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Family newsletter: How much crisis can your child?

2023-02-04T13:12:57.535Z


Global warming affects everyone - but what does that mean for our way of life, for talking to our children, for family planning? That and more in this newsletter.


The energy minister lives in our house.

He's nine years old, he's my son and he reliably folds his roommates together when someone forgets to turn off the light in a room.

Rightly so, of course.

The Minister of Energy and his twin brother attend a primary school called the Climate School.

There are more than 70 of them throughout Hamburg.

They aim to structurally integrate environmental protection into everyday school life, for example by training "climate detectives" and planning project weeks to avoid waste or save electricity.

And when there is a climate strike in the city, there are Fridays for Future campaigns in the classes.

A good thing?

Or is the climate crisis an issue that could overwhelm or even stress children of primary school age?

Can you see it like this or something?

I think it's important for children to learn early on how precarious the situation on our planet is.

As always, the tone makes the music.

So that it doesn't throw them into great fear, I emphasize the reasons for my actions in my efforts to promote sustainability: why we don't drive to the bakery by car, but get the rolls by bike, why I like to buy second-hand and why not the best idea is to go on vacation by plane.

I have the feeling that the children will not feel helpless in the face of global warming, but will be able to act - within the scope of our possibilities.

We are not the climate protection family par excellence: we eat meat, even if not very much.

We order things online and we ship them back, albeit as infrequently as possible.

We have a gas-guzzling car that we use too often for convenience.

Still, if there's one thing I wish for my children, it's that one day they won't be part of the problem, but part of the solution.

My podcast tip

"The young generation is necessary to advance climate protection," says population researcher Martin Bujard in this podcast, which I would like to recommend to you.

But apparently there are also young people who have lost all desire to have children since they have been dealing more intensively with the rise in global temperatures.

You ask yourself: Wouldn't it be better not to have offspring?

more on the subject

Debate in the podcast: Having children despite the climate crisis? A podcast by Marius Mestermann

My colleague Marius Mestermann discusses this question with two climate activists, whose answers differ.

Listening got me thinking.

A 25-year-old says: »I can't imagine having children if I have existential fears myself.« She means what is now called »climate fear«.

Is there a trend behind it?

The answer is in the podcast.

My reading tips

Many couples don't ask themselves

whether

they want to have a child, but rather

how

they should father one when the medical evidence suggests that they shouldn't.

more on the subject

Dealing with artificial insemination: On the special happiness of test-tube babies by Charlotte Theile

The author Charlotte Theile writes very honest texts on SPIEGEL.de about the topic of having children, which has occupied her for many years.

And about which the British Louise Brown now said to her in an interview: "I know a few relationships that have broken up under the immense strain." Brown, born in 1978, is the first person to have been conceived in a test tube ("in vitro", short IVF).

Charlotte Theile – who has just become a mother after artificial insemination – wanted to know from her whether parents after successful fertility treatment become particularly anxious parents.

Brown didn't answer yes or no, but with a nice thought I think: "Any person who has been born through IVF knows that their parents really want them." She thinks most parents wanted " only the best for your child«.

They focused on raising it as a happy and balanced human being.

This text by our parenting columnist Fatma Mittler-Solak also revolves around the future of her children, with which she speaks from my heart.

Not just because I don't come from an academic household either.

Not just because we both have elementary school-aged twins.

But because she describes the topic of changing schools so aptly: »The early transition from primary school to secondary school in most federal states puts children under massive pressure.

The little ones have just learned to read the clock and suddenly they are faced with a new calculation of time.«

more on the subject

And?

Are they coming to the »Jumnasyum«?: What pressure does children have to succeedBy Fatma Mittler-Solak

I already dread explaining to the children which school might be suitable for whom.

Apparently, the German education system manages to evoke such feelings in parents: "The distress of our child hurts me," writes our columnist.

Because it knows exactly what is happening: »It is selected, classified and intended for a specific type of school.«

One of my favorite lyrics of the past few days: »In flip-flops through the cold«.

My colleague Sandra Schulz has already reported in more than a dozen episodes about her travels with her husband and daughter in her mobile home called Monster.

But only in this episode do we find out that appearing in a bathrobe at winter camping can certainly have dignity.

The Last Judgement

I don't want to withhold this tip from our cooking columnist Verena Lugert from all parents who have children who hate vegetables: sprinkle pangrattato on it!

more on the subject

Food for the nerves: Today we have Brussels sprouts with Pangrattato

That's the name of "the stuff in Italian that makes a fun meal out of every vegetable," writes Verena.

The miracle topping is grated white bread, roasted in olive oil and then flavored with herbs such as rosemary, thyme or oregano - or with garlic, nuts or even pieces of chorizo ​​or bacon.

»Pangrattato gives every steamed vegetable a wonderful kick, a little bit of crispiness, a little bit of lightness«, says Verena.

Maybe my kids—who actually love to eat spinach, broccoli, carrots, and even cauliflower—may even enjoy Brussels sprouts, something they've previously spurned.

my moment

After my colleague Sandra recently said at this point how much she wished she could share her passion for reading with her daughter, SPIEGEL reader Barbara Renner sent us her own personal report.

"Books, as they say in Arab countries, are gardens that you carry in your pocket," she writes.

And because she loves books so much, she did everything to get her children excited about reading.

»There were more books than toys in their rooms, of course they read aloud every evening.«

Did it bring anything?

»Today my daughter is reading intensively and engrossed.

We go to author readings together, we both adore Nagib Machfus, Leon de Winter, Ingeborg Bachmann and Joachim Meyerhoff.

my son is different

Even with cardboard books he had his difficulties.

They just didn't roll around the apartment as well as a ball. School reading?

No problem.

There's also a movie.

I tried Stefan Zweig and Harry Potter, crime novels and thrillers.

No chance.

Last Christmas, however, he wished for a book: the Bushido biography.

At first I was speechless and then I replied: 'But that's not a book!'"

There was a dispute that ended with mother Renner loading all the Bushido titles into her Spotify app and connecting the cell phone to speakers.

Then she stood in the kitchen and heard »Forever Young« by Bushido and Karel Gott.

»I listened to the lyrics, recognized the melody, understood the longing and fervor of the two musicians, was moved – and kept stirring the pot.«

At that moment she understood: »It is not about our children taking over our longings and our interests.

It's more about creating new worlds that we can access together.« Of course, Renner gave her son the Bushido biography for Christmas.

Now, she says, she knows all of his songs.

They recently watched a documentary about the musician that lasted several hours.

»Rarely have I felt so close to my son, who is very different from me.«

Cordially,


your


Julia Stanek

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2023-02-04

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