I knew from the moment that I picked this deck up that I was in complete love with it. That’s right, my peeps! Today, I bring you my feels on the Everyday Witch Tarot! At long last. Yes, I know that you’re probably wondering what the hell took me so long and that, dear Journeyers…is a very good question.
It’s been a slow few weeks, okay?
The Everyday Witch Tarot was the fourth deck that I’d bought or been gifted so I wasn’t exactly new to the cards at that point. It was a gift from Daddy Maxwell for my birthday last year after I discovered it at a local metaphysical shop.
I love using the Everyday Witch Tarot in conjunction with the Everyday Witch Oracle. It’s been reading well for me and I remember, when opening it for the first time, there was this feeling of…rightness. If you’ve ever bonded with a deck, you’ll know exactly what I mean. That’s not to say that everyone will mesh well with the Everyday Witch tarot. Every person is different, every deck is different, every witch is different. For me, though, this one is golden!
The scenes and characters have both a medieval fantasy yet somehow modern feel to them, the colors bright and images beautifully illustrated. Another creation of the talented Elizabeth Alba and written by Deborah Blake, this deck is a point of pride for any tarot collector’s hoard. I love the motorcycle riding Chariot card!
My only point of contention would be the lack of diversity in the characters and art. I love the quirkiness of it all and the cats that feature somewhere in almost every card. However, there’s a certain repetition in it. It’s very…white. Given the wide breadth of witches from cultures worldwide (is there any culture that doesn’t have the witch in one form or another?), it would have been so cool to see the hoodoo queens of the south and the bokor of Haiti.
I do think it’s fascinating that each suit tells a story. This was something I knew was true of the Rider-Waite tarot but the Everyday Witch deck makes it far easier to suss out that narrative for the average reader.
Needless to say, the Everyday Witch decks have quickly become my go-to decks, pushing my standard Rider-Waite to the side with little trouble at all. It’s, without a doubt, the one I reach for time and time again. The light, fun illustrations are simply magical and I hope to enjoy the Everyday Witch Tarot and Oracle decks, as well as Deborah Blake and Elizabeth Alba’s other products, for many years to come!
Hello my fellow wanderers, explorers, and Journeyers!
Today is a sort of follow-up to my piece on the amazing book titled The Danish Way of Parenting by Jessica Alexander and Iben Dissing Sandahl. The book centers around the idea that the hidden secret that makes the Danes the happiest people in the world (evaluated by two independent international studies) for the last 40 years almost in a row, actually lies in the way they bring up their children.
As human beings, we tend to stick with what we know and that proves especially true in how we parent. We tend to default to raising our kids the way we were raised. The book address is this first and foremost and gives us the task of “evaluating our default settings”.
However, the rest of the Danish Way of Parenting urges us to stop parenting and start P.A.R.E.N.T.ing. What the hell does that mean? Allow me explain it to you and while I do I’ll give you my P.A.R.E.N.T. Plan so you can have a good example for how to build and frame your own!
That all sounds excellent and wonderful but what does it all mean in practice? Well hang on to your diaper bags and hydroflasks because I am going to walk you through what each of these terms means and then what it looks like in our home. Maybe you can find something in these that you may want to emulate or use for your own household! Let’s begin!
P means to PLAY!
That’s right! Play! That sounds so disastrously simple, doesn’t it? I have news for you then, dear parent. It is!
Get down on the ground, on their level! Meet them as an equal in play! This helps kids to feel more secure. Can you imagine being so small and to have this other human, one who holds so much power over you, just towering over you every time they talk or order or shout? Play should be entirely free of stress or power plays. Get down on their level. If they’re doing a puzzle, sit on the floor and do it too. Coloring at the kids table? Pull up a little kid-sized chair and channel your inner artiste! And you know what? That’s exactly what we do too!
Little Mawell’s favorite things that we do together: *Dollhouse/Toy figure imaginative play *Hide and Seek *Painting or crafting *Digging in the dirt, “excavating for dinosaur bones” as she calls it.
A is all about Authenticity
This point is referring to honesty with our children. Honesty also includes not giving false praise. For example, say that your small child makes you a sculpture that looks less like anything recognizable and more like someone crafted the 3-D bastard lovechild of a Picasso and a Salvador Dalí. Instead of grinning through your teeth and giving an obligatory “It’s a masterpiece! I love it!”, chose an interested “I see you worked really hard on that sculpture! Why don’t you tell me about it?” or “Oh, I see you added in some beads with the clay! That’s a very popular art method called ‘mixed media’!”.
Honesty can be hard with our children. We want to protect them from all things that may make them sad or confused. But it’s being exposed to these things that gives them the chance to learn how to cope with them. Nothing demonstrates this more than explaining a family death to a child. With Little Maxwell, when my grandmother and when a family dog died, we explained to her that when people and animals get old, then it comes their time to die.
Everything has its season. Flowers, weather, toys, even people. Everything breaks down, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t keep those people we love in our lives. We put little clay figures we made and pictures of those we loved up on our pantry-top and give them places with us during holidays. Little Maxwell even tells them about her day sometimes.
R is for REFRAMING.
Reframing is a term that means changing the way you look at a problem or misfortune to see it in a positive light. This can be really easy to do in every part of your life!
*Raining when they wanted to play outside? Have a board game tournament or jump in mud puddles! *Dropped the birthday cake? Salvage what you can and make birthday cake shakes with the ice cream! *Friends can’t come to visit? We can still hang out over a phone call, online, or spend some extra special hygge time with our family instead! *Money was stolen? Then maybe it went to someone who needed it so much more at that time. After all, we are so use to the many blessings we have every day that it’s easy to forget that many people end up driven by desperation just to feed themselves or their families. Try to think of it that way instead, something I’ve done before too!
Going back to that last example, we could all admit that we could use a little more empathy in life. Not just for strangers, but for our own children and loved ones. For ourselves too, perhaps. I know that I’m guilty of getting irritable or tired and then just not giving a damn about anything else until I can get some desperately needed rest or quiet.
When I’m that tired, something that happens a little more often than I will admit, I can be quick to irritation, sickness, pain, and thinking less kindly of others than they deserve. Can you say the same or something similar? Are you in a position that it makes it hard to see the good in the world anymore?
It’s okay. You’re not alone.
It makes us feel…ashamed. Guilty. That’s another emotional stress that presses down on the internal pressures you may already be under. It perpetuates the cycle. The best way to end that cycle?
Empathy.
Have empathy for others and for yourself. Even if you don’t feel that you or they deserve it. After all, empathizing with others isn’t about being deserving or having done something to earn it. It’s about not having earned it at all but being able to give and receive it anyways.
N is for No Ultimatums/Fear-Based Discipline
If you, like me, were raised with a no-nonsense, ‘My-Way-or-the-Highway’, ‘Because-I-Said-So’ approach to parenting, then it’s likely that’s what you started out with while raising your own children. It’s our default setting after all. It’s what we were raised with so it’s how we know to do things. That’s not saying that our parents were abusive or cruel, it’s just that those were also likely their default settings too.
It’s human nature, after all. “Stick to what you know”, as the saying goes. But just because that’s what we know, doesn’t mean that those authoritarian practices are what we HAVE to stick to.
The important thing to do, regardless of your views on spanking or timeouts, is to allow them to be heard and understood. They need to feel that they have a voice in their life and home and that you are willing to listen to them, not just hear them talk.
Choose to find out, to ask them, why they behaved a certain way. You may find out, like me, that your little is so crazy before bed because they are trying to stave off sleep for as long as possible. Why? Because they’ve been having nightmares and are afraid to fall asleep. Instead of spanking or isolating them from you or others for a very real and understandable fear, a good approach would be to spend soe quality snuggle time before they go to sleep. Perhaps a security item or a nightlight or checking under the bed before sleep to put them at ease.
These are simple things that can not only increase your bond with your child but lessen blood pressure, stress, and bedtime battles! I know it does for us because we use these exactly same examples just last night!
Now if I could only find out where she saw a ‘scary policeman’…
I implore you to read this section of the Danish Way of Parenting, even go on the website for more information if anything. I believe that in our American culture, this concept is the hardest for us to incorporate. It is difficult. But isn’t the whole point of it all that giving our kids a better outlook on life, preparing them emotionally and intellectually, is the whole point?
T is for Togetherness!
Tender and loving and comfortable. Togetherness feeds the bond that you share with your entire family, your partners, and your friends. A plant cannot grow without sunlight and a relationship, no matter who it’s with, cannot grow without connection time.
A word used freely in the Danish Way of Parenting, for very good reason, is hygge, pronounced ‘hoo-gah’. Hygge may be an unfamiliar term to many of you but it’s a Danish word that translates loosely into “cozy togetherness with loved ones”.
It’s the feeling you get when it’s a snowy day out and you’re snuggled up on the couch with your sweetie, a warm gooey chocolate chip in hand and a bright glow in your chest. Inspiring. Beautiful. It’s living and loving in the moment, being present with the ones you care for.
The main way you can do this, is by spending time together! No together equals no hygge. Even if you aren’t necessarily doing the same thing, you can still have togetherness.
Boardgames, puzzles, or video games together. Candles lit while you watch a movie with your favorite snuggle buddy. Reading time with your little. Trying to make a new recipe together, the whole family contributing an ingredient one at a time and then tasting it after a cozy dinner all together at the table.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I used the word ‘together’ lately!
So that is the P.A.R.E.N.T. Plan that I’ve been using! I hope that it could bring a few ideas into your own practices with your children. Once again, I would highly, highly suggest reading this book if you haven’t already! It’s my favorite of all of the books I’ve read on parenting, period, and that is making quite the statement! Also don’t forget to drop us a follow and share Little Journeys Everywhere! A follow will let you know when our next post drops so you never have to miss a single post!
Seven for breakfast and seven before bed. An EpiPen, rescue inhaler, a cream and always, always are the hospitals, specialists, and side effects. Special diets and surgeries.
But I’m alive. I’m walking. I’m writing. I’m breathing clearly. I’m spending time outside with my beautiful baby girl and I’m coherent and awake enough to watch her grow more everyday. I give thanks everyday for my pharmacy. For my medical team. For my family who is my greatest support, my solid ground.
My body may be sick, but I am so blessed!
‘The bad days may come but let it be known!
That I can find joy above and below.
I can find peace in the midst of disease.
In my skin, in my blood, these pills are not me.
My name is not Sickness, I do declare!
I challenge the shamers, from everywhere!
So what’s it to you if I need these to live?
Your words are like rain falling down through a sieve.
I am so much more than medications and pain,
You may not see it, your loss is my gain.
I have joy, peace and gladness in me!
You see only pills but my heart is a sea!
Pet Parents Beware! With Easter items already out on shelves, it is especially important to know what can be a danger to our littlest (or not so little) loves! Please be mindful of pets (like my monster cats) who chew on plants especially. Mine find chewing on leaves and any available blade or bud a delight and it is a very common occurrence for dogs to nibble on things from the floor like the stray downed petal or leaf.
Will the Easter Bunny be making a stop at your house this weekend?
Here are some tips for keeping your pets safe amid baskets full of candy and springtime treats.
Candy toxicity and other seasonal poisonings spike in veterinary hospitals around Easter. Some items which are perfectly safe for human consumption are highly toxic for pets. Protect your pets by avoiding these 5 common holiday goodies and click on the links to get more in-depth information on each subject.
In small amounts, chocolate can cause vomiting and diarrhea, but in large amounts, it can be potentially fatal. Keep baskets out of pets’ reach and avoid feeding this sweet treat to your pets. Substitute their favorite doggy or kitty treat or a piece of sweet apple to keep them occupied.
Hello, Journeyers! So I’ve been meaning to do this book review for some time. I’ve waited this long, not because I don’t like the book, but because I love this book. I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to do it justice. But at last I am here to bring you my take-aways from The Danish Way of Parenting!
I first heard about this book from one of my favorite YouTube channels, The Parenting Junkie. Seriously, check that out because Avital is such an amazing woman and she brings so much to the parenting community by way of education and advice. She even does live streams where you can ask questions about your own child-centered woes. Avital often references books and papers that offer more information on the topic at hand and she did just that in one of her multiple videos on alternative, peaceful parenting (playlist found here).
The Danish Way of Parenting is written by the amazing Jessica Alexander, wife of a Dane and psychologist/cultural researcher, and Iben Dissing Sandahl, a Dane herself as well as an internationally celebrated public speaker. Both women are mothers themselves using the Danish Way that they are now pioneers of. The book is published by TarcherPerigee, subsidiary of Penguin Random House, and had its debut on December 17th 2014, enjoying multiple editions since.
In it, the authors explain what it is that makes the Danish stand out and be named as the happiest people in the world (for almost 40 years in a row!) by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What makes the Danish so different? Do they have less problems? Fewer fears and aggravations? No! According to Alexander and Sandahl, it lies in the way that the Danes parent their children.
Sound odd? Think about it this way. We as humans are creatures of habit and tend to stick to what we know when it comes to parenting our own kids.
Ever heard someone say (or thought yourself), “Well I turned out alright!”?
People usually tend to parent the way they were parented because it’s what they know. The Danish are no exception!
Their parenting style is passed down to their children, and their kids’ kids, and so on to successive generations. In the words of the authors themselves, “resilient, emotionally secure, happy kids who turn into resilient, emotionally secure, happy adults who then repeat this powerful parenting style with their own kids. The legacy repeats itself, and we get a society that tops the happiness charts for more than forty years in a row.”
So what is it that the Danes do differently? The authors sum it up into one helpful device: PARENT.
Play– Why free play creates happier, better adjusted, more resilient adults.
Authenticity– Why honesty creates a stronger sense of self. How praise can be used to form a growth mind-set rather than a fixed mind-set, making your children more resilient.
Reframing– Why reframing can change you and your children’s lives for the better.
Empathy– Why understanding, incorporating, and teaching empathy are fundamental in creating happier children and adults.
No Ultimatums– Why avoiding power struggles and using a more democratic parenting approach fosters trust, resilience, and happier kids.
Togetherness and Hygge (Coziness)– Why a strong social network is one of the most important factors in our overall happiness. How creating hygge (coziness) can help us give this powerful gift to our children.
The book dives deep into each of these points, dedicating a chapter to each concept. Even as I read on, I couldn’t help but be pulled in with interest as the women gave examples of the Danish Way and easy to follow ways that you could implement for your own family!
For us in the Maxwell household, it has taken a heaping spoonful of patience, love, communication, and relearning what it means to engage with our child and really listen so that Little Maxwell feels heard. Already though, we are seeing a change in her behavior and a drastic difference in the stress and anger levels that come with having a three-year old overlord to appease.
So do I like this book enough to recommend it to you?
Abso- freaking- lutely.
Is it the easiest way to parent?
No, but while it may not be the easiest I heartily believe that it is one of the best ways to lead your family and your children to a happier, more compassionate, secure future.
Taking the road of peaceful parenting like the Danish Way is not easy. It involves finding more compassionate solutions to problems rather than the fear-based discipline. It eschews the threat/bribery method of taking away privileges and behavior charts.
We hail from a culture where not using punishments, whether physical or otherwise, to discipline our kids is frowned upon and sneered at. I’d know. I have faced down other people’s opinions on our parenting style multiple times. All of the raised eyebrows and “helpful” advice. So the Danish Way of Parenting is alternative to say the least. But if you feel called to try the Peaceful Parenting method, then I would tell you to pick up a copy of this book asap. Consider taking the Hygge Oath too!
If I could give this book a 1 out of 5 review, I would give it a solid 10. Give it a try! Even if the Danish Way isn’t for you, at the least you’ll walk away from it a little more aware of your own default settings and how they reflect on your own parenting style.
With Peace and Passion.
Ta! ❤
Learn more and engage with other peaceful parents at http://thedanishway.com/ ! Also find them on FB and Twitter.
Hello to all on this rainy, dreary day (as of my writing this at least!)! I have been fighting long and hard on the battlefields of chronic illness for several years now. Even before I knew what it was, I just explained away the pain and bore it as well as I could. Today on this cold wintry day, we’ve had bursts of sun light up our life periodically as if to personally spite the rain itself. Or perhaps in a delicate dance with it instead? Who can speak as to the nature of nature, after all?
But this bipolar weather reminded me of my own struggles with my body. A body that, at times, literally attacks itself, using my own immune system as a weapon against me.
What a bitch.
The title has been something that stuck with me for more than two years now. ‘What do we do when the tears fall?‘ It was a query spoken from the lips of a girl that went through the same battle I have. Another soldier fighting at the front lines who emboldened herself, taking up the fallen banner of our fight even when she didn’t have to. It was a war she fought victoriously, triumphantly.
Until she didn’t.
She lost her life last year. Her loss echoed and slammed hard through the chronic illness community and all of those whose lives she had touched and changed for the better. Our tribe of soldiers rippled and buckled under the weight of her absence but rather than breaking beneath it…we hardened. We steeled ourselves and fought back against our conditions, our diseases, more furious than ever before.
She used her life to lead others in this fight, to spread awareness in any way she could, to help others new to diagnosis or those seeking one. She gave answers and direction when many of us were lost in the wilds and the night. She was a light to so, so many of us and even now, I think of her often.
So, this piece is dedicated to Jaquie Beckwith who lost her battle in this war on the 29th of April, 2019. Her best friend and fellow soldier has taken up Jaquie’s fallen banner and her husband, Judd, has helped to keep her shop up and running so that those who Jaquie touched are still able to help her family and were able to help cover her end of life expenses. Please see the bottom of the page for links to Jaquie’s channel, pages and to The Raw Life, who helps us all to continue on and carry her beautiful legacy on with us.
Jaquie and her service pup, Harlow.
What Do We Do When The Tears Fall?
What do we do when the tears fall? And fall and fall, I ask of you? When hunger pains and heartache reigns Raining over me and you.
Oh what a dream that it would be! If I were to wake up next to you, And smile and stand without helping hand No aid or pills to get me through.
What if it were all just an illusion? Just a dream within a dream? I’d leave this chair and leave these wheels. My body scrubbed to white, to clean.
I would say goodbye to doctors To ERs, to nerve pain. To side effects and all the rest, To memory loss, it’s wax and wane.
I wouldn’t miss another day, Unless I wanted to. There goes the shame, the disappointment Within me and within you.
But I can’t have that life, that’s true, Though I do my very best. To wear a smile to cover the cracks To steel myself for every test.
My spirit is indomitable, Through dis-ease and disease. I see the sun on a far horizon, Light reaching through the grim levies.
This too may not ever pass, Vile vials at each blood draw. But my disease does not define me! I am my own marshall law.
My voice is but a whisper, Yet it’s cradled gently on the breeze. ‘I’m still here!‘ My voice cries out, To every shining sea.
Hello, hello! We are back with another tarot deck review this week! Today, we are taking a look at ~le gasp~ The Everyday Witch Oracle deck!
Now, if you are unfamiliar with this particular deck, don’t be too hard on yourself. The oracle deck itself only came out in September of 2019, while it’s companion deck, the Everyday Witch Tarot, released in January of 2017. Both are written by Deborah Blake and the art is designed by Elizabeth Alba. The wonderful Llewellyn published both decks as well.
A terrific trio of a team for this tantalizing tarot!
Now say that shit five times fast!
This deck is full to bursting with its diversity! Unlike the Everyday Witch Tarot which features primarily women and cats, this Oracle deck features witches of different genders, ages, races, and orientations.
I’m talking about you, Love Card, with your handfasting between two lady witches! Such a beautiful card!
Speaking practically, I like that while the cards in this deck are larger than in their tarot companion, the guidebook is actually smaller and practically pocket size! It makes it much easier to carry around for on the go readings and study, something that I found quite handy.
The EWO is divided into four groups based on element (with the first three of each “suit”) as follows:
*Earth (for grounding and practical action)- – Earth Magic -Connect With Gaia -Hibernation and Regeneration *Air (for thought and communication)- – Air Magic – Imagination and Envision – Listening to Wisdom *Fire (creativity and passion)- – Fire Magic – Sun and Stars – Accept Love *Water (change and movement)- – Water Magic – Healing Waters – Cleansing Body and Spirit
And so on. You’ll have to buy the deck to know the rest of the cards but I can assure you, it’s worth it!
If you are trying to sort through your deck and put each elemental group in order of progression, then using the chapter 3 ‘How the cards progress’ section of the book may be a little confusing. I read through this book from the beginning, naturally, and got horribly confused reading chapter 3. Worry not dear adventurer! Simply skip ahead to chapter 5 and you’ll find not only a concise order for each grouping but what each of the cards meanings are!
I’m in love with the concept of a Maiden, Mother, Crone three card spread! Deborah Blake shares this gem of a spread on page 20 so check it out! She also shares several other ways that you can read with this deck that were marvelous additions to my card spread know-how.
I was over the moon when, in chapter 6, the author shares ways that you can incorporate the Everyday Witch Oracle deck with the Everyday Witch Tarot deck, it’s companion deck. Of course both can be used separately but I love the idea of using them together! Especially since the Everyday Witch deck is my tarot OTP. It is legitimately my jam. In fact, I’ve started pulling a card from each deck every morning as a sort of ritual to start my day.
So whether you use oracle decks already or are simply wanting to get a fun and interesting feel for them, I cannot recommend the Everyday Witch Oracle enough. It’s set up is interesting, it’s illustrations are beautiful, and it features cards with people and animals of all kinds.
I would love to see more wonderful Everyday Witch wares from this team in the future!
With Peace and Passion.
Ta! ❤
The Everyday Witch Oracle can be purchased at Amazon, Llewellyn.com, and Barnes and Noble. Don’t forget to check your local metaphysical shops as well! #shoplocal!
This is so true! We spent the last few weeks planting seeds, including some Spruce tree seeds! It not only helped with her fine motor skills and sensory development (she has SPD) but also gave us opportunities to learn about all kinds of other things! Being a good steward to the earth, how trees enable us to breathe, how evergreens stay green all year round, about pollinators, as well as lifecycles and many, many more! Last year we planted and grew pumpkins and peas and learned so much! Little Maxwell had the best time being able to carve up the pumpkins that we planted and grew for Halloween this year and to get to pick sweet peas to snack on while she played outside!
For those of you who frequent the YouTube space on the internet, you may have heard of the wide sweeping changes that YouTube has put into effect as of January first. Originally meant as a response to YouTube being sued by the Federal Trade Commission or FTC and the New York Attorney General, the lawsuit proved that Google and YouTube, owned by the former, was in violation of COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Google had to pay out a whopping $170 million dollar fine for the violation for its collection of the personal data of minors without their parents’ consent. This data is collected in order to place targeted ads on video content. I won’t go too far into that because COPPA actually isn’t what I’m going to talk about today.
This post isn’t about the enormous ramifications that COPPA, while well meaning, is having on YouTube’s content creators themselves. I’ll leave that up to Matthew Patrick at the Game Theory/Film Theory channel who does a far more detailed deep dive and can give a personal accounting of the issue. I’m not a YouTuber, after all, I’m a blogger. His video on COPPA and it’s affects on video creators can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd604xskDmU&t=966s
Then why mention it at all?
Because I want to talk about the changes YouTube put into effect in response to this suit. These new policies went into effect on January 1st, 2020. No big deal right? YouTube should be a safer place for our kids, right?
Well, yes, but at the same time, as a mother of a toddler, these changes are, well…
They’re a pain in my ass.
‘Holy jammers, Journeys, what the blob?’ you might be thinking.
That’s right. I said it. These new policies are a pain in the ass for parents. Sound cray cray? Let me explain.
So in our household, as well as many, many others, we use streaming services instead of cable. Hulu, Netflix, Disney +, etc. Out of all of these, for us, YouTube is king. It’s got Paw Patrol but also FilmComicsExplained. There’s HomeschoolPop and also Gordon Ramsey swearing at gross restaurant kitchens. Wanna learn how to play Pewdiepie’s Congratulations song on piano? Watch Live PD while doing laundry or just put some sweet, soothing jazz on for Quiet Time? All this and more. It has something for everyone and everything.
On that note, we let Little Maxwell have her “tv time” in the mornings. I put on whatever show it is that she wants to watch that day on YouTube while I go and do housework or write. A lot of times, I would use the ‘queue’ feature to manually add things for her to watch that would keep her interest, that she wanted to see, and that I knew were age appropriate. Other times, I would put on a pre-made playlist either for simple entertainment or for our homeschool. It would have things like the HomeschoolPop videos, book read alouds, Kids Academy, and Emily Arrow’s book songs.
Now you can just forget about that shit.
In order to make their site more “child friendly”, despite the fact that is exactly what the YouTube Kids app is for, YouTube made the following changes to what I’ll call YouTube Main, their main site.
No longer can you:
Comment
Add to a playlist of any kind
Get notifications even if you are a subscriber to that channel.
Become a Member of a channel.
Those are just for us, as viewers. The changes on a creator/channel level are even larger. What’s the big deal about these being locked down on kids videos now?
I can’t put together homeschooling playlists anymore. I can’t be notified when my daughter’s favorite channels post new story videos. I won’t be able to help support my favorite channels with a Membership. I won’t be able to vet the content that my child sees as well or as easily.
Say I’m scrolling through the recommended feed looking for the latest ProfessorStick video and see that an upcoming read-aloud channel did a video of Little Maxwell’s favorite book. I won’t be able to add that video to my Watch Later list or the playlist I have that’s three-year old appropriate. The best I can do is give it a Like and hope I remember to go scroll through my Liked Videos history later to find it after I sacrifice my brain cells on the altar of debunked Flat-Earther claims.
Now I could always put it on a show and just leave it up to the Auto-Play feature to steer her to the next video, right?
You know nothing, John Snow.
Leaving it on autoplay inevitably leads to a different show than the sweet Draw So Cute episode that you left it on and that one leads to another show and so on. Before you know it, your kid is watching something you would really rather not have them watch, like some sort of badly animated freak show excuse for children’s programming.
Sorry, Little Maxwell, you’re show is f*cking creepy. Swerve!
You turn it back to the original, parent-approved safe show on a flat Color Form kid going on adventures, but by then the damage has been done. They’ve been exposed to aforementioned freak show and decide that it’s their new favorite.
Thanks, YouTube. Thanks a lot.
The point I’m getting at is that every time YouTube has some scandal and puts new policies in place to fix it, they tend to…overcorrect. And the nasty thing about overcorrecting is that it often leads to you driving, screaming, right into the path of other unsuspecting motorists.
Unfortunately, this time it’s the creators and the users, the parents, that are left confused and bleeding on that pavement.
Little Journeys Everywhere 