Parenting Contents Archive

Today's personal parental hell

I have twins(2y) that are so sick right now from their first experience with the flu. Coming out of both ends at the speed of light, both are miserable of course. My exhausted mommy brain decided that they could use a bath to relax, I thought the warm water would help soothe their tummies. They didn't barf or poo for like a hour or so I figured I was in the clear for a while. I was not. Boy number 1 was in the bath tub splashing happily, and so I turned around to grab boy number 2 so they could bath together. When I picked up B#2 I must have squeezed his tummy too hard because he puked all over the vanity, and the same time he pooped all over me and the floor. The smell hit me almost immediately and I ended up barfing on him and the floor, then as if that wasn't the worst possible situation; B#1 puked in the bath water followed by him also pooping. We are all screaming at this point 😮‍💨 Everyone is cleaned up and napping now, I'm not cut out for this haha

Husband bought a 4 wheeler without asking me

I came home from work yesterday to a $12,500 brand new 4 wheeler in my driveway. I’m so angry that my husband spent this money that we don’t have on a toy for himself. We have a 5 year old and a 9 month old. I just paid off my car starter working a full time job on top of my part time one while also keeping my youngest out of daycare at home with me while I work. Just as I finally felt like we were able to save money to buy a home or invest in our future he blew $12,500 without my knowledge. I’m so angry. I hate him, what’s my next move?

What birthday party games work best?

7 year old birthday party coming up and planning on inviting school friends for the first time. What are games that are done At birthdays that kids actually enjoy?

Is home prepped food better than jarred baby food?

So I keep seeing this stuff about heavy metals in baby food and autism and bla bla bla. Apparently baby food has heavy metal, maybe? I don’t know the truth. But, I was thinking… is it better to home prep food? I am not sure that store bought items are any better, maybe even worse. Like, what I should really do if I want to make it healthy and organic is to grow my own food at my own organic garden (that I don’t have). Then sure it will be nice. But groceries in stores can have all kinds of heavy mentals and pesticides in them and maybe no better if not worse than jarred baby food. What do you guys think?

Parents With Childhood Trauma, What Things Did You Do Differently For Your Child?

I’ll go first: 1) If I have had a bad day for whatever reason or am just in my feels about something, I make sure I explicitly state that to my child (and spouse). Additionally, I make sure that they know it is not their fault, but due to [insert reason]. Finally, I make sure that I communicate the fact that I need some alone time to process my feelings so that I don’t accidentally take them out on others. 2) I let my child see that I am open to change my mind about decisions. Whether punishment or something else, I reserve the right to change my mind and I communicate that to my child. (Example: I once grounded my child from electronics for a week, but about 10 minutes later realized that was way too harsh for the “crime”. Thus, I changed to no electronics for the remainder of the day and reduced usage for the rest of that week). Communication is, obviously, very important to me. Meanwhile, I want my child to learn that I am not perfect and in no way infallible.

May 12 - June 12 - July 4 - Spread the word!

What do I NEED after birth

So I'm only 12 weeks and awaiting my NIPT results and if everything goes well I want to start preparing items for when the baby arrives. This was unplanned (but wonderful) and my first time, so can you give me some advice on what I will need so I can filter out all of the unnecessary bits and pieces that are advertised. Also any tips on what I will need in my hospital bag? ​ Thank you in advance

Any advice for kids with anxiety

I think my daughter (5 turning 6 soon) is having some anxiety. She is constantly complaining about her belly hurting for a while now, which I think is anxiety. I’ve taken her to the doctor, she eats lots of healthy foods and drinks lots of water. Doesn’t eat much junk. She is very smart, very bright, and definitely pays attention to the world around her and we’ve been having some tough times at home so that doesn’t help. Anxiety and ADHD runs with both me and her dad. Any advice is welcome. Thank you.

Daycare positive stories

I have so much mom guilt with sending my little one to daycare in 2 weeks. My maternity leave is up and it’s time for me to go back to work. I work from home and so does my husband but both of our jobs require a lot of attention and meetings almost all day long off and on. So we decided to send our little guy to daycare 3 days a week and then he will be with us on our not so busy days. I feel so awful about this decision. All the new moms around me are stay at home moms or are taking a year off. I financially can’t do that. I need to work and I also like to create a nice savings for us. Any positive stories??? I just feel terrible. I’m going to miss him so much.

How does it look?

Car Talk: 3 under 5 - Toyota Sienna or Ford Expedition Max

I’ve been belaboring this decision for weeks and I.cannot.decide. I have a 5 year old boy, 3 year old girl, and 4 month old baby girl. Currently in a 7-passenger Telluride and it’s SQUISHY. My oldest is in the 3rd row and in his booster he has no legroom. My 3 year old is always being a punk and not letting him pass through during school pick up. The stroller barely fits in the back with the third row up. Looking for an 8-passenger something that has easy third row access when car seats are in the 2nd row bench. We’ve narrowed it down to a Sienna (minivan) or Expedition (SUV). Husband wants the extended wheelbase Max version of the expedition but every time I see a sienna, that sliding door just seems ideal. They’re both AWD and about the same price bc we’re looking at getting pre-owned. Help me out with pros/cons/opinions/rants/whatever. What would you get?

How many hours of sleep do you get?

I guess i'm curious to know how common/uncommon our experience is. I (28F) am a FTM to a 6-week old baby boy. I am on maternity leave for 13 months (I live in Canada) and my husband works from home (he took 5 weeks and will be taking 2 months in the summer + 1 month during the winter). Our baby is EFF (EBF first 4 weeks, but had to stop for a variety of reasons). We put him down around 9:30 pm, he wakes up between 2:00 and 3:00 am, and then between 6:00 and 7:00 am. I'll get up for the feeds, and my husband will take him from 7:00 to 9:00 am so I can sleep in. So I get anywhere between 6 and 9 hours of sleep, and my husband gets around 8-9 hours. What's your experience like?

What are hobbies that can get me out of the house?

Hello, I work a full time job, and have a 4 year old. My husband thinks I should get some hobbies since he regularly goes out with hus friends. I don't have any friends so I was wondering if you all had any suggestions on some hobbies or activities that you regularly do that get you out of the house alone?

How much biting is too much?

I’m a new parent and don’t have a bunch of people in my circle with kids so I am a little uneducated on what norms are. But my almost 1.5yo has been bitten at daycare 3 times this week, is that normal or is 3x in a week on the high end? I am beginning to have some concerns but don’t want to overreact

Looking for tips to optimise having a newborn

What the title says. Like focusing on 1) getting a daycare that's as close to my home as possible, 2) potentially getting headphones to block out the majority of sound so that the crying stresses me out less, 3) lots of freezer food during the first few months, 4) powdered milk I'm just looking for useful tips that are a bit out of the norm that I can consider, given that we have no family help for taking care of the baby. Ways to destress or optimise. Thank you!!