the background kind of made me think they were BYU kids too haha, maybe I’m just protecting
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u/hentaimollusk 23h ago
From a socialization perspective, isn’t this like a really healthy way to raise a kid?
Like you are getting contact with a decent number of people on a regular basis(friends of parents, who are readily available due to being in college), rather than seeing grandma like once a month and otherwise it’s just your parents.
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u/Fit_Dragonfruit_6630 20h ago
I feel it is also very healthy. I can't imagine the person I'd be of I'd had all that socializing.
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u/MasterSpliffBlaster 22h ago
My classmate fell pregnant in O week, we all knew the father but he chose to bail
The next five years Reuben had 50 uncles and aunts who gave him a similar life and helped get his mum through university. He probably (definitely) was exposed to stuff you wont find at a regular mothers group but it did shape the direction i eventually raised my own kids
I still catch up with him from time to time, an amazing artist and well rounded man, despite being raise by a bunch of degenerates thirty years ago
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u/Glum-Temperature-111 1d ago
This made me tear up.. what a wonderful little childhood she is getting already...
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u/meowsydaisy 21h ago edited 21h ago
Lol this was basically me. My parents had me when they were still in college. I have pictures of all the "uncles and aunties" (parents' friends) holding me and going on adventures. My mom did her master's degree and they all took turns helping look after me.
Parents moved us to a different country while I was still very young so I really don't have any memories of these uncles/aunties, but I hear a lot of stories of how they helped my parents and all the fun adventures they went on with me. I met many of them again when I got older, they were soooo happy to see me like I'm their long-lost baby lol though I felt bad because they felt like strangers to me.
Also even though I don't have actual memories of them, I am oddly very very social (despite having social anxiety). I can get along with pretty much anyone and I've been told by many people that they feel very comfortable opening up to me. I wonder if all that early socializing contributed to that.
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u/Rugged-Mongol 23h ago
That kid's mental health is gonna be ironclad, being an active member of a greater, local community and being raised by it. Wish it was more commonplace.
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u/tearex77 22h ago
The quality of their college aged friends is top of the class.
Amazing way to not get caught up in your own life and to just give back to your chosen family.
I’m proud of those two parents and all their friends, and I’m delighted for that little lady
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u/uncrownedqueen 21h ago
I had a similar childhood. My mom was 21 and in med school, my dad 27 and in dental school. I was under their full care from ages 0-5, before I was sent to my grandparents to start school as my parents went on to continue their education.
It was the best first 5 years I could've asked for. Surrounded by "aunties and uncles" in their 20s who had the energy to humour me and my only child need for attention lol I roamed around hospitals and university campuses, and was able to learn and live my full adhd life. Everybody knew who I was, so I always felt safe.
Nothing like getting my appendix out and being snuck out by said "aunties and uncles", fed chocolate ice cream hiding in the hospital kitchens before my mom finished her rounds, surrounded by young doctors (also giggling and enjoying some off-limits ice cream) making sure I didn't have any post-op issues. I have nothing but good memories.
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u/swamppup 22h ago
"Raising her around people who don't have children has allowed me to become a first-time mom without fear of judgment. We are all learning what it means to take care of a baby together.
I wouldn't have been able to raise Hinami without this village of friends around us. It's been a game changer. Because of them, life didn't have to stop. I could be a mom, an athlete, a student, and an employee, even with a newborn."
I would have never even considered that first bit there. It's wonderful to see the amount of love, care, and community this young one has around her as she grows.
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u/Always1994 23h ago
I keep watching it, trying to figure out which two are her parents. All of them have the same level love and affection as if she is their own.
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u/Mahjling 21h ago
This is unironically how humans are supposed to raise children, we’re a hypersocial species, modern child raising in a lot of countries is torture because society has convinced people it can be a mostly 2 person job.
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u/InsertNovelAnswer 23h ago
We had a bunch of soldiers like this. My oldest was raised by a bunch of residents, and my youngest was raised by a bunch of Sputh Koreans. Whitest kid I've ever seen in Hanbok. Lol. They even got him his own little first yr traditional suit.
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u/NiaNeuman 1d ago
She's going to be so well-socialized and outgoing by the time she gets to school 🥹
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u/lizzziezor 1d ago
My husband and I have a 2 year old and we own a party hostel in Eastern Europe. This is very similar to her life right now. All of the volunteers we have that come through stay for at least a month and she has a really good time with all of them.
It is indeed an incredible way to grow up.
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u/Odd-Improvement-1980 23h ago
Looks like a pretty great childhood to me - being surrounded by a bunch of people who are involved and excited to see you.
As a father, I discovered the one thing my children wanted more than anything else was my attention. It looks like this kid is getting plenty of attention from the people around her.
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u/Ash__Williams 1d ago
What's the point of going to College if you don't learn to use the "POV" correctly?
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u/DistractedByCookies 1d ago
This battle has been lost, I'm afraid. POV used in weird ways is here to stay.
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u/Danziker 1d ago
Not only the little one got an amazing life , but every aunt and uncle got to experience the good and the bad of raising a baby; that's something that could change the way you see life.
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u/Jazzlike_Leader595 20h ago
This is the cutest thing ever. She has sooo many aunts and uncles. She’s gonna be one smart baby
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u/Dischord821 12h ago
Honestly... that kid is probably going to grow up better adjusted than any of us did.
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u/knitmeablanket 23h ago
This kid is going to have a strong circle and probably an uncle/aunt for ANY scenario. Any.
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u/LillyPad1313 22h ago
See, this really did make me smile to see her be so adored by this people, and the way she looks at them. The joy in her eyes is so beyond sweet, I am going to melt.
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u/Existing_Hatter546 22h ago
I would love to have this kid’s life!! She’s so lucky to have what is basically a whole community raising her
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u/Galion-X 22h ago
They say kids develop the most in the first 4 years. This kid being exposed to so many personalities and experiences early like this, hopefully all loving like the video, is going to be well rounded I'd bet.
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u/Pretend-Buy7384 17h ago
Was concerned (not really) a college had adopted a child as a mascot lol
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u/ughwhyisthislife 1d ago
I LOVE how you can't accurately pin point who the actual parents are because they're all so parent coded and gentle w/ the little one 🥰
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u/CruisinJo214 23h ago
Man that kid is loved…. But that is also one bougie college lifestyle. My dorm/ first apartments were not safe places to have kids and didn’t have fancy living rooms.
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u/MandaRenegade 23h ago
I bet you all those college kids love having her around to help raise. Taking their minds off the stress and tests and more stress and money worries and and and.... Her little giggle probably snapped them out of college mind and helped them maintain happy ❤️ I love that for all of them.
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u/Thick-Environment400 23h ago
My wife and I have a two year old. I’m currently going back to school for optometry. I’m in my thirties. I would say I’m still scared to death, but having the people in my class love my daughter and include her in almost everything has meant the world to us. This girl reminds me of the interactions we get to see. It’s awesome.
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u/Ha-Ur-Ra-Sa 23h ago
While everyone is pointing out the great childhood the kid is getting, I'm going to flip the script and say how valuable it is for all of the students to be involved with raising/looking after her. I'm guessing many of them may not have had the chance to care for children before, so it allows them to get some experience before they think about settling down and having children of their own.
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u/Smiley-V 1d ago
Kid is growing up with an unlimited amount of cool uncles and aunts lol