@anemone @creamqueen @meso @mia @teratology ALSO, just so you know my views aren't totally grim... A GREAT way to socialize kids is to have them hang out with groups of other kids their own age. They will, to a great degree, socialize each other. The other kids refusing to play with them for being disagreeable is a FAR more effective punishment than anything you could EVER do to them. In fact it's probably better for socialization than being a halfway good parent. So this kind of knowledge doesn't make things completely grimdark (which is how this probably looks to you). If you ever adopt, PLEASE make sure they get a lot of time around kids their own age from like 2 on.