Parenting Contents Archive

School board just voted in favor of 4 day school week for next year.

They made the decision on behalf of the teachers and students. Fridays will be a half-day “support day” for students who need extra support, but it’s optional. The decision was heavily impacted by teachers frustration with student athlete’s and having to always do make up work for missed Fridays. They said parents shouldn’t rely on school as a “daycare”. So I’ll be finding alternative places for my 9 and 5 year old to go on Fridays next year. We have no family or real friend circle here. I used to work from home but am now required to be in the office M-F. I also have a child under 2, his daycare can likely take my 5 year old on Fridays at an additional expense. My 9 year old can stay home and play video games all day and turn his brain to mush. I am just frustrated. I would be elated if I were a student, but as a parent in the work force, this is tough. There’s nothing we can do about it, just needed to vent.

Anyone else think you should be able to drink in the school pick up line?

I HATE school pick up. People will drive the wrong way, on a one way street just to cut in line ahead of those of us who have been waiting 45 min or more in line because the school line is so nuts you have to get there THAT early. People will ignore basic etiquette and rules of the road because they're SO special the rules shouldn't apply to them. I've witness these asshats be corrected by the school administration, teachers, aides, the PRINCIPAL even and all they do is yell and cuss and claim its their "right". (I live in backwater Trump country and it shows). I DREAD pickup. I wish it was socially acceptable and legal for me to have a hard seltzer while dealing with this shit.

father's day gift for my husband lmao

bottle holding

My 4mo old has been holding his bottles the past week. awesome right!!!! I only had found out on accident that he can do this. I noticed he was taking the bottle in and out of his mouth with his own hands while i was feeding him so i was playing around and handed it to him the next day to see what he would do. And he fed himself the whole feeding! Now I do have to reposition his hands sometimes, i don’t want him to get air. But online EVERYWHERE says babies don’t have the motor function to do this until 6-8mo Should i still let him feed himself? should i continue doing it myself? I still do feed him especially at night. Just wondering.

Sleep Deprivation after 1

Does anyone have any advice on pulling oneself out from long term sleep deprivation? LO just turned 1, sleeps through most nights, and I usually can give myself 7-9 hours of sleep opportunity. But I can’t seem to catch up. I’m so mentally foggy, detached, and forgetful and it seems like it’s getting worse, not better, as time goes on. I’m finding lots of tips for sleep deprivation in the first 3-6 months, but nothing about the slow grind that goes forever. Tell me this gets better? Or how you made it better?

Current status:

This is so ridiculous I’m sure but I thought it was funny/cute and wanted to share….

Soooooo I am a huge nerd and saw a long while back this silly trend of putting 3 of the starter pokémon under a box (or whatever) and having your infant pick one. Supposedly, most babies picked the same one they picked the first time every time. So I HAD to do it once I had a baby and he was old enough. It was Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. My husband and I are both team valor and love fire type and Charmander was always our starter. What’s also funny is we are both fire signs. WELL, my son is a water sign and wouldn’t you know, he chose Squirtle!!! I don’t put a huge amount of stock in astrology (but I do find it interesting) but this was just too funny to me and I wanted to share. ^^^I’m ^^^an ^^^dork ^^^I ^^^know ^^^don’t ^^^mind ^^^me

Husband pulled 5 year old by collar

My five year old spilled a drink in a restaurant after my husband had warned him to be careful with it. My husband yanked him out of his chair by the collar to talk to him. My son cried and grabbed his throat. This is not remotely okay with me and I am very disturbed, And my husband is insisting it is not a problem and not abusive and that I am just too sensitive. Can you all please give me a reality check here?

Backpack ban.

So today our school district banned backpacks for all students. There’s been multiple guns confiscated from backpacks of elementary and middle school kids since the beginning of the year. I can appreciate the difficult decision of the school board but I’m left feeling really furious that these kids are being failed on so many levels. Any tips for a first grader keeping track of all their crap without a backpack? We’ve been given zero guidance on what is permitted. I’m probably going to put her stuff in a plastic grocery bag and call it a day.

Lividdd!! Grandmother gave my 7 week old baby food

**Not seeking medical advice just ranting** I forgive her, she meant well, but I'm still angry. She gave my baby grape juice and mashed up pinto beans like a homemade refried bean. My family is from Central America and it's normal there, she didn't intentionally go over my head or try to harm baby, it's honestly my bad for not clarifying that I only want her on my breastmilk and formula. I don't want to spend the time she's her visiting angry at her so please save any comments regarding how I should respond to her. I already told her I was upset. She won't do it again. An ER trip seems very excessive but if there's a choking risk or something we will go, I just don't know if this is super serious or something I should just keep an eye on for a few hours. Waiting on a call from her pediatrician's nurse now. Just wanted to vent somewhere. Also I was robbed of giving her her first foods in a few months :(

My son just started holding my hand

It's been a tough 15 months adjusting to motherhood to say the least. Everything from a tricky pregnancy, traumatic birth, breastfeeding challenges, PPA and PPD, lack of family support, saying goodbye to a career and shifts in friendships have all been factors. Life has been nonstop chaos. You guys know what I'm talking about. It's relentless. But...today my little guy wanted to hold my hand as he walked around the house. For no particular reason...he just wanted to hold my hand. I can't even begin to explain how much my heart grew today. 😍

Nightmare planning camping trip

What was originally supposed to just be a cute little family camping trip has now turned into a fucking nightmare. My husband, without asking me before hand, invited his Dad and step mom and his sister's large family. He expects me to plan and execute an entire extended family vacation. He does NO planning. He doesn't have the fucking mental capacity to plan and make reservations. I am furious right now. I'll be damned if I fuck up an entire extended family fucking vacation. I am not even used to planning a get away for our family let alone a large group. I always fuck up some way or another. It's different when its just my family. I'm thinking about cancelling the entire trip now.

Comfort Objects

I'm debating introducing comfort objects after my son turns one year old. I'm not sure it's worth the problems of losing it etc. He uses a pacifier. We put him in his crib when he is sleepy after a bottle. He sleeps through the night about 85% of the time. When he wakes for a bottle and a change he goes right back to sleep. Do comfort objects actually help?

Advice on optimizing newborn care?

Hi everyone! I'm looking for advice from people who consider themselves super efficient. Can you please share your advice on how to optimize caring for the newborn, especially at the very beginning? We plan to bottle feed because we both work from home and will have to be working in some capacity pretty much almost immediately after the baby gets home but our work is very flexible. I wouldn't worry about frozen food as dinner never takes longer than 15 minutes for us to make. I'm not personally a fan of approaches that involve holding your baby all the time and entertaining them, etc. I'm ok with letting the baby sleep by himself or play on a mat as long as he's fine and not crying. I just want to get into a flow that works for all of us. Does anyone have any useful tips that worked for them?

Why don’t people respect naps!

Even people with kids, it’s like they have forgotten how hard it is when your child misses a nap, how the routine is thrown out of the window, the day becomes fucked, the night then becomes fucked, everything is harder and all because they are too dumb to reason with or have a basic understanding of other people’s parenting. Please tell me I’m not alone feeling this way 🤦‍♀️