Parenting Contents Archive

How to tell my 5 year old he can’t go “home” to see his dad anymore.

Throwaway because my family is on Reddit. Long story short, I recently caught my husband doing meth. I am completely heartbroken. We tried working through it, but he has continued to do it and lie about it instead of wanting to get help and open up to me. Now, my 5 year old and 1 year old sons are living out at my parents with me until I can get on my feet as I was a stay at home mom with no income before. My boys absolutely LOVE their dad. This is such a sad situation I’m holding onto God as much as I can. I just don’t know what to tell my little. Please, any advice is much appreciated.

Mom wants child back after 6 years.

I'm a recovering addict, over 5 years, but life has been tough. I asked my GMA to take care of my baby until I got my life together. This has been the agreement. My son is 7 now and doesn't want to live w me bc I can't afford to buy him whatever he wants, and his two siblings live here, he doesn't like hearing babies cry ever. Let me add here that I've been in his life, I'm not just reappearing. He has been having issues and needs an active parent, someone to physical/emotionally be closer to his level than my grandma. (He normally spend a couple nights at a time, not more than a week at this point. Getting his bedroom ready for him to spend two weeks, to work our way to him coming home and GMA says he doesn't want to stay and therefore isn't. That he doesn't want to live with me so we'll have to go to court. She said this bc she knows I can't afford to go to court. I'm at a loss.

Do I just leave the eyelash there?? It doesn’t seem to bother her, she’s not rubbing her eyes and it’s not watering. I don’t understand how this doesn’t drive her nuts? When I get an eyelash in my eye I’ll do everything short of gouging out my eyeballs to get it out.

Was this wrong?

I **needed** a shower today. So I strapped my daughter in her high chair nice and snug, made sure the tray clicked, gave her a large toy with no pieces that could come off, and I put on hey bear. I showered for 5 minutes while checking on her maybe every 30 seconds, and it was glorious. However I can’t help but feel guilty since she’s only 6 months old. She was content. Didn’t care much for the screen and was more interested in her toy. Didn’t cry at all, but I don’t know. Should I not have done that? It won’t be a habit but I just really couldn’t wait another day. Mom guilts a bitch. Edit: I could still talk to her and see her in this case. The high chair is narrow enough to fit in the door. Cracked the window so it wasn’t so steamy in there. Because she wasn’t into hey bear, I played peekaboo and sang her favourite songs.

Frog and Toad cookies - silly anecdote

My kids LOVE the Frog and Toad books. They have so much wholesome zen content my husband and I have also fallen in love. One of my daughter's favorite stories is the Cookies. They make cookies that are the "best they've ever tasted" so they try to create ways to give them willpower so they don't eat them all at once. Stuff like: We'll put them on a high shelf. We'll tie them in a box with a string. Etc. Last weekend my husband came home from the grocery store with a huge grin on his face. He saw this box of cookies at the store and immediately thought, these look like the Frog and Toad cookies! And just bought them not expecting much. Well, it turns out they're amazing we're plowing through them. So, we have brought the Frog and Toad cookie story to life as we try to find ways to have willpower from eating them all. They will forever be called Frog and Toad cookies.

Birthday party etiquette?

My kids have just started being invited to birthday parties and my 5 year old would like to have her own this year. What is the etiquette on invitees? A boy invited the whole class to his party so my daughter went but she does not want to invite him to hers. She says he is mean and too rough. My mother keeps giving me flack because she says I have to invite him, do I? She is also giving me a hard time because she says all the girls need to be invited however my daughter is mostly friends with the boys and only 2 girls are her friends. My mother thinks I’m rude for not inviting all the girls. This is my first time throwing a birthday party what is right here? I wish I could invite the whole class but it’s just not in the budget and I don’t think I could keep an eye on 17 5 year olds in a huge loud trampoline park?

My child has a mis-shaped head and I feel like a failure as a parent.

Title says it all. My child is almost 3 months and I just feel like a failure. Has anyone experienced this and was able to correct it with added tummy time or any other methods?

Homemade Hamburgers

Would you consider this a real meal for dinner and to take for lunch the next day? My child’s fathers seems to think otherwise and that it’s not a “Real” meal.

Wondering what to call her private area

So I am sure this has been discussed but I have a son and daughter. My daughter is now getting to the point of talking and has referred to her privates as her brother does. This has also made my young son question why they are different. I got that part for him but my question is what to have my daughter call it?? TIA

Toddler breaks down during diaper changes

She’s such a happy and good natured 1.5 year old. She has no problem changing wet diapers, it’s the poop ones that break her. She’s very tall for her age and a great escape artist, so I still do poop diapers laying down. She also fights standing up poop clean ups. The second you so much as touch and lift her right left, she breaks down. Full melt down, stiffens and her body shakes. And this happens outside of diaper changes too - it’s just way more noticeable during them. It’s like she’s in pain or is scared of something, but the doctor gave her a clean bill of health. She has never been hurt, yelled at or anything negative during diaper changes or any other time. We have a very happy and calm household. She seems to thrive on hearing explanations before doing something, but it doesn’t help in this situation at all. I’m just looking for any advice or feedback on why she’s acting this way and if there’s anything I can do to make it better for her.

Laid off today, 31 weeks pregnant

Just need to vent. I am 31 weeks and high risk due to be induced at 36 weeks and I was laid off. They only offered 3 months severance. My partner is a SAHD. I don’t even know what to do or say. I immediately contacted a lawyer but because I am under 40, even though I am pregnant, I do not have a claim. How can this even happen? The 3 months alone won’t even cover Cobra, and I can’t get another job. Just feel so hopeless at this point. I’m located in the US, NJ for context.

Grandma’s dog attacked my son update

So my son’s stitches all in his face have dissolved, we’re continuing to apply scar gel twice every day. Still no apology from MIL or FIL. They are coming tomorrow to tour schools in town for my man’s eldest which they have custody of (due to his mistakes in the past) because they still plan to move here. The SIL is also moving here now this month because she literally can’t handle not having mom and dad around. Just wanted to vent because I’m still so angry. I was in tears the other day before work because my son had a meltdown saying he didn’t want to go to daycare because the kids screamed at him because of his face 😭

Breastfeeding is hell

Hello, friends. I’m new here and have a new kiddo — 2 weeks old. We are triple-feeding for now as i try to grow my (seemingly insufficient) supply, and the little guy somehow seems to forget basics from one feeding to the next…how to latch, how to drain the breast, etc. We have a couple weeks until we see our lactation consultant again, but until then, I just need to stay sane and not terminally frustrated. I feel like I can’t even enjoy the kid sometimes because I just feel so bad about the situation. So, questions: 1) is this normal at all? 2) does anyone have either tips or coping strategies?

Help with truancy?

I've been to court when I was younger (1 time each month for a few months) and my brother (went 1 time each month about 2 years ago and now having to do it again) along with my other brother, and sister (first time) going there next Wednesday. I'm scared of being taken away. Her car doesnt like to start sometimes and she has had problems with ringworm for about a year, my siblings get sick a lot considering they play outside alot, (Its better then being on the interest i guess?) and thats why they missed it, i honestly dont know what to do about this.

Am I stretching myself too thin?

Hi Team, I am going to be a Dad in a month from now, a beautiful girl! However, I am really worry about me being too greedy. I work 40 hours weekly as Financial Advisor. My job is not extremely mental taxing and I typically have about 1-2 hours free at work to do my extra study and do another 1-2 hours study at home after work. I am studying Accounting (CPA). One paper at a time. My question is, do you that is too much? I know the first few months with the newborn is hard, but I don't know how hard. Would I be able to spend an extra hour after work and baby duty everyday to study? I can postpone my current paper and do double one later on. And if this is the case, when would I be able to do it? Appreciate any response!