Parenting Contents Archive

My son (8) has been sexually assaulted be another child at school multiple times

I feel helpless, and I am angry. Wednesday my son (who is in 3rd grade) came home and told me how a “friend” of his grabbed his genitals in the classroom. When he told the teacher, she did not acknowledge the incident, and told my son to get back to work. This isn’t the first time this kid has done the exact same thing to my son. And Another incident occurred in front of the principal where the same kid pulled my sons pants down. I went to the school, and they said they would do an investigation. They came to the conclusion that my son is lying, and that there’s nothing they can do. I’m so upset, and don’t know what to do now. My son said he doesn’t feel safe at the school, and I’m ready to pull him out and homeschool. However, I don’t want to let this go. I feel like the school and the other child needs to be held accountable. I just feel so defeated.

Wow. Sleep makes all the difference

For the first time in her life, my 9 month old slept 8 hours straight. From 7pm to 3am, and then again from 3:15-6:30am. I’m not under any illusions that this is the new norm, but it certainly gave me an appreciation for what solid, continuous sleep does for your mental health and overall well-being. I feel more positive, energized, and optimistic today than I have in longest time. I feel happy and not as quick to be stressed out or irritable. I see a light at the end of the tunnel and feel so grateful to have this one day, so that on the really hard days, I can look back at this and remind myself that things will look up, and it’s just fatigue that is making me feel low. Not sure the point of this other than to celebrate a win and encourage anyone out there struggling with sleep deprivation that you’ll have energy again one day! And life will feel not so hard. And babies do, in fact, start sleeping through the night at some point

Please educate me on gas drops.

My LO is 1 week and 5 days old and is showing signs of colic/gas. It started 2 days ago where she just won’t stop crying. When I carry her she arch her back, knees trying to reach her tummy on her own and high note cry. My wife gave up and started crying with our baby too so here i am trying to find solutions. I read the gripe water or gas drops will help the baby but I am not sure if i should just go and buy them or wait for the doctor to tell us to buy them. Our next doctor’s appointment is next Wednesday and I couldn’t wait any longer so can i just go buy them and give them to my baby and just follow the instructions? Is it safe?

What do you consider sleeping through the night?

Does sleeping through the night (STTN) mean 10-12 full hours for you? Or sleeping through a particular timeframe (like midnight to 6am)? Just curious how others define this. I’ve been surprised by the amount of posts I’ve seen with very young babies STTN, and wondering if there’s a difference in definition. Or maybe my son is just a bad sleeper… (he’s 15 weeks (11 corrected) and just started waking up once a night which for me means between 10pm and 6am).

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My Daughter is not worth 35 dollars a week?

My child father owes 1k in child support. He only has to pay 35 dollars a week and he has been behind since July of 2022. He is in arrears and has to file taxes. Of course they’re going to intercept his taxes for back due child support. He asked me to give him the money back if they give me back due child support because “I’m behind on bills” I wanted to curse him out so bad. I remained calm and told him “that money is for Z. You are not the only one behind on bills” He goes on about saying he would give me a couple hundred. You don’t owe me a couple hundred. You don’t even owe me. You owe your daughter over a thousand dollars because you can’t give us 35 weekly? Everyday I bust my ass for my baby. Her birthday is in 3 weeks. He never buys her anything. Or even offer to do stuff. He hasn’t spent more than one day or one hour with her. But has the nerve to ask me about giving back “his” money for child support?

4YO Sudden Change of Personality/Behavior

My 4YO daughter recently had a sudden change in behavior. She screams, whines, interrupts, directly disobeys, incessantly asks for cookies and sugar. It feels this is how she is the majority of the time and I don’t recognize her some days. Could it be growing pains? At a loss. My husband and I keep losing our cool and are having difficulties with discipline.

I have no idea what I look like and it’s so damn annoying

I’ve got a work thing in the pub today (our boss’s leaving drinks) and I’ve gotten dressed 15 times. Everything makes me look WEIRD. I have no idea what shape I am, my perception of myself changes every single day and it’s never a good picture. Why can’t I just feel normal and nice for once.

Reason why my baby is crying…

I’ll go first: she had a fistful of my hair (still attached to my head) when she was falling asleep so I released her grip. She’s 4.5 months.

Why is it like this 😒

Why is it that I'm doing test cakes for my daughter's bday TOMORROW and 3 of the kids are all in my small kitchen with me? They brought in a ton of toys, fighting over them and asking me for everything under the sun. All the while my husband is playing his stupid Xbox uninterrupted in the living room. He looks at me and says you ok babe? Like um no I'm not. I'm trying to concentrate on the best way to make this cake and I can't. And the reason I can't is bc your game is so loud that it sounds like a war is going on in our house, the kids are fighting and playing, I'm getting drinks and snacks, I'm telling the kids to constantly share and be nice, I hear toys hitting the floor constantly on top of me trying to make a single comprehensive thought.... He tells me to wait til the kids go to bed to do it. But I'm not trying to stay up til midnight and get up early to get everything ready for her party. The overstimulation is just too much today 😭

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Astronomical lactation consultant bill

I usually do my research but right after giving birth I was so exhausted and in pain, Double checking something like this was not on my radar. I was told by my consultant that she was covered (although now I realize that means not that the treatment is FREE for me, but that insurance will CHIP IN to any degree, as low as $1). Also- I’m getting billed for 7 visits, I only visited 4, but you get billed and baby also gets billed. I was told to bring my baby with me, she slept the whole time every visit since she doesn’t latch I only pumped. SIX THOUSAND FREAKING DOLLARS for a lady to spend a few hours to pump is preposterous. I’m so pissed. Mechanics and lineman work WAY harder and don’t make that much. WTF.

5 yo stuck on potty training last step

My daughter has been resistant to potty training her whole life. She has been potty trained #1 for 2 years. We are going number 2 on the toilet with a giant hole in the pull up. She has done this successfully for 4 weeks but won’t take the next step to just ditch the pull up. We are feeling deflated that we can’t get over this final small step. Any ideas? Or is this just a waiting game? She is 5 years and 3 months. Ugh.

Are we insane?

LO is six months and we wanna start trying for baby nr two. Is that insane? For context, we are both in our early 30s and want to have 3 kids ideally. It took almost 3 years for us to get our first (and so far only) baby because of some undiscovered medical issues. Now that that's under control we should have the same chances of getting pregnant as other healthy couples. Parents with two close together, would you recommend it?