War and Childcare Chapter 1
I: LAYING PLANS
Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance
to the State.
Childcare is of vital importance to the family. The state without childcare is called the relationship. ( what you used to have when you could pretty much do what you want when you wanted to ). Babies save and threaten the state.
Therefore we use the terms state and relationship interchangedly.
We use the words baby, children and enemy interchangedly. We use the words war and childcare intechangedly.
Our main goal is the preservation of some sort of relationship though the nights become long and sleepless, the free time truncated, and you feel you are working in a factory of cooking, cleaning and changing nappies.
It is a matter of life and death, a road either
to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry
which can on no account be neglected.
Even a seemingly healthy relationship can be threatened by the intrusion of an extra members. It should be considered wisely before being undertaken. Looking after children can either re-enforce a relationship, or ruin a relationship, but babies can never save a relationship.
The art of war, then, is governed by five constant
factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations,
when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth;
(4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.
N.B. these are also translated as the way, the weather, the leadership, the terrain and discipline.
The way is the state of the relationship prior to the on coming tempest of the patter of little and ever growing feet. ( or the suprisingly loud thump of babies sitting down ).
The weather is your financial situation. This is not as desperate as it might seem but certainly there may be stringent taxes applied to the subjects i.e. you will probably not have quite so much beer money.
The terrain is the extra room required for engagement of battle. A mute point as all matters baby oriented will take over the whole of your county ( house ).
The commander is the parent IN COMMAND. This will change – but if there are 2 in the room then one must be designated IN COMMAND ( IC also In Charge )
The discipline is to be applied to the grand parents, friends, baby sitter and anyone else you can rally to your flag in the field of conflict.
All these factors should be assessed before taking to the field for the war that is raising a baby.
