Parenting Contents Archive

How the hell does anyone afford child care?

We currently have a toddler in preschool and we pay almost $800 a month for that. We have another baby who is due in March. The total cost for childcare in our area for the two kids at the same time it’s almost $20,000 a year. Due to Covid, most childcare facilities have either closed or they’re at capacity. We only have a few options. I legitimately don’t know what we’re going to do when this baby comes. Other than just making more money, how do you find care for your child with the excessive cost of child care? We don’t qualify for any subsidies. We make too much to get any assistance, but not enough to pay for it. Any ideas? What do you do?

Dear other moms at the park:

I’m sorry for staring. I am lonely. You look like such a cool mom and I am a frumpy potato. Please come talk to me. I am too nervous, but I want to be your friend. Sincerely, Lonely potato mom

“Building climate resilient schools is going to be central to student health and learning outcomes.” @hgse @AndrewWBauld https://t.co/ilAWjfafxl

If your child gets good grades do you still go to parent teacher conferences?

I do, but apparently other people don't? Two of my kids have always been straight A students who have always had good behavior at school. Every single parent teacher conference since kindergarten the teachers say it wasn't necessary for me to come to the conference because my kids are good. They all acted like it was very unusual. One told me I was weird because confernces are only for kids who are failing or have bad behavior. So I told him I was there to address issues that I have with him. Like how he used my daughter as a buffer to sit between misbehaving kids. It didn't change their behavior and made it harder for her to work. Anyways, am I the only weirdo that goes to parent teacher conferences for kids with good grades and behavior?

Scared about how much I love my daughter.

My daughter just hit 2 months and today she was napping on me when she suddenly woke up and gave a “sad” cry. Not like the I’m hungry or need my diapers changed wails, but more like she just had a nightmare. When she opened her eyes and saw me she stopped crying with a single tear drop still on the corner of her eye and a pouting mouth, I kind of held her head closer in my arms and soothed her back to sleep. And then it hit me that I was able to make whatever was scary ok by just holding her and kissing her on the forehead, but it won’t be long before she’ll be all grown up, and I won’t be able to protect her from all the bad things in the world anymore. The mere thought of it hurts and it hit me so hard I almost started crying. The realization legit scared me for a bit. I don’t think I’ve ever loved another person this much, I mean I also love my husband but it’s just funny when he hurts himself, lol.

I have no one to reach out to..?

Anyone out there to say something uplifting or positive? Or just say hello? Or even leave a period? I am feeling so alone; there's so much struggle happening right now in my world. We keep getting so close to that breath of air but it seems like we can't reach the surface. I'm spiraling down right now and I don't really know where to turn. I have done all of my usual tricks to help myself and it's not working. I am just drowning in so much emotion that I feel myself imploding...and I can't. I feel so desperate and I'm sorry I'm not really using this community for its purpose.

I feel like we're doing everything we can, but our 2 year old is about to get kicked out of daycare for scratching, pushing, etc.

He gets three minutes in his time out chair, facing a corner when he's gets physical, we give him frequent reminders about his hands, we do not spoil him. But about once or twice a month he has scratched, pushed, or otherwise put hands on another kid. It happened again today, and we've been told the next time it happens he will have to get picked up from daycare. I feel like we're doing everything we can, but I genuinely don't know what else we can do. We certainly do not want him to terrorize other kids. I am all ears for suggestions or thoughts.

Confident children. We all want this for them. It comes and goes. Here''s some ideas on how we walk them into sustainable confidence. https://t.co/Htjz82v46T https://t.co/drC9jp4Bh0

In the ER with my twelve year old

I got called to get him at school because he was suicidal and we’ve been here two hours and they kicked me out of the room half an hour ago to assess him privately and I just feel totally numb and like a failure of a mother even though I know in my brain this is not a reflection of my parenting. I’m worried as shit about my kid and hate feeling so powerless. This sucks.

In this week's episode of the #WeAreFamily Podcast, TV host and model @PadmaLakshmi shares with host @JulsDennison her personal stories of working out your priorities when it comes to co-parenting. Tune in on @ApplePodcasts, or wherever you listen👆: https://t.co/Sp41uR9iE7 https://t.co/p32ebW00k9

When did you invite guest over after bringing your baby home?

My wife and I are working on our plan for visitors after we bring the baby home. Originally, we thought it would be nice to have a couple of days to bond and be alone in our house with our baby. Even then, we were gonna be particular about mask wearing for visitors and hand washing. After some reading and chatting with friends, RSV seems to be really bad this year so we are wanting to possible wait 4-6 weeks before we invite anyone over to meet the baby. We feel extremely guilty being selfish and leaving the grandparents out for so long. It took us two years to get pregnant, and on top of that, my poor wife has been SOOOO sick for the whole pregnancy. So the last thing we want is a sick baby when all we really want is to enjoy time with each other as we have been anxiously awaiting our LO. We may be overthinking things and I know there is something to be said about balance, but we are stressed about telling our parents that we don’t want visitors for a couple weeks.

Fucking Google...

Sent me a mash up of every video I took of my son starting from when he was a newborn until now, with sad music... I've been ugly crying for 10 freaking minutes. That hit me right in the feels 🤣😭

Do you let medical students examine your child?

So I have had a call back from my local GP offering me an appointment for my LO. It's for a general query, nothing serious. I was asked if I would be comfortable to have a medical student perform the examination and to sign a consent form. I was informed the doctor overseas all medical students. The signing of the consent form threw me a bit. 🤣 It got me thinking, are you comfortable allowing students to do examinations and procedures?

Curiosity: Parents Need to Nurture It in Today’s Wired Children https://t.co/jaLieFMhD1 by @VincentAOKeefe #parenting #CityDads #DadLife

I realize admitting your teenager is your favorite travel partner may not be the most popular opinion. But . . . #travel #tuesdaythoughts https://t.co/Wv69rMED6s