Foundation Father | M.A. Franklin

Here is the terrifying truth about homeschooling: You are 100% responsible. No scapegoats. No luxury of blaming other teachers for not doing their jobs. Zero excuses. Just you. And there's more bad news. Parents who choose homeschooling aren't escaping educational problems. They're trading them for a mirror that reflects their own flaws. Your kids' biggest educational obstacle might be staring back at you in the bathroom mirror each morning. Your impatience, laziness, and apathy don't disappear when you homeschool. They're amplified. You'll have front-row IMAX tickets to watch your own flaws shape your children in real-time, in high definition, 24/7. When you seek more influence over your children's education (and you should) you get EXACTLY what you asked for. For better or worse. So what's the good news? The good news is the same as the bad news. You're 100% responsible for these problems. With God's grace, you can start weeding out your flaws. It's slow and painful, but taking the log from your own eye is the essential first step. Homeschooling isn't just education for your children. It's sanctification for YOU. Embrace it. Start tugging those logs out with both hands. This process is the path to real growth for your entire family. Public schools offer the false comfort of an idol, a temporary opiate rather than a cure. Homeschooling forces you to take a scalpel to your own heart and face problems honestly. It's harder, but it's real. And one final thing...👇

And do romantic restaurants serve pizza slices on plastic plates?

The price of a typical restaurant used for "romantic dinners" is the natural filter for this. Nothing wrong with that. The desire to make a societal wide change based on this desire, however, is another ringing of the death knell of civilization.

@Pat_Stedman Reminds me of the Bill Barr skit where he asks "how hard could it be?" You bend over and put the disc into the DVD player.

I know far too many men who'd like to have big families but their women won't have more than 1 kid. Even 2 kids is a big ask, it's "so overwhelming" for them. If they do have a second one they tend to hate their husband for it. Before you ask, it's not really about resources or even help. That would be understandable, and could be reframed as a timing issue. But they usually have help from in-laws or nannies / daycare. It's also not about the man's laziness - these guys are very involved husbands and fathers. It's basically just "too much" for these women emotionally to be moms, period. If they even take the plunge, they tap out at one. We talk a lot on here about men being weak, and how they don't live up to their forefathers' courage. I obviously agree with this. There is a clear effeminacy and hopelessness among your average guy that didn't exist in prior generations. Living in their shadows, we look pathetic. But honestly, the women are in many ways even more embarrassing. Just try putting them up against their grandmothers and great grandmothers. It's humiliating. They have never had it easier... and yet somehow they have never struggled more. In other words, they are weak. I understand the frustration many guys have, because besides sex I don't even know what many of them contribute anymore. Life with these women revolves entirely about their incessant, negative feelings. They are not dependable and can't seem to carry any societal burdens. I hate the gender war slop, and I know all women aren't like this. There are a lot of amazing women and wives out there (including my own). But it's gotten to a point where societal norms seem to exist entirely to cater to women's feelings. And we wonder why things are falling apart. Women are free to make the choices they want, and I don't think we should ever change that. But we should not be praising women who are unwilling or incapable of living for anything besides their own gratification. These women are as big of losers as the guys who sit around playing video games, and should be called out as such.

Bad company corrupts good morals. Always has, and always will. You are not immune. Your wife is not immune. Take heed, lest you (and your marriage) fall. foundationfather.com/p/staying-marr…

Divorce is very contagious, especially among women.

@fantasticarg3 Or don't reward breaking of vows.

@FoundationDads Women gain more from divorce than from marriage. Give women a better deal in marriage.

@WesterosiHermit Only sometimes true.

@FoundationDads If a woman leaves I bet the man has really failed in some way. And if the man leaves there is probably adultery there.

@lancemoorman Indeed.

@FoundationDads Misery loves company. Human nature

Then women should behave like women. Grow up and be the kind of respectful, dutiful wife a man can adore. Respect him, and he will love you back. Submit to him, and he will lead you. Gain weight, refuse to clean the house, and stop being available for sex for some unknown reason, and he will stop trusting you. Cheat on him and you break your vows before him and God. Lie to him or denigrate him, and he loses trust in you and hover toward more reliable sources of affirmation. That's why men divorce. See, making excuses is easy!

Then men should behave like men. Grow up and be the kind of husband that a woman can admire. Respect her and she will respect you back. Love her and she will love you back. Quit your job for some unknown reason. She will loose her faith in your promise to provide. Cheat on her and you brake the vows given before her and God. Lie to her and she looses trust in you. That’s why women divorce.

@PhilGarber5 Anything good can be corrupted.

@FoundationDads Just as pregnancy is also contagious for a similar reason.

@DassCoool It's a whole industry. Divorce-celebration and justification blogs are a whole niche.

Some celebrate it and have all lady divorce parties! I can’t understand. It’s a failure and giving up on a huge gift in life vs something to celebrate. Kids influences and friends need to be strategically curated, negative influences removed or if not possible, discuss it and why not to emulate this person, spouse carefully chosen and approved or even introduced by parents and they need healthy strong marriages to serve as an example. Spouse comes before friends, even other family like parents. Stay close but I can’t put my husband on the back burner and he doesn’t do that to me either. Kids are watching and learning and the more we do as a family, the better.

@RepSusanClarke A lot to that. More relationship-based. Empathetic to a fault.

@FoundationDads That's because us women are hive-minded. All our lady websites track what's "Trending" We operate as nature, whereas men are independent. If one woman *feels* a certain way, other women will try to relate. It's printed into our DNA for survival.

@SeraphinaLee222 It's so sad. Someone in quicksand pulling people down.

@FoundationDads Yes. My mom left my dad. Less than a year later her sister divorced her husband and a few months after that her other sister divorced her husband. My dad always described it as contagious.

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What makes a good friend? While there are many attributes that a “good friend” will have, there is one that is critical. A lack of envy. A willingness to rejoice when others rejoice. When you have good news, you know exactly who you want to tell, because they let you be excited and they don’t try to one-up you. “Oh, you got a promotion, that’s great I just bought a new car.” A friend who does not envy is rare. It has always been rare. Aeschylus, the ancient Greek playwright, has Agamemnon say the following: "In few men is it part of nature to respect a friend’s prosperity without begrudging him, as envy’s wicked poison settling to the heart piles up the pain in one sick with unhappiness, who, staggered under sufferings that are all his own, winces again to the vision of a neighbor’s bliss." Notice that last line. “…winces again to the vision of a neighbor’s bliss.” Of all the companions Agamemnon could remember, only Odysseus maintained his sincerity. All others were a “shadow’s ghost” of companionship. They were around him because he was powerful, either out of fear or because he could do something for them. Their envy, however, proved that they would tear him apart for scraps if the opportunity arose. It is getting harder to find people who do not envy the accomplishments of others because our culture rewards immaturity and whining. The politics of envy assumes that if someone has something good, then they have denied someone else that good thing. That everything is zero-sum. If you find a friend who does not envy, you have found a treasure. And if you are that friend who does not envy, you can be a blessing to everyone you come in contact with. A drink of cool water in a desert. So use this test. If they can rejoice when you rejoice, they are a good friend. You can tell if it’s sincere. Envious manipulators might try to pretend, but you know. And if not immediately, then soon after, when they start demanding things from you or using your newfound success as an excuse to tear you down in other ways. For your part, kill envy in yourself. Envy is a poison that steals your joy. Envy is a cancer that corrupts your friendships. "A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot." - Proverbs 14:30 Learn to truly rejoice when others rejoice, and more people will want to rejoice with you. You will accrue joy and good cheer to yourself, which becomes a gravitas all its own. If you truly love someone, you will want good things to happen to them, full stop, regardless of your own situation.

Don't let anyone guilt-trip you over properly spanking your children, especially self-righteous people on the internet. foundationfather.com/p/yes-you-can-…

The "gentle parent" who refuses to spank at 18 months is the same parent screaming at the top of her lungs when that same child is age 4.

@zhiheather Ok. Doesn't contradict what I said. People have failed to live up to expectations forever, that doesn't mean the expectations aren't warranted

@FoundationDads Nah, there have been lazy bums in all of history. Especially male ones.

Monks took vows of celibacy and built hospitals. Missionaries gave up families and translated entire languages. Modern childless couples sleep in and binge Netflix. Expectations for the childless used to be greater, not lesser.

@AarLDea No thanks.

@FoundationDads Which group did God grace with prudence or faith or decernment? You have ZERO idea who go what gifts. Zip it and get the plank out of your eye first.

You actually do need to spank your kids. God showing grace in particular situations where parents have abdicated their responsibility is no excuse to abdicate yourself, nor to ignore his wisdom and commands. And as soon as someone conflates "hitting" with spanking, as people inevitably do in these conversations to puff up their own pride, know they are trying to manipulate you and poison the well. You don't need to listen to them. At least on this particular topic.