Parenting Contents Archive

Telling child dad died by suicide

Does anyone have any insight on how to tell a 12 year old her dad took his own life and is now gone. It happened on her birthday. She loved him so so much and he loved her so much - no matter what she will be absolutely shattered. Do I tell her it was a suicide? Please help. How do I get her through this.

Rest of the family can’t stand that we don’t want to do anything for holidays

Husband and I just had a baby last year and our immediate families can’t take that we are happy spending time at home just us and our baby. It feels like every time a holiday comes around, we’re expected to go every where and see everyone but we have strove to stay home since having a kid for several reasons; mainly time, money, and energy. And I hear it in the back of my head every time too - if you don’t go you will regret it - some day they’ll be gone or some day you’ll miss them or some day they’ll stop inviting you all together. But I’m just so tired. Especially when I don’t feel like I can be myself around other people like I can be with my own family. It feels like I’m at work and I have to pretend to be happy around them. We want our kid to know our families but to be honest, I don’t care if she gets to know them if it means she will also be miserable around them like I am. Cheers and Happy Boom Boom Day folks

I just want to matter as much as everyone else does for once.

That’s it. When I was a kid I never mattered as much as the others, when I got married I didn’t matter as much as the others (seriously not even my wedding was my own day. It was all about making others happy first to a disgusting extent and I’m still traumatized), and now that I have kids I DEFINITELY don’t matter at all. Good thing I grew up used it, right? So happy holiday weekend bromos. I hope your workload in order to keep the family running is only a little more than usual while everyone else has fun and we don’t matter. F us for “chOoSiNg tO bE pArEnTs”, right? This is my own content. I do not consent for it to be used anywhere.

Fearful of baby led weaning

I feel like there is so much pressure to do baby led weaning, and I’m not sure I can do it. I’ve done the research. Watched gagging videos, downloaded solid starts app, and I know what to do if he chokes. My question, did anyone stick to puréed foods and have success?

Parental micro advice

What is one piece of advice that your parents gave you, that isn’t big life advice, but none the less you’ve never forgotten? Just curious of the answers. I’ll go first…. Never leave home without underwear on.

Lost and Confused

Okay so im 23 and my “so” is 25. We have 2 kids together. I used to have a drinking problem so he left us to go live with his friend. Many Months later we live together again now at his moms. We started arguing over a simple poopy diaper change. So when i brought up all the weeks he went without doing a single diaper change or anything for the boys, he yelled at me “whos fault is that? this is why i left you!” I want a divorce and to move out back in with my parents (who are emotionally abusive but its toned down a lot)

Sitting at home alone with my toddler on the holiday.

I really don't understand why everyone and their brother has to set off fireworks daily leading up to 4th of July and New Years. My toddler (3M) is super sensitive to loud noise and all the booms really scare him. Friends invited my family over for the holiday, but I ended up not going because the surrounding festivities kept my son up all night and it's not any better today. I literally am sitting at home, just me and my toddler. My whole day is too soothe him while fireworks are going off continuously. I feel like I want to cry because I can't go be with my family. Why can't these people leave the fireworks to the professionals and have some empathy for those who have sound sensitivity? Also, I do have ear muffs for my son but he hates wearing them and won't keep them on. He doesn't like the pressure on his head. It's the same with ear plugs. He'll pull them out instantly. The only thing that works is my hands covering his ears, which wouldn't be feasible out of the house.

Did anyone else’s hit three and turn exhausting?

It’s not about destruction or energy. She’s not destructive and is relatively chill. However, EVERYTHING is suddenly an argument, makes her cry, scream, or tantrum. This is gonna be a great year. I know it’s natural, but DAMN.

Do grandparents REALLY love their grandkids more than their own kids?

I’m not a grandparent but i’ve always heard people say that “there’s no love like a grandparents love for their grandchildren”. Is it because a child is the most important thing to a parent and grandparents know how important their grandchildren are to their own kids? (I’m probably not explaining this the best way). I’m asking because I’ve always wondered. And I can’t imagine loving anything in this world more than I love my two boys.

Finding it difficult to settle my baby

Any tips on how to settle a baby when I’ve tried everything 🥲 he’s colic which could probably be the reason he’s unsettled most of the time when he’s awake but I’m struggling to calm him down atm 🥲 he’s 5 weeks old

Donor that I used has over 100+ kids. Where do I even begin?

Initially my donor said he was helping out a few women. This was before he became popular. Now he has over 100+ children and the reality is setting in how this can potentially turn into chaos in the future. When, how do I even explain this to her? I know there are billions of people in the world but I still think it’s a wise decision that she knows. I was not planning on telling her she was donor conceived, I was going to use the “I had a one night stand” excuse but that has to go right of the window now. I was naive and eager to conceive that I did not even think these things through. As far as the donor, his numbers just keep going up. I doubt he is going to stop (It’s apparent that this is an ego thing for him currently) anytime soon and his children are literally spread out all over the globe so relocating isn’t even a guaranteed option. Any advice will be helpful. Throwaway for obvious reasons.

What budgeting & household org apps are you using?

Would love to hear how you’re all staying on top of things like budget & expenses, household things, etc. Is there a particular productivity and/or budgeting app you use? Any you tried and didn’t like?

I just really really hate July

It’s only four days into the month and I’m already done with July. July is just a shitty month for me overall but it’s just hitting hard this year. The anniversaries of my mom and grandpa’s deaths are near the end of the month so I have the looming reminder that two of the biggest influences in my life never got to meet my daughter and it fucking hurts. On top of that my grandma isn’t doing good and I’m so scared I’m going to be 3/3 when it comes to people I love dying in July. I’m just so emotional drained already. I know I probably need therapy but I can’t afford it with insurance nor do I have the time to go so I guess I’m just going to hide in my sad corner if anyone needs me.

16w sleeping on his side

I understand i have severe anxiety about SIDs, but how did you stop worrying that baby will suffocate? Since a few weeks ago, my baby has started to learn how to roll. He is pretty successful with very little assistance now. He can sleep unswaddled, but i still swaddle him with his arms out because we have the ac on. I don't think it's an issue since he has free access to his arms. He sleeps in the pack and play without any issues. He can independently fall asleep at night most of the time and right now we're working on independent naps. Usually once he falls asleep, i put him down for naps. These are usually short and last only 20-30 mins, but lately, he's been rolling onto his side to soothe himself back to sleep. It makes me worried. I guess I'm just complaining and looking for assurance that everything will be fine. Did this happen to you too?

10 month old just rolls everywhere.

My 10mo is late to crawling. He can basically only crawl backwards and gets frustrated that he is getting further from his toys. His solution? Just roll there! We are now at the point where whenever I put him on his tummy to practice crawling, he just rolls over immediately. Then rolls across the room. He isn't pulling himself up yet but loooooves to stand when he can. He's really good at holding onto something with one hand and standing. I had him in PT since he was 6 months old (he had a flat head and was late rolling, but PT said his issues are more motivational than physical). We were working on crawling but we just moved to a new state a few weeks ago and are waiting for a new PT evaluation. I'm worried he won't be crawling or pulling up by a year. Every time I try to put him on his knees, he kind of sploots his legs out and refused to bend at his hip. Has anyone else been through something similar???