Parenting Contents Archive

How would you feel if your kid got invited to a half birthday party?

My kiddo shares their birthday with Thanksgiving. Most people are traveling or have family plans around that time. I’d still like to do something small and special with family on their real birthday but throw the birthday party with lots of kids on their half birthday. But it is kind of weird. How would you feel if your kid was invited to a half birthday party?

Am I the asshole for not letting a 16 year old drive a 6 year old around?

Messy divorce. Ex-husband has two kids from previous marriage. One is 16 and brand new behind the wheel. He wants her to pick up our 6 year old son. I told him I wasn't comfortable with that and would be happy to meet him or have my folks meet him at a convienent location. Now he's pissed and saying I am being unreasonable. Plus custody agreement says responsible adult for transportation. Am I being unfair here?

Got called a “fat, ugly bitch” today

Title is the tldr. Driving and a car to my left starts merging into my car. I beep and the dude moved back into his lane and at the next light he pulls up and says, “look at you, you fat ugly bitch!” And pulls away. I didn’t have a snappy comeback or anything. I just drove on when the light turned green. Idk why I posted this. I guess because after a full day of not worrying about my body, I was suddenly attacked over it. I got up this morning, got my kids dressed and breakfast and took them to daycare, went to the shelter for young mothers where I work and supported young moms as they got jobs, went to the dmv, went to work, made birth plans with empowerment, helped wash their infant, did what I could to support these ladies that I love so they can be the moms they hope to become. But at the end of the day, I’m just a fat ugly bitch.

Shoutout to my partner, he’s just the best. Hi honey, if you see this.

Infant exposure to non-vaccinated caregivers?

I’m due with my second child in November. We are interviewing nannies and have come across several highly qualified candidates (experience wise) who are not vaccinated at all - no Covid, flu, TDAP, MMR, etc. Ideally, whoever we hire would start after our daughter is 8 weeks and has her first round of shots. How protected is she at that point? What does the data say about exposure before and after a newborn has had their vaccines? Is there a length of time after the shots before her immune system can handle exposures better? Any guidance this group has would be very helpful.

Is it OK to leave a 2 month old alone in their room on their play mat for an extended period?

Obviously being monitored on the baby monitor. I had read that it’s important to leave baby alone from time to time to foster independence and learn how to self soothe but uncertain on the length of time? Or if it’s just if they’re not crying/fussing? My husband left our 2 month old on his lovevery play mat because he got summoned into a meeting for work (he’s wfm) and baby was having a gas kicking the attached toys and what not and left him there for 45 minutes making sure he was watching him on the monitor. So I’m wondering what the research says about this. Is that too long to be left alone? His environment is safe and he didn’t fuss or cry at any point. Thanks in advance!

8 yr old birthday party-no parents can stay.

Hey all. Opinions needed. My 8 yr old came home from school today with an invitation for a birthday party. The party is tomorrow. Super late notice if you ask me. And it's at the child's house of course, and it's 3 hours long. Parents are supposed to drop their kids off and come back to pick them up. My wife and I decided because it's a new school year and we aren't familiar with this new friend, we told her no, she can't go. We've never met the parents and we don't know who will be there or not. I've taken her to another one of her friends birthdays last month, but I've met the mother while taking the girls swimming at the indoor pool, plus the party was at an indoor discovery center and I was asked to stay. No problem. Yes they are getting at the age where they want to celebrate with their friends, but she's angry because now she has to stay home. I told her 100% she could go if parents were allowed to stay. Help reassure me that we are still doing the right thing.

What Weird "Hacks" Have You Found for Your Baby?

I'm not asking about generalizable tips/tricks. Just weird things you've discovered about your baby. My daughter almost always poops when you put her in her car seat. Like, 80-90% of the time if she hasn't already pooped twice that day. So if she hasn't pooped for a while, I'll put her in her car seat et voila: poop! We also know to budget time to change her diaper if we're planning to take a car ride. What weird "hacks" have you found for your baby?

Can't put 2 week old down

Just asking if this is normal or there's something we can do to help our little guy sleep on his own in his bassinet during the day. We feed him and he passes out in our arms like an angel and when we try to put him down, he seems to stir awake within a few minutes and fuss to be picked up again. His grandma thinks we're spoiling him by carrying him too much. I don't think we are but itd be nice to take a break ourselves while he's napping. At night he sleeps longer cuz we swaddle him up and he stays put, but we don't want to swaddle him during the day, plus it's hotter during the day anyway. Any advice?

Education policymakers have been obsessed with data-driven accountability — usually with standardized test scores as the key metric. Such accountability tactics need to be reevaluated now as a new school year begins. @IspaLanda @valeriestrauss https://t.co/e7V9t8YhoR

I will never not laugh at this 😂

Has anyone had the new Moderna booster yet? (*bonus for pregnant insight!)

How did you respond? I know it will vary, just trying to gauge general reactions. First time I’ll be receiving a Covid shot while pregnant and wondering if that will have an impact. Background: First vaccine series (Pfizer) I had terrible reactions to both shots (very high fever, body aches, joint pain, extreme fatigue, etc. for days.) First booster (Moderna) was MUCH better for me (sore arm and tired.) *if there is a better sub to post this on please let me know. Thank you!*

After potty training, do you still have accidents?

I think I have a false image of how after potty training is supposed to be like… (like they’re not supposed to have any accidents at all). How old is your kid, how long have they been potty trained, and how many accidents have they had this past week?

3 year old son twirls his hair but ONLY when he’s drinking milk out of a specific cup?

My son is a hair twirler (has been for as long as I can remember) but he only does it when he drinks milk out of our OXO straw cups (the designated milk cups) and occasionally at night before bed. Now he’s able to twirl it into knots (they’re not bad since his hair isn’t long enough) but I’m starting to get concerned that it’s a sign of something. Whenever I bring it to attention, he seems obviously standoffish about it. I’ve never shamed him about it, only ever asked him why he does it. Is this something I should discourage or something underlying that might need addressing? Or is it just a temporary self soothing tick? (I sucked my thumb while sniffing clean towels until I was about 6/7 so I know kids can just be weird about these things)

Looking forward to tuning into the @RTELateLateShow tonight to watch our brilliant ambassador @amyhuberman talk about her lovely new children's book, "The Day I Got Trapped In My Brain". #LateLate