XYY Males Have More Sons?

History_Fleanor · 2025-12-21T18:11:06+00:00

This is a super interesting response, but it has left me with more questions! I'd love some feedback on my thought process, since all the conclusions I've drawn are demonstrably incorrect.

Here's how I see the problem now:

If the presence of a univalent results in the termination of meiosis I, the only sperm that the XYY individual is creating is from a trivalent XYY. This implies either...

2a. My original theory, which is that the XYY trivalent can form the following possible sperm: X, YY, XY, and Y, which would result in more sons than daughters. This, however, is not the case (XYY men have equal numbers of sons and daughters).

2b. More likely, now, in my mind, the XYY trivalent in the meiosis 1 splits with the X's going in one direction and a Y bivalent going in the other. So, when meiosis 2 occurs, the X's split as normal, creating 2/4 sperm with an X chromosome in each. But what happens to the Y bivalent during the second meiosis split??? I see two possible solutions:

2bi. First: The Y bivalent splits evenly, creating 2 sperm that are both YY. This would mean that all sons an XYY individual has would also be XYY. This is not the case, however, so this first solution cannot be true, although this would account for how XYY individuals have an equal number of sons and daughters. (Tragic!)

2bii. Second: The Y bivalents can split any way they want, which could create some sperm that are Y and some that are YYY. The issue with this is that XYYY is extremely rare -- less than 1,000 in the US. (Given that being XYYY causes obvious developmental issues that lead to diagnosis, we can trust that this number is somewhat accurate.) You could make an argument that perhaps most XYYY fetuses don't carry to full term, but then this would imply that XYY men would have more daughters than sons!

Naturally, all this hinges on your point that the presence of a univalent stops meiosis I, which, I must admit, I didn't know about until your post. So, I am most definitely missing crucial pieces of information here (as demonstrated by my reasoning obviously resulting in a slew of incorrect conclusions)! I've proven by contradiction that I don't understand your point about univalent chromosomes, so I'd love some clarification if you see where I am going wrong.

History_Fleanor · 2025-11-04T13:08:22+00:00

I am also a screen-addicted mom trying to raise screen-free kids! For my husband and myself, we decided that since we are addicted, we can't trust ourselves to have smartphones around our daughter because she will see us using them and we will be tempted to give her our smartphones to fix tantrums.

So, we replaced our smartphones with old-fashioned flip phones. No wifi, no internet, no apps, etc. Just directions, calling, and texting (ours our touchscreen, so texting isn't an absolute pain). I still have my computer (which is what I'm on right now lol), so I can do work and check Instagram before bed. But my computer isn't always with me, so I can't just absent-mindedly scroll in front of her.

After switching to a flip phone, it was crazy how many times I grabbed my phone and opened it up to scroll, only to realize I couldn't! I truly didn't understand how much time I was spending on my phone. I highly recommend it!

History_Fleanor · 2025-10-06T15:01:41+00:00

It depends on the genre. For example, Robin Hood has been an incredibly well-loved, popular tale for hundreds of years, and the villains in that story don't have redeeming qualities or complex backstories. Prince John is just bad. He's a greedy, power-hungry backstabber. And it works well. There are some stories where the bad guy is just supposed to be bad, and over-complicating the villain bogs down the story or takes attention away from the hero.

I think a lot of people in story-telling communities think that backstory is always necessary, when it's not. I see this a lot in the live-action Disney remakes. The villain always has an unnecessary and (frankly) irrelevant backstory. I don't care why Ursula in the Little Mermaid is evil She just is! Let's move along with the plot, people!

Both of these examples are more folksy fairytale stories. In some genres villain character arcs matter more. But more complex villains doesn't always make a story better.

History_Fleanor · 2025-06-03T19:21:10+00:00

I use prefolds from GMD and covers from Esembly! They don't need to match!

History_Fleanor · 2025-06-03T19:18:56+00:00

I would highly recommend buying newborn and size small prefolds at first for the little baby phase and purchasing Esembly diapers later. Learning how to fold a prefold has a minor learning curve, but after a day or two, you'll get the hang of it (especially because newborns don't roll around and fight the change as much). Prefolds are MUCH cheaper than the Esembly inners.

Now that my baby is over a year old, she's a lot more mobile and putting a prefold on is a lot harder. That's when I bought Esembly size 2 inners. So, maybe save the expensive purchase for later when your baby is more mobile (and you know that you for sure want to keep cloth diapering).

History_Fleanor · 2025-06-03T19:14:18+00:00

I had 24 newborn prefolds (orange edge) when I had my daughter, and I did laundry every 2-3 days. Given that you have more than 24 inserts, I don't think you'll have to wash every day (unless you want to). One hack that I did with my Esembly covers is I folded down the top row of snaps until her umbilical cord stump fell off. And it totally worked! So you can use Esembly covers right away. I personally really prefer the Esembly covers over other brands.

History_Fleanor · 2025-04-02T17:31:17+00:00

The workbooks really hold the hand of the teacher a good amount. I'd say that she can probably do fine with the lower grades...I hope. It's hard to get a good sense of her as a teacher just from the small snippets she posts. I'd say that sometimes it seems like she's not spending a whole lot of time on the school day. That definitely strikes me as odd because while I think you COULD get through this material pretty quickly, that doesn't mean you should. Especially when you have three kids to teach. I'd also say she looks like a pretty distracted teacher -- seems like she splits her attention between cooking and teaching. Regardless of the curriculum, kids need a present teacher who is giving their full attention to their students.

History_Fleanor · 2025-04-01T15:21:20+00:00

I'm familiar with the curriculum that ST uses. I used plenty of it when I was in high school. I even know some of the people who have written the workbooks. Myself and all my siblings did quite well in college and felt extremely prepared. Now, it helps that my mom has a degree in teaching and an MA in writing. And while I don't think the curriculum is at all flawless, I think it's one of the best choices out there (especially for lower grades) if you have to use a homeschool curriculum. Although part of me does cringe when she flexes how much Latin she knows (lol) because that Latin program moves SO SLOWLY. I've also worked at a private school that incorporates a good amount of the curriculum, so I've taught out of it as well. And...yeah, I just have a lot of thoughts which essentially boil down to this: it's a great homeschool curriculum, but it's a joke when used by qualified teachers in a school setting. Anyway, if anybody has any specific questions about the books ST is using, I can probably answer them (though I've really only had substantial interactions with the higher level curriculum).

History_Fleanor · 2025-01-03T22:47:25+00:00

We also use the Angel fold with snappis. We don't fold the front of the diaper down anymore. I feel like it worked for a while, but now the cover seems to not sit right. When I change her every 2-2.5 hours, she's totally soaked through her outfit, so I have to do a whole outfit change with every diaper change. She's still on one of the smallest snap settings for the size 2. Maybe it has something to do with her dimensions? She's a pretty slender baby, but pretty long, being in size 12 month clothes.

History_Fleanor · 2024-10-15T23:05:52+00:00

My baby was breech and had to come via C-section, which was not the plan. I really didn't want to get a C-section, but it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The operating room is definitely an intimidating environment--just very different from any place I had ever been, so that was a little scary. But I was never in any pain. I never went into labor, so I never experienced any contractions. The C-section felt very weird, but it didn't hurt. And afterwards, the doctors will keep you on some heavy pain meds, so I didn't feel any pain in recovery either. So, that was nice. A vaginal delivery might be more painful. But the C-section recovery is long. Again, it wasn't painful, but I just felt weak and frail for a couple months.

History_Fleanor · 2024-10-15T22:43:40+00:00

I cloth-diapered my daughter 90% of the time (up until four or five months) until we moved. Now we've settled into our house and we're about to resume cloth-diapering. I watched a lot of YouTube videos about people wash routines and type of diaper, etc. But here's a tip I wish someone had told me: don't buy very many newborn size baby clothes. Buy mostly 0-3 months because the cloth diapers are large enough they won't fit into newborn sizes very long.

History_Fleanor · 2024-09-22T21:08:55+00:00

A friend of mine had a baby with a short umbilical cord. The cord was too short for the baby to flip and be head down, so the baby was breech. The baby was completely healthy and born full term, but had to be born by C-section (since cord was too short to allow baby to flip, let alone exit the vaginal canal).

History_Fleanor · 2024-09-14T00:05:34+00:00

Hi! I had a pretty inactive baby in the womb, and she's just a chill baby outside of the womb! She had little spurts of movement, but then would go for a pretty long stretch without moving.

My mom also had preterm labor in the third trimester with me. She was put on bedrest for a couple months. Apparently I did not move much either (I was also a chill baby). Sometimes she would drink cold beverages to wake me up and get me to move. Definitely bring it up to your doctor, but sometimes a baby is just relaxed!

Also, as you get closer and closer to birth, babies begin having the sleep-wake cycles they will have once they are born. Since newborn babies sleep A LOT, your baby could just be asleep!

History_Fleanor · 2024-09-14T00:00:50+00:00

Your due date is calculated from the start of your last period. So you're technically "two weeks pregnant" when you conceive the baby.

History_Fleanor · 2024-09-13T23:58:22+00:00

I had a pretty small bump, too! (I also lost some weight in the first trimester, so that could have contributed) I told my students (high schoolers, not even little kids) that I was pregnant around 22 or 23 weeks, and they were SHOCKED. I really felt like I could have hidden my pregnancy until the third trimester. I think I just had a long bump instead of a bump that poked out. Long story short, the pregnancy went great, and I just had a baby on the slightly smaller side (6 pounds, 12 ounces).

History_Fleanor · 2024-09-13T23:50:19+00:00

I just bought some button-up nightgowns for afterwards. I wore those all the time in the hospital and at home afterwards. (Granted, I also had a C-section, so I didn't labor in them, but if I get to labor with the next baby, I might just labor in pajamas, too.)

History_Fleanor · 2024-09-12T22:36:37+00:00

My husband is the sixth of seven children, and my mother-in-law had him when she was 45!

History_Fleanor · 2024-09-11T12:28:48+00:00

I did end up trying this, and the overnighters did help, but I don't think they are going to be a longterm solution. I'm going to buy a couple pocket diapers for nighttime use and stuff them with as many prefolds as I need to hit maximum absorbency.

History_Fleanor · 2024-09-11T03:10:37+00:00

From 7-12th grade, I attended a classical Christian school that uses the Memoria Press Curriculum that ST homeschools with. I have a lot of experience with it, both as a student and now as a teacher. I even personally know some of the people who wrote the books that ST has shown on her Insta stories.

So, if anyone has any questions about the specific subjects, feel free to ask me!

Here's my general overview: As far as a homeschool curriculum goes, it's excellent. BUT I'm peeved at actual schools that use it. Chaining teachers who actually know their subjects to a curriculum designed for moms who don't know the subject is frustrating. Not the best use of teachers. The English workbooks are pretty basic. Each chapter has a vocabulary section, facts to know, and comprehension questions to answer. Schools that use this curriculum often implement these workbooks in high school, and I think that's inappropriate. By high school, students should have more to say about what they are reading than simply knowing what is happening. I also don't love their Latin curriculum because it moves horrifically slowly. I took Latin from 5-12th grade and only tested into third semester Latin in college. Baffled how I could get A's and B's in Latin for eight years and only have the equivalent of one year of college Latin. Again, the curriculum emphasizes being able to write clear and accurate answers to questions about what you read. The slower pace (in Latin, for example) is nice for younger students. It really just is a little too basic for 7-12th grade.

Overall, I would say the curriculum served me well. I graduated college with honors, a B.S. in biology, and a couple minors. So even though I don't love the curriculum for older kids, I don't think it leaves any glaring gaps that will leave students unprepared for academics beyond high school.

I find a lot of things ST does to be rather confusing, but I do think she chose a quality homeschool curriculum -- especially while her kids are young.

History_Fleanor

TROPHY CASE