Parenting Contents Archive

Truly https://t.co/S6kxYzxVc4

So sick of ‘gentle parenting’ methods

I don’t have time in the morning to ask my son what he is ‘feeling’ while throwing a tantrum for having to go to school. I’ve asked him before, it only stalls time. He screams ‘I don’t wan’t to go to school!’. That’s what he is feeling. He’d rather watch his favorite cartoons and play with dinosaurs. It’s four hours dude, he acts like I’m sending him away to boarding school. Sometimes feelings don’t matter. For everyone. Humans have to get up in the morning and attend to responsibilities. We can discuss feelings later, but for now I have to get out the damn door. (Feelings usually later: I loved school today!)

It’s been an eventful 24 hours

Anyone else nervous or cautious about having a big 1 year old birthday (or any birthday) because of the pandemic? How did you celebrate 1 year old?

Hi, I am new mom to a 9 month old. I wanted to have am outdoor party for my baby and invite people who have not seen her yet, but I'm nervous about the delta variant. My baby shower was outdoors in Sept 2020 and I only invited 10 people and we all wore masks and stayed 6 feet apart. I felt safe. As I start to add names to the list, I'm feeling more and more nervous and almost want to cancel it and have a small thing with just my parents. I just don't want anyone to pass anything to anyone, especially since little kids can't be vaccinated. And I don't want anyone to feel jealous they weren't invited, like if I voted my sibling but not my partner's sibling and families. How have you guys chosen to deal with this? (Also, I'm a covid long hauler from catching covid from my partner 3 weeks postpartum, so I am very intimidated by this illness. I just now started to feel 50% better.) Thanks for feedback!

Trying to motivate my shameful underproducing right boob.

How things progress as you have more kids

1 kid: You’ll be surprised at what you are able to do to keep a kid alive. 2 kids: You’ll be surprised at what you are able to do *one handed* to keep your kids alive. 3 kids: You’ll be surprised at what you don’t actually need to do to keep your kids alive.

Despair and Despondency

Delta is surging, we're closing down socially again, the sky is a hazy orange hue form wildfire smoke so we can't go outside, my LO's 2nd birthday is next week and he's still gotten to do so very little, and meanwhile, I'm reading about gulf stream collapse and all the rest of it. I know COVID isn't going anywhere, and if anything worse is coming with Lambda or whatever is next. I feel like sobbing all the time. What does the future hold for him? A never ending cycle of climate and social collapse? I don't want my face to be locked in this sad, concerned mask I feel like I'm wearing all the time. I try to convince myself it will get better, but my faith in that is slipping. I just want to take my son to the park and let him make friends.

4yo says he’s going kill himself! Alarming or drama queen?

My 4yo tends to be a bit temperamental. I noticed he’s different from his friends because his meltdowns don’t lean towards violence or aggression but sadness and despair. Today, I asked him to clean his toys before he could watch a TV show. He dropped to his knees and threw his head back, then started wailing “but whyyyyy” while waving his fists at the sky. Standard drama queen behavior. But then he said something that made my heart stop. “I am angry and if you make me angry one more time, I will kill me!” What in the ever-loving f—-?!?!?! I can say with certainty that my partner and I never talk like this or have ever displayed behavior like this for him to model. We looked at each other with out mouths agape and told him to never say that again. I am really concerned and upset right now. I had depressive tendencies as a teen and young adult and I wonder if he inherited this from me. Or am I overthinking it and can I just chalk it up to him being over dramatic?! Thoughts?

Looking for what to get ready for myself and partner for postpartum

What are your must haves for postpartum for you and your partner? What do you wish you had ready at home? *Other than meals I’m due in October and have finished up my registry for things for the little bean. What are things I need for myself (for me to buy and for me to ask for). Do I need witch hazel pads (do I make them)? Adult diapers? Nursing bras? Favorite nipple balm (do I need nipple balm?) Peri bottle? Ice packs? Things I wouldn’t think of as a FTM? Also what can I get to support my non birthing partner? I hate leaving him out of the equation!!!! I am scheduled to have a home birth so any advice for things I won’t get because I’m hoping to avoid going to the hospital. But I also want to be realistic and I will still be packing a hospital bag with supplies in case of an emergency c-section. So what do you all recommend for preparing for that as well?

Worst day yet

I've been up since 3:45 first with baby then with toddler. Baby has suddenly stopped sleeping through the night (4 months) Toddler woke up sick. Went to the store for school supplies and the baby literally flooded her car seat with poop....toddlers in quiet.time and I just want to set the baby down for her but she won't have it. I feel like I've somehow ruined her sleep in a matter of a week. Help!

Today is the final day of robotics camp and I can’t wait to see my daughter’s work

For the past week, she’s been learning about engineering, coding and programming. Her mother’s child through and through. She has been working diligently on her robot, which she has declined to let me, my wife or our two younger daughters see. Today is the last day of robotics camp and today is the “final showdown” (my daughter’s words) where we get to see whose bot is the strongest and smartest and I can’t wait to see what she’s come up with. Secretly hoping her bot annihilates the competition, but also just happy that she’s found something that she’s passionate about.

How do you cope with the amount of food wasted during meal times?

We have a 9mo old who absolutely LOVES to eat and loves exploring all her foods, however, there is always such a giant mess and so much food wasted. Wether it’s on the wall, the floor, in her lap, etc, I can’t stand cleaning it up afterwords and looking at the pile of food she could’ve eaten or we could’ve put in the fridge for later. I grew up getting yelled at for not finishing all of my food even if I was at the point of throwing up so I’m sure that’s part of it but how do you guys deal with it? Is there a way to save any of it? Once it hits the floor it’s for the dogs or the trash can and I try to show her she dropped food in her bib (which she still eats or throws). We still portion out her food but we take into account how much she’ll drop or throw so we always give her a little extra just in case and it’s not like she isn’t hungry because she eats a good 3/4 of it but once you give 3-4 meals a day on top of snacks it adds up. Any advice?

What did you say 🙃

This is a small complaint in the grand scheme of things but I needed to vent... My husband was away on a stag weekend last week and the wedding weekend is in a few weeks. I'm home with baby boy both times. That's OK, but I'm looking forward to a break in return at some point. We're meeting friends at a restaurant tomorrow for dinner. It would be nice to walk there, says I. Yes, agrees my husband, otherwise you wouldn't be able to have a drink because You'd Have To Drive *Crickets* *Tumbleweed* ...what The instant he said it he could tell he'd made a mistake. He's generally helpful but sometimes I just don't know what he is thinking!! And no I don't need to have a glass of wine but if one of us is going to, I had thought it would be me this time, that's all.

I got into the masters program I applied for!

I'm going back to school for myself and to better my family. Hopefully this will open doors. And not real fake doors 🤣

Am I crazy?

So my 3.5 year old is in preschool where, despite my best effort, he just doesn’t wear a mask. They’re not required and so the teacher doesn’t push it. No preschool or daycare in my entire surrounding area does. But my husband and I can’t afford to quit our jobs and we’re just trying our best. So even with kiddo being maskless 40 hours a week, we still have chosen to limit his outings on evenings and weekends. No crowded kids places, no Walmart or anything like that. Where we do go, he wears a mask. My family thinks this is absolutely bonkers. To them, because of the school situation we shouldn’t have any other restrictions and shouldn’t make him wear a mask. But to me, I feel like I have a responsibility as a parent to limit risks *where I reasonably can* and it’s not an all or nothing. Is this rational thinking or am I really just crazy?