Everyone thought we had three brilliant, kind, obedient kids.

No. We just didn't talk to them like the were idiots. We treated them like they were capable. Capable of Learning. Capable of making decisions even at a very young age. "Dear are you throwing a tantrum?" If the answer was yes, she had to go rest on her bed. If it was no, she could go play. Capable of doing things because it was just time to do them.

Side note: We still never ever asked them if they wanted to do something they had to do. Do you want to go to bed? How foolish is that! Set you both up for failure.

We required them to treat us and each other with dignity and respect. Fighting was automatic nap time. Name calling just simply did NOT happen. Period.

AND OMG we could not wait for them to talk. No pacifiers, No walking around with the bottle. No baby talk. I'm with you every step of the way. We didn't hang on to "baby words." I cannot tell you how many hours I spent teaching them the correct pronunciation of words. Most especially since my second daughter had a speech impediment.

Want to know what doctors thought of communication? "Oh don't worry about it, she'll outgrow it." Excuse me?! I had a generally joyful 3 1/2 yr old, practically throwing her 7yr old sister against the wall because she couldn't get her sister to understand her. They were both sobbing by the time I reached them. Not from any physical pain but because they couldn't communicate. No. This was ending now.

I had to locate a speech therapist on my own. It wasn't super easy. I hope to high heaven that's changed. She was 9mo behind on her speech development, which at that age is like a decade. But she was 6 months ahead on her understanding of language. With just 3 months of therapy, she zoomed to 6 mo ahead of her age group in her expression and 9 mo ahead in her comprehension.

Can baby talk be any less damaging to expression and comprehension than a speech impediment? I'd bet not.

Anyway, No idea why your ideas and homeschooling can't go together ... worked really well with my three kids.

You would make an excellent parent. It's not the kids you have trouble with. It really is the parents. Even back when dinosaurs roamed the earth 40 yrs ago, it was the parents.

My personal pet peeve: Parents that cried, "Ohh my baby is growing up. It's so sad!" WTH!!

I tried to write short. Really :-D And. Yes. I know I'm late to the party.