Parenting Contents Archive

A Karen honked at me while trying to load my baby and stubborn stroller into the trunk

This was my first encounter with a true Karen. I finished groceries. It was warm out, so the car was warm too. I loaded the baby into the car with the door open to let cooler air in and loaded the groceries and stroller into the trunk. The stroller was stubborn to collapse so it took me 2-3 minutes. A loud honk startled me because Karen wanted the parking spot to my right and couldn’t get into it because of the door being open and me struggling with the stroller. It took everything in me not to kick her car lol! I took my sweet time finally getting it collapsed and loaded. Anyways….

How could you have only one child? Why make your child grow up so lonely?

These are the things I keep hearing from family. I have expressed many times since my kid was born that I believe we will be one and done. My husband and I are content and happy with that choice, although nothing permanent has been done in case we change our minds. What are your thoughts on this? People keep trying to make us feel guilty and like our son won’t have a good childhood being an only child. We’ve gotten many comments saying, “how could you do that to him?” Or “he’s not going to have anyone to play with!” Is it selfish of us to make that decision? We intended on having more but after having him we both felt it was right just being us three. Im just really starting to feel guilty. I want the best for my son, I really do. The thought of him not having a good childhood due to my selfishness is a horrible feeling.

Please help me feel better about not throwing a first birthday “party”

I’m not planning on throwing a big 1 year birthday bash. Just lunch with family. Please help me feel better about it. I know it’s just unnecessary mom guilt making me feel bad, but I can relate to so few other mom’s about being more low-key with celebrations at this age. I’d love to be the type of mom that throws a fun themed birthday full of special touches and diy decor, but I find planning for parties stressful and I’d rather be able to enjoy myself. Everyone keeps asking what I’m going to do and I pretty much plan on doing nothing. I can see there excitement deflate when I tell them. Yes, I want to celebrate making it to a year and take a moment to reflect with friends and family. But I also need to focus on getting her ready for daycare and getting me ready to go back to work. Plus she has a number of intolerances, so unless I can find the perfect recipe - neither of us are having cake. Basically, there’s just not enough hours in the day for all my ambitions.

Milk Queens

Seeing all these videos and posts about stored up frozen milk, and the pitcher method and just these copious amounts of tiddy milk, makes me feel like I'm a dry, slacking boob failure. Like... am I the only one just breastfeeding at having like 6oz in the fridge total, and only pumping twice a day?

How to stop worrying about something happening to your baby?

TW: mention of infant death - I’m being quite consumed by this. I keep imagining scenarios where bad things could happen to him and playing it over and over in my mind. I am so scared of something happening to him, if I ever lost him or he was badly hurt I would not be able to go on. I read a terrible post on FB from a woman who suddenly and unexpectedly lost her son, with many people in the comments sharing the experience. It’s eating me alive and I’m watching him sleep because I’m so terrified, I simply couldn’t live without him. I have PPA yes and I’ve tried meds but I hated them (I felt a bit manic). I want to stop worrying but I also don’t because I feel like my worry is protecting him to a certain extent? Thank you 🙏

Anyone else tired of being invalidated with the phrase “he’s just a toddler!!!”

Every time I try to express how exhausted I am and how hyperactive and exhausting and mischievous my two year old can be everyone (including my child’s father) acts like I am absolutely out of my mind and they respond with “HE’S JUST A TODDLER!!!!” No shit. Of course he’s a toddler, but some toddlers are more well behaved than others and some are calmer. And him being a toddler does not take away the mental exhaustion that comes with caring for him and trying to make sure he doesn’t kill himself. I’m so sick of hearing it and people acting like I’m bat shit crazy for complaining or being tired. It’s ridiculous. They act like we have no right to complain ever simply because they’re toddlers and “it’s just what they do!”. Omfg.

Now that summer is here for some of us...

Wanted to share my yearly PSA. Be careful of the plastic spoons given out at ice cream places like Dairy Queen or at picnics. My little one had some ice cream last year at DQ and chomped down on the hard plastic breaking a piece of the plastic spoon off and almost into her throat. My ninja like reflexes were able to retrieve the sharp piece of plastic thank God. We now carry travel toddler silverware in our bag wherever we go. Have a safe and happy ice cream eating summer.

Do audio recordings have the same effect as reading?

I’m going to preface this with of course I do actually read to my baby. But her tolerance for picture books is maybe 2 minutes, then she gets bored. I read that it’s about reading anything, it’s about the sound of your voice - so in theory I could sit next to my baby and read the instruction manual for my dishwasher and it would do the same. But what about audio recordings ? Could I just put a (kid friendly) podcast on to achieve the same thing or is it being an in person voice a factor?

I think it's time to potty train my 20month old

She pulled her diaper aside to let a turn out before I knew she had a poo and smashed it into the carpet and got it all over her feet and legs. That was a fun mess to clean.

Anybody craving to be pregnant again but don’t want anymore kids ?

Idk if this is just me but I hear all about people pregnant with their second and I WISH I was pregnant, but I don’t want a second. Me and fiancé are one and done and know for sure we’re done, I just want to be pregnant again :(

Leaving baby with grandma for 2 months.

Im having difficult time deciding to leave my 2 y.o son with his grandma for 2 months or put him in day care for this period? My son is very spoiled kid, i still breastfeeding him (he is 1.9 y.o now) and have never been separated from him for more than 3 hours. Until now we had a nanny, my husband took paternity, i took maternity for 6 months, his grandma came and took care of him for 6 months. The problem that our grandma lives in other country and she came to us in US on touristic visa, which allow her to stay in US for 6 months in a row, she left us in may, and can come back in November for another 6 months. I have scheduled vacation in September and going to our home country for 1 month, i was thinking to bring my son to his grandma and left him there for 2 months until november and she can bring him back at that time. Do you think it is too selfish? Or put him in daycare for 2 months while we are waiting grandma to return?

Favorite sleep sacks/gowns?

Just had my baby on 6/16. She is obsessed with having her hands in her face and hates being swaddled to sleep. She is so much happier in a sleep gown. We have a few from Carter’s but they are really hard to get her in and out of. She’s really small, so they are kind of both too big and small - getting them over her head and down her body when her arms are so tiny and don’t fill the sleeves is tough…she’s basically premie size. Recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Correct response to tantrums?

My almost ten month old has started throwing little tantrums (throwing herself down, kicking, trying to push herself out of my arms while being carried) Sometimes it's because I'm redirecting her away from something and sometimes it's for reasons unknown. I'm just wanting to know what the best approach is to help her start learning to regulate or gain some control of her emotions. I generally put a hand on her tummy and softly tell her it's okay which sometimes helps but I'm not sure if this is the right approach. Personal anecdotes also welcome.

I’m bored, help!!

One thing no one really ever tells you about having a newborn is that it’s damn boring. There’s no one I’d rather be holed up with than my husband, but he’s an angel and does pretty much the entire night shift so he usually sleeps from 11am to 3-4pm and I die of boredom in that time. We’ve taken two park walks with our 2 week old this past week, but it seems like that’s all there is to do. He spits up a lot so I stress about moving him around and I don’t want to bring him to any events until he’s had his 2 month shots. Plus it’s just super inconvenient to take a baby anywhere when they need to eat every 2-3 hours (we exclusively formula feed, so I can’t just pop the boob out whenever). Currently my boredom coping involves endless reddit and internet scrolling, eating too many Doritos, and rewatching Big Bang Theory all the way through for the tenth time. How do you cope with the newborn boredom??

Does this ever become “enjoyable”???

Does being a parent ever become enjoyable? Or is it constant exhaustion? Currently 5 month old baby and I am beat to the ground. Still sleepless and tired and just not enjoying this. My marriage is blah - we feel more like roommates and co workers than a couple. Just soooo tired and she’s only 5 months…