Things about raising our kids that just make sense

Back in 2020 there began a meme “Random things in my X that just make sense”. Now that I’ve had the chance to live in the company of ~10 other families for 4 weeks, I’ve spotted some ways our family is unique. I know each of the other families could write a blog just like this with what makes them unique: the values, circumstances, and temperment of each being so different. Many of our unique aspects may fade and change as our kids age into their own preferences and needs, for example. With that being said, here are some areas where I’ve noticed our family does things just a little bit different than average.

1. Full-body clothing sun protection — We dress our kids in head to toe clothing, plus a hat, when outside, no matter the weather. That means long pants (or swimming pants), long shirt (or swimming shirt), a full coverage hat. Unless spending a day in heavy sun, they typically don’t even need sunscreen.
2. Limited clothing selection — We have a rainbow of color selection, but very limited choices as to the type of clothing. The pants are generally cotton pants, the shirts are generally long sleeve cotton shirts, and mostly from the same brand (Gap Kids), with a bit from Primary.com mixed in.
3. Lack of gendered clothing — my son and daughter wear intechangeable clothing, and a general rule of thumb for a piece of clothing is whether it can be worn all day in any sort of play, without a care for wear or tear or stains. As well as, of course, sun protection.
4. Same clothes for bed as for daytime — because our kids dress in cotton basics, they work very well for pajamas. So we typically put them in their clothes right after shower time at night, which they wear all night and through the next day.
5. Limited screen time — This is a big area of variance, and I’ll stress we aren’t absolutists. That said, in our family we average less than 5 minutes of screen time a day, and even that is largely something experienced side-by-side with our kids. On trips, we pack things like blocks and books to pass the time.
6. Limited sugar — Outside of special occasions (birthdays or special group events), that means no cakes or candies, and even something like juice we typically dilute with a majority of water, and only as a treat.
7. Limited use of floaties for swim assistance — On occasion they’ve experimented with pool noodles for assistance, and I understand during the school camp swimming experiences the teachers often let my youngest experiment with floaties. For the majority of our swimming time, we focus on learning swimming basics without aid.
8. Eating the same food as adults — Since the kids were babies, they have eaten the same food as us for dinner, whether that be a kid favorite like pasta, or something less often found on a children’s menu like an Okra curry. For dishes which are new or a bit of a challenge, we have the kids try at least a bite, and usually cook a few options to choose from, one of which we know is a hit for both kids and adults.
9. One of two options every day for breakfast, and dinner leftovers for lunch — our whole family eats oatmeal or toast with nut butter every day for breakfast, almost without exception. Occassionally on a weekend we will have waffles or pancakes. Lunches for us generally consist of dinner leftovers, with some added kid hit foods should dinner have been a little more of a challenge that day.
10. Vegetarian during the week, high quality meats on the weekends — I’m vegan, my kids eat everything, and my husband is dairy free (but eats meat). During the week we largely cook vegan with added dairy/eggs on the side for the kids. And on weekends, my husband goes to the local butcher to pick up high quality meats, salmon and lamb being some of his go-to favorites.

Some of these areas of uniqueness I’m in the humble opinion make our parenting life so much easier. Others, I’m sure make our family life more difficult in the short or even the long term. What are the items that just make sense in your family?