Parenting Contents Archive

Two options

Feeding my baby a bottle on my lap. He pauses. He makes THE face. The unmistakable poop face. I hear it, I smell it. He is done. He starts drinking his bottle again. He has about 10 minutes left of eating. I have two options: A. Go change him so he doesn’t sit in his poopy diaper. B. Let him finish and then change him. I choose A. Was it a mistake, most likely. He is happy as soon as I get the diaper off, but he is VERY annoyed that he isn’t eating. He is flailing as I try to clean off the poop, he gets poop on me, on his feet. Chaos. There was no winning. But gosh I love being his mom.

Is this an overreaction? Would you be upset?

My husband won't make room for me in the garage. We built our house together 5 years ago. I was so excited to be able to park in a garage! We even extended the garage so it can fit 4 cars. Fast forward to now. My husband still refuses to let me park on the garage. He keeps his special cars and his hoard of parts/toys in it. I have 5 kids and being able to park in the garage would be so amazing. I keep asking if he can make room for me...but he won't. I begged him to make room for me when I was preggo with our 5th and then Gave birth in the middle of Winter. I still have no spot to park in the garage. Would you be pissed too?

Those with two kids 4 to 5 years apart - how was/is the dynamic through the years?

Really curious as we have an almost-4 year old and want to start trying for a second child. My daughter is very independent, happy, confident, and I can tell that she really benefits from being an only child. I can see her quiet confidence from not having to share her parents. One of the biggest things I'm worried about is her losing that after our attention and resources are divided, and now she has to question her "position" in our lives. Is there any way to fully preserve what we've built with her even with a new baby? Any success/war stories or advice from parents with 2 kids with this age gap? Due to various circumstances it took us a long time to be ready for a second child. I'm hoping to be able to raise 2 only children if that makes sense :) Thanks.

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PSA about the virtues of the mall

Just a random funny suggestion for any parents who need something to do at 8AM on a Saturday that is safe, free, and lets you have some space to drink coffee. Most malls open the exterior doors very early on Saturdays and Sundays to let senior citizens walk around. The stores are still closed/gated. Paths are wide, so you have a ton of space to roam with a stroller. If you have a toddler, they can pretty much run uninhibited because malls are designed so people can't flippin' leave and have very few stairs etc. And they don't like people falling off the balconies so they tend to not put furniture against the railings. **It's literally a free air conditioned space free from all obstacles that's child proofed. It's magic.** I let my 2 year old run wild and walk at an easy pace with my Starbucks behind him. He loves to window shop lol.

Newborn in public places

My son is 5 weeks old and I really don’t want him to get sick with anything. He hasn’t been inside any public places besides the pediatrician’s office. My life would be logistically a lot easier if I could bring my newborn with me to do errands and shopping. I had an idea of what if I put a fan in his car seat on the stroller when I go inside places to increase the airflow. Would that potentially help? I’m so sleep deprived that I’m really not sure if this is a genius idea or could make things worse lol. Smart parents please let me know what you think. Should I skip the fan and just bring him inside a grocery store because I’m being too cautious? Or stick with my plan of avoiding bringing him inside because I shouldn’t risk someone sick breathing near him? (Btw He’s scheduled to get his shots at 8 weeks but that doesn’t protect him from cold/flu/covid). Thanks!

Thoughts on Short Shorts for school pickup?

I mean they’re not straight up booty shorts, or even spandex. Just high wasted and show a good bit of thigh. I’m a poor single mom and my wardrobe is limited cause of spending most money on bills and daughters clothes… For context I’m the youngest mom at the school (23) and pick my daughter up at a school we commute to 30 minutes away. I don’t wanna wear tight pants all day while I do instacart - I wear comfy cute shorts. But the looks I get from some of the other moms make me wanna turn into a turtle in its shell. Should I just start wearing leggings or let the other moms hate me while it’s still hot in my area? 😭😭😭😭

S/O disagrees on unsupervised child play

My six and half yr old daughter wanted to bike outside unsupervised for a little bit today. I told her okay as long as you stay close and on the sidewalk. My wife doesn't agree with me on unsupervised play as she doesn't trust my daughter to not go on the road or she's worried that she'll fall down and not be able to get up etc. Our neighborhood is quite friendly and we are not on a main road or anything. What do you guys think? And while I strongly believe in unsupervised play, am I right to dig my heels on this? Another point of contention is letting my daughter walk to and from the school bus stop that we can see from our house (100m away) where other parents that we know also wait (and look out for my daughter). Wife says school specifically asks for parents to be there at time of pick up - bus driver doesn't care though as long as there are adults there.

Short lived fever

My toddler woke up with a 100.7/101 fever in the middle of the night. He was perfectly normal the night before. We gave him motrin at 3am and he has been perfectly fine for the last 10 hours. No symptoms, fever never came back, no runny nose, is eating and drinking and playing just fine, no rash, nothing. Its like this fever was a fluke. Has anyone else experienced this? Our son has been sick with everything in the book, but never anything as short lived as this. Not sure if I can relax or just keep waiting on the other shoe to drop haha

8 month old baby is LOUUUUUD

My baby is loud af lol like she yells she chats she talks she screams she screeches. She’s happy tho! Rarely cries. Just yells for fun or to get out attention. Anyone else have/had a baby like this? When will she stop!? Lol I love it and love her beyond words but the screeching is a lot sometimes 😂

Frequent memory loss after giving birth

Hello, Reddit. I am 10 months postpartum , and I feel like I am experiencing such horrible memory loss. There are days where I can’t remember details from the previous day or night. I don’t remember what I fed my baby yesterday, for example. There are days where it’s so severe that I don’t remember what times I woke up with the baby during the night, if I cleaned things things the night before, or I can’t horn in on what I have accomplished at work the prior days. I expected to experience some brain fog, but this feels so extreme to me. Has anyone experienced this? Should I bring this up to a doctor? Thank you!

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My 10 yo son said he doesn’t have any friends at school. My heart hurts for him.

Today my son burst out in tears. When I asked him what was wrong he said he doesn’t have any friends at school. He elaborated and said that a boy he thought was his friend told him at lunch that he wasn’t. I wanted to cry right there with him but I tried to be strong. He’s not typical in the way of interest. He doesn’t care much about sports, is an introverted and pretty sensitive kid and prefers to build with Legos and is a total creative. He’s amazing! I’m so proud of who he is, but I know socialism is so important. We love him so hard and tell him how wonderful he is but I want him to enjoy his adolescence with his peers. Any advice?

I found my daughter googling how to come out as a lesbian. Should I do anything?

I needed to do a zoom meeting but my husband had my compute, so i asked my 12 year old daughter if I could borrow hers. She said that it was fine. Zoom was having some issues so I was trying to figure out what to don but I saw her search history. Me and my husband are not homophobic and support all sexualities, and I am sure she knows this. My husband does not believe that anyone under 18 should think about relationship, that is probably why. She searched up “how to come out to your parents at age 12,” “should a 12 year old come out as lesbian,” “Can a 12 year old feel attraction,” and “Can a 12 year old be gay.” Of course I support her, but should I say anything to her? I know I should probably not tell my husband, but should I say something to her?

Rant/Vent: I hate my new life as a parent.

I’m a mom of 10, almost 11 month old twin girls, who I love so dearly, but I absolutely hate my existence as a parent. I hate being a mom. I feel so guilty for saying that because so many people lose their babies and I know that would destroy me, so I’m being ungrateful. But I hate everything about mothering. I used to really love life. I used to be care free and never dreamed I would have anxiety that causes fits of rage that make me shake and hit myself. I feel like I’m failing in every aspect of my life. My job, being a mom, being a wife. I hate my existence and I almost wish I could get hit by a bus. I hate being a mom so much. I love my girls of course but I hate my existence.