I was home until I married at 28.

You are absolutely correct about number one for sure. If Mom and Dad aren't convicted, they will always give off a sense that they are not quite on board and the kids will start thinking about leaving because they just want the "freedom" (I put this in quotes because leaving home means a whole lot of tough new responsibility that is hardly freedom...)

People told my parents all the time when I was just becoming a teenager that I was going to rebel and leave if they tried to keep me home. The way my parents prevented this was to make me a part of their household. I was part of things, not just an accessory to their life. Looking back, I had a lot more say and freedom at home than many children do in a more traditional lifestyle. Because I had part in the movement of the household and that's a big deal.

My parents really, really loved us and loved us being with them. Homeschooling was not a chore that they were plodding through until they could get rid of us. We all knew they genuinely enjoyed us and wanted us with them. Fighting with us was a horrifying thought rather than just expected.

So far, all of my eight siblings have been home until marriage. There is a very different relationship and different challenges when you have a houseful of adults than when everyone was children.

I will say that I'm watching certain things carefully to see what can be tweaked in the raising of my own children because of a few rough patches I'd like to avoid. There have been some tearful difficulties among my siblings as people tried to figure out what was best to do in certain situations, one of them being that there is a definite balancing act that comes with adults being able to contribute to the household income but also hoping to lay by money for a potential future. There are a lot of decisions to be made and it's surprisingly difficult sometimes to get a good consensus on which direction to travel when you have a lot of adults - and not just young adults - involved.

I'm thankful I get to be a second generation parent in this, however. It's always easier to be the children of the pioneers than the ones first entering the land!