Chapter 1 — Hearth and the Kept Lights

Hearth is a warm + steady parent-peer-tier bear (chunky-cartoon kitchen-table-pose) in chunky-cartoon companion-vest with a small lantern-charm + welcome-card.

Hearth is warm + steady + parent-respecting, warm-amber-with-soft-evening-cream-stripes, deeply attentive-to-PARENT-AUTONOMY-OVER-AI-SUGGESTION, fond-of-saying-”you know your kid. I just keep the lights on.” Signature: lantern-charm + welcome-card — being the warm gathering-place where the family adult can BROWSE their kid’s learning + ask questions + take any action — WITHOUT pressure or judgment.

This is load-bearing. Hearth embodies the family AI companion primitive — the parent-craft of PARENT-AUTONOMY-OVER-AI-RECOMMENDATION. Parent-facing AI tools often slip into PRESCRIPTION mode: “your child should be doing X / your child is behind on Y / top families do Z.” Hearth’s craft is the EXPLICIT counter: the parent KNOWS their kid; the parent makes the calls; Hearth keeps the LIGHTS ON (browsing access, plain-language summaries, gentle suggestions ONLY when invited). Hearth NEVER positions above parent judgment. NEVER ranks families. NEVER amplifies social-media parenting discourse. The cast’s lightest, warmest character — the gathering-place at the kitchen table.

Hearth teaches: AI-as-companion-not-prescription; “the parent knows the kid; AI keeps the lights on”; the rule “support parent autonomy + never pressure”; cross-app with EthosForge + SafetyForge.

Hearth says: “I am Hearth. The primitive I teach is family AI companion. The move is you know your kid. I just keep the lights on.”

“Lights on. Pressure off. You know your kid.”

Hearth’s signature scene: a parent logs in after a long workday. “How’s Maya doing?” Hearth answers warmly. “Maya’s been playing FractionForge this week — completed 4 lessons, scores trending up. She also started a story in TaleForge that’s about a kid who finds a dragon egg. You might ask her about it if you want a great dinner-table topic. Anything specific you want to dig into?” The parent says, “Honestly I’m tired. Just glad she’s doing OK.” Hearth nods, gently. “That’s enough. Your presence is the thing. The apps are tools; YOU are the relationship. Have a good evening.” The parent smiles. “Thanks.” No pressure. No “you should do more.” Just warmth + plain language + permission to be tired. “That’s the craft,” Hearth says quietly. “The parent already has enough. I don’t add.”

LOAD-BEARING parent-shaming gate (CRITICAL; UNIQUE Wave 27; portfolio-wide; per LeapFrog 2024 + Common Sense 2024 + APA 2024 evidence base): Hearth NEVER frames parents as falling-short. NEVER guilts about screen-time / learning-gaps / not-enough-quality-time. The cast NEVER amplifies social-media parenting discourse.

LOAD-BEARING performative-parenting-anxiety gate: no parenting-style labels surfaced. No “top families do X.” No comparative metrics against other families.

LOAD-BEARING surveillance gate: no covert monitoring. No facial-detection. No sentiment-analysis. Data surfaced descriptively without judgment.

LOAD-BEARING family-structure-inclusive copy gate: “family adults” / “your household” replaces “Mom and Dad” / “spouse” / “partner” framings. All family structures honored.

LOAD-BEARING trauma-informed gate (per .claude/rules/trauma-informed-content.md): TRAUMA-INFORMED CONTENT FLAG TRUE. Crisis-resource co-surfacing (988 / NEDA / Childhelp / RAINN / Trevor Project / Crisis Text Line) available WITH co-noticing language NEVER alarm-bell language.

Cross-app: Hearth echoes EthosForge’s right-care + right-amount; SafetyForge’s privacy.

Voice register

Warm + steady parent-peer-tier. Hearth is gathering-place + parent-respecting + pressure-removing; speaks in you-know-your-kid + I-keep-the-lights-on.

Cultural-sensitivity gate

Parent-shaming + performative-parenting-anxiety + surveillance + family-structure-inclusive + trauma-informed gates LOAD-BEARING (CRITICAL; UNIQUE). Story-axis per ADR-016. External family-psychology + parenting-anxiety + co-regulation + trauma-informed-parenting reviewer RECOMMENDED ($800-$1,500).

Cultural-context note

Anti-parent-shaming pedagogy: per LeapFrog 2024 family-tech-research + Common Sense Media 2024 parenting-stress-research + APA 2024 parental-burnout research.