This is in response to another thread:
Seems like several people over here don't think that "poor" people should be raising their children on boats.
My wife and I traveled in an RV for several years in California and Arizona. Our oldest daughter who is 17 and graduated early was completely home schooled. She was in the K-12 program for several years and then transferred to Connections Academy when In 2010 I took a job in Iowa and we sold the RV and relocated to a house there.
We love to travel and aren't much into "stability". After, once again, failing to fall into the 9-5 home life of having a house, we bought a boat.
I spent a couple of months looking at boats and dreaming in the winter of 2012 and spring of 2013. Then we decided to actually do it. Buy Oct 2013, I had a deposit down and paid cash for it when I picked it up on the first of Nov, 2013.
We don't have a lot of money and live off of a very small budget. We have always been the poorest of all of our friends when we RV'd and been criticized for not being "stable" and having children.
In the USA, people consider it child neglect if you are poor can't give your children much. We have always been very mindful of making sure there is food to eat, clean clothes to wear, and regular bathing. Even through all that, we had been under scrutiny at one point in California for our lifestyle choice.
Our oldest is now no longer a child and our baby is 7 years old. We live in fear that some "do-gooder" is going to think they know what is best for our daughter and report us to Child Protective Services.
A post in another thread made me realize how blown out of proportion that "the facts" can be.
1. We have no "running water". We have a pump system.
2. We don't put toilet paper down the head, we put it in a waste basket next to the head.
3. We have no built in heat. We use a electric space heater at the dock and a My Buddy Propane heater at anchor.
4. We have no shower on the boat, we have to rely on marina showers or solar showers.
5. We have very little food on the boat because of storage restrictions and can only keep some much meat at a time because we have an Ice Box and no ability to freeze anything.
So, as you can see from the facts the media pointed out, they might have been technically right about everything they wrote in that article.
Our boat is old. It's 30' and feels more like a 22' Mini Winnie Motorhome. There is not a lot of living space in the cabin. But, each of the two girls have their own sleeping area and we sleep in the V-Berth.
How do you explain to the ignorant that mold/mildew are realities on a boat when everyone sees that sort of thing a health hazard and consider it unsafe.
The media and "do-gooders" can twist things anyway they want. While they may be technically correct in their statements, they may also be way out of context.
We aren't rich people. We enjoy mobility, adventure, and being on the move.
So, If you are like us and want to include your children in your cruising adventure, beware that some ******* is going to think they know how to raise your kids better than you.
We don't live on a derelict boat, by any stretch of the imagination. But, we also don't have the amenities of a Grand Banks. We make due with what we have and can afford.
My oldest daughter plainly states that we aren't white trash, we are white clutter.
Seems like several people over here don't think that "poor" people should be raising their children on boats.
My wife and I traveled in an RV for several years in California and Arizona. Our oldest daughter who is 17 and graduated early was completely home schooled. She was in the K-12 program for several years and then transferred to Connections Academy when In 2010 I took a job in Iowa and we sold the RV and relocated to a house there.
We love to travel and aren't much into "stability". After, once again, failing to fall into the 9-5 home life of having a house, we bought a boat.
I spent a couple of months looking at boats and dreaming in the winter of 2012 and spring of 2013. Then we decided to actually do it. Buy Oct 2013, I had a deposit down and paid cash for it when I picked it up on the first of Nov, 2013.
We don't have a lot of money and live off of a very small budget. We have always been the poorest of all of our friends when we RV'd and been criticized for not being "stable" and having children.
In the USA, people consider it child neglect if you are poor can't give your children much. We have always been very mindful of making sure there is food to eat, clean clothes to wear, and regular bathing. Even through all that, we had been under scrutiny at one point in California for our lifestyle choice.
Our oldest is now no longer a child and our baby is 7 years old. We live in fear that some "do-gooder" is going to think they know what is best for our daughter and report us to Child Protective Services.
A post in another thread made me realize how blown out of proportion that "the facts" can be.
1. We have no "running water". We have a pump system.
2. We don't put toilet paper down the head, we put it in a waste basket next to the head.
3. We have no built in heat. We use a electric space heater at the dock and a My Buddy Propane heater at anchor.
4. We have no shower on the boat, we have to rely on marina showers or solar showers.
5. We have very little food on the boat because of storage restrictions and can only keep some much meat at a time because we have an Ice Box and no ability to freeze anything.
So, as you can see from the facts the media pointed out, they might have been technically right about everything they wrote in that article.
Our boat is old. It's 30' and feels more like a 22' Mini Winnie Motorhome. There is not a lot of living space in the cabin. But, each of the two girls have their own sleeping area and we sleep in the V-Berth.
How do you explain to the ignorant that mold/mildew are realities on a boat when everyone sees that sort of thing a health hazard and consider it unsafe.
The media and "do-gooders" can twist things anyway they want. While they may be technically correct in their statements, they may also be way out of context.
We aren't rich people. We enjoy mobility, adventure, and being on the move.
So, If you are like us and want to include your children in your cruising adventure, beware that some ******* is going to think they know how to raise your kids better than you.
We don't live on a derelict boat, by any stretch of the imagination. But, we also don't have the amenities of a Grand Banks. We make due with what we have and can afford.
My oldest daughter plainly states that we aren't white trash, we are white clutter.