A dozen babies in a family! I learned the Baby Embracing Sutra from a Mormon.

Utah is the center of Mormonism, and most of the local residents are Mormons.

Mormonism has many interesting things, one of which is that most families have many children.

How much more? Four or five are rare, ten are common, and I have seen more than a dozen.

As we said before, Thanksgiving Day is a time for American families to get together. Many families in Utah don't eat Thanksgiving dinner at home because there are many people and small places (in fact, American houses are already very big).

Because a family has ten babies, each baby will regenerate ten, at this rate. . . .

So, there are too many people in the family to hold it, so I thought: rent! Teach! Don.

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Mormonism is a unique existence in American society. Other places will think they are a little strange.

But in fact, they are super beautiful. Maybe it's because of some unusual ideas.

Having more children is one of them.

I have never read the Book of Mormon. (But I have them at home, both in Chinese and English. They are gifts from different Mormon friends. )

I really don't know what makes them have more children.

But!

I think one of the reasons is that they are not allowed to use any external things to influence and control their bodies (except taking medicine when they are sick).

I asked a Mormon classmate if she could use contraception (I am such an honest and frank person).

He said that natural methods (such as calculating the date) can be used, but drugs or other tools cannot be used.

They can't take caffeine yet, which is also the reason.

When I was in Utah, I heard that there was a Mormon university in another city. There is no coffee and tea in the school canteen, and there is no coke and Pepsi. . . It's caffeine.

Just now, I searched again and found that on 20 17, they began to serve caffeinated soda (or no tea and coffee), and this matter also made the news.

Okay, I admit I digress.

For more than five years, Luke's father and I have met countless local families in Utah.

Although there was no Luke at that time, from getting along with these families, I saw some survival rules of families with many babies, which is also very helpful for me to take care of chicks in the future.

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overwhelm

Eight or nine years ago, J, a doctoral student about my age, invited me to his home.

Luke's parents' school football field

There are four children in the J family, all of whom are very polite, which is different from Xiong Haizi in my imagination.

J showed me his little blackboard, which recorded the number of bonus coins each child got.

The so-called prize gold coin is a currency he invented.

If the children behave particularly well, they will get bonuses.

The reason why money is not used is because children, especially younger children, have no concept of money.

They also have a reward coin exchange map, which shows different rewards that different amounts of reward coins can be exchanged for.

For example, three bonus coins can be exchanged for an ice cream. Five bonus coins can be exchanged for a pizza meal for the whole family. Eight bonus coins can be exchanged for a movie.

J said that one or two of his children changed immediately, and some saved a few and changed gifts immediately.

J doesn't care when children change. He said it was like managing money. Let them practice by themselves, and gradually they will form the concept of management.

I think it's unusual.

My Luke is about three years old, and we set up a similar system for him.

You can exchange "little stars" for rewards.

Luke spent a lot of money the other day to replace all the little stars with a magic sandbox suit.

Touched, Luke generously gave me a balloon with a little star on my mother's birthday.

Punishment in one step

Speaking of rewards, let's talk about punishment.

At that time, my neighbor had three boys, the oldest of whom was five years old.

That day, our two families had dinner together. After that, the children came to my house to play computer games.

It's past eight. It's time for the children to go home and sleep.

The boss doesn't want to go because he doesn't have enough fun. The three-year-old second began to cry. The third child is too young to make trouble.

My parents were gentle at first, and then they dragged them away.

He kept apologizing to us when he left, saying that he was sorry for not taking good care of the children.

I still feel a little sorry for the child, crying too pitifully.

Utah's backyard

After two or three weeks, they came to my house to play games.

Eight o'clock, dad said. It's already eight o'clock.

I haven't mentioned going home yet. I saw the boss throw down the console handle and run towards the door. The second child followed.

The whole process does not exceed 30 seconds.

I was shocked at once. God, what the children went through last time they came home. . . .

Actually, I should ask my neighbors what methods they used. It's amazing.

But I forgot that at that time, there were no babies who were not sensitive to this aspect.

Luke's mother is in grade two.

Unified standards for the whole family

Or go back to j's.

He told me that there are some rules at home that are applied to the whole family. Not only for all children, but also for parents.

Going to his house for dinner that day, a younger child had to help himself.

J said: Are you sure you want to cook by yourself?

Child: Rachel (her sister) just cooks for herself.

J: You must finish all the meals by yourself. Rachel helps herself to dinner, but if she doesn't finish it today, she won't be able to eat tomorrow. Mom and dad are the same. Ask dad to cook you a big meal. You don't have to eat everything.

After thinking about it, the child still wants to fill it out by himself.

J agreed, but Xiao Wa put a lot of food on the plate.

I think I will cry tomorrow.

Housework begins as a child.

This is not unexpected.

There are many things at home. The child has helped the family since he was a child.

It is outrageous that Mormon families let their children do housework.

My classmate s grew up in Idaho.

Idaho borders Utah, and there are also many Mormons.

This S has eleven brothers and sisters, which means that his generation has twelve children.

Idaho is the hometown of American potatoes, and every family grows potatoes.

S helped his family in the countryside since he was a child, and he was able to drive an excavator to dig potatoes when he was about nine years old.

I was so shocked that my jaw almost fell off. Is the law allowed to operate such a small heavy machine?

. . .

My Luke probably can't reach this height, but ordinary housework can also help, such as hanging clothes, sweeping the floor and watering flowers.

Managing money from childhood

In the story just now, classmate S helped his family since he was a child, and his parents would also be paid according to their work.

This reward is real money, which is different from the reward mentioned before.

Money is not pocket money for toys. S began to buy a lot of things, and later learned that his daily necessities (school stationery) should also be purchased for a fee.

Later, my brother and sister will remind him to buy necessities first, such as buying new underwear every year and so on.

Generally speaking, they still have complete control over their income.

S said he couldn't plan at first. Later, with the help of his brother and sister, he soon had the concept of management and planning for his "finance".

Although Luke is still young, I have gradually cultivated his ideas in this respect.

For example, if he wants something, I will tell him how many little stars he needs to buy it.

Luke helps his mother collect socks.

Moreover, he also knows that Xiaoxing needs to get it through his own labor, and his parents' money is also earned by working.

Brother and sister will take care of the baby.

S told me that he didn't spend much time with his parents when he was a child.

He never complains about his parents, but feels lucky to get many brothers and sisters together.

When he was a child, his homework was taught by his brother and sister, and he also brought things.

Once I went to the neighbor's house of three boys to discuss dinner.

After ringing the doorbell, my five-year-old boss opened the door for me.

I said I wanted to ask your mother something, and he told me: Mom went to pack my car. I will take care of them when mom is not at home. I went to find my mother and my two younger brothers, and no one cared. Can you come back later?

His serious and responsible expression is so cute.

I feel very warm and a little distressed.

Language should be mastered at an early age.

Mormons will leave home to preach when they grow up. Some are in America, others are abroad.

In recent years, they have developed a new learning mode. There are many bilingual schools covering primary schools, junior high schools and senior high schools.

The so-called bilingualism is not a period of English with a foreign language. I have seen the "Bilingual" class before, which is so deceptive. I dare to add a few English words to Chinese to be bilingual. . . .

Bilingual schools in Utah teach all courses in two different languages every morning and afternoon.

In this way, the language will be mastered naturally in a few years.

After graduating from high school, I left out learning languages and went directly to preach.

I was also inspired by them when I was teaching Luke the language.

I'll talk to you next time.

Let me tell another interesting story, because their missionary scope is all over the world, so they need to master various languages.

When visiting the Mormon Cathedral in Salt Lake City, there are often people who take the initiative to chat.

It is said that as long as you speak your mother tongue, they can immediately find someone who speaks this language to continue to teach you religion.

This is why my family has a Chinese Book of Mormon.

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Luke's father and I have moved out of Utah for six or seven years.

No matter what others say, the people there gave me and Luke's father many interesting and warm memories.

Luke's father and I often tell Luke about Utah.

Luke is looking forward to playing in the snow in Utah.

If it weren't for the epidemic this year, I would have taken Luke back to Utah to "visit relatives". I hope it can be realized next year!

love you