I don’t feel like cooking any more

I have 5 kids. Ages 1-6. I’m getting extremely frustrated that my kids do not want to eat their dinner. I make a variety of foods. Here’s a short list of meals I make: chicken Alfredo with broccoli. Chow mein. Orange chicken. Albóndigas (meatball soup), chicken soup, tacos, quesadillas, fajitas, burritos, potstickers, fried rice, sopes, burgers. I make all types of food. I even make homemade pizza. I make the dough and sauce myself and my kids will not eat it. It’s very infuriating because they will eat frozen pizza but not homemade pizza. One of my kids does not like lunch meat, ground meat nor hot dogs. That fine, that doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is that my kids would prefer to eat store bought or from restaurant/fast food place vs homemade. I make 2-3 meals a day. Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Breakfast is cereal, scrambled/boiled eggs, pancakes or waffles with fruit. At lunch is where I let them decide what to eat. At dinner it’s what I’ve planned for the week. Which usually needs a bit of prep. Some days no one will eat at all. I do not cave at dinner. If they ask for anything that is not what I’ve made, they can leave the table and not eat. I’ll leave the plate on the counter if they’d like to eat later. My 1 y/o doesn’t fuss. He’s still too little to have a problem with vegetables. My problem is mostly with my 6, 5 & 4 year olds. Like I said, not even homemade pizza. It’s driving me crazy. What’s even more irritating is that my mom is always judging. “It’s b/c you give them yogurt as a snack”. “You gave them pb&j? That’s so unhealthy”. Yet when my kids go to her house, it’s always take out, yogurt, juice, pizza, candy, soda, milkshakes, cereal.,Etc. I do not buy soda. My kids have juice 1x a day. No more. I don’t give them candy. There are no snacks in between meals for the reason that they won’t eat at the next meal (not like it makes much of a difference anyhow). They eat fruits. All types of fruits. They will eat cucumbers with lime/lemon juice and salt. Berries being everyone’s favorites, I buy those very week. I have no problem with fruits. But vegetables and dinner. Ugh. Plus the negativity from my mom, triple ugh D: via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2I76t8L

My son is shifting focus towards something in left field. Should I talk him out of it?

My son, 25, had a tough time getting through his college career but was able to finish out and graduate with a technology degree two months ago. I’m extremely proud of his accomplishment. He found a technology job in the heart of the city making very good money. So a weight has been lifted off my shoulder because now I know he can support himself and begin saving up for a good retirement.Two nights ago he sat my wife and I down to talk to us about being unhappy with where he was in life and that the only reason why he finished college was to make us happy. Wife teared up a bit because no parent wants their child to be unhappy.He mentioned to us that he wants to make a career in music and that’s what he does starting at 4am in the morning. Goes to his 9-5 then comes home to work on it some more for several hours just to do it again the next day. He lives on his own so we do what him to live his own life. We are just worried that he might me reaching for something that isn’t very realistic.Advice? We simply want the kid to be happy. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2TeN5NH

Send Help

Sometimes I feel as if I am failing as a parent, I am a 21F and my little is 18 months.Lately, he has been pushing my buttons and it's been working, I've been losing my shit. I try to stay as cool and collected as possible but there are days where I want to runaway from my responsibilities. (I don't obviously, but I'm expressing here).He's a gorgeous little boy and sweet when he wants but knows how to manipulate his way into getting what he wants. When I try to discipline, he'll throw a tantrum in order to get his way and I throw in the towel and just let him have at whatever he wants.Send help, it's getting crazy here.​Some background info: I'm a psychology student and know all the proper ways to "do parenting" according to the books but I fail. Obviously there's no rules on how to be a parent but I just need some insight from others.How did you manage to get these tough times? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2TrvkJF

Does anybody else not enjoy the weekends anymore ?

I’m a stay at home mom to two kids. During the week we have a routine I go to the gym in the morning they go to gym day care. We go home they nap have lunch and then we go to a play group in the afternoon. But on the weekends there is usually so much to do and obligations and not much structure they just get all grumpy and don’t want to nap. Plus catching up on house work. Sometimes we do fun things on the weekends but not every weekend. But this feeling could be due to the fact I live in northern Canada and am going on 7 months of snow. Hurry up summer! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/32OFNn3

My 11yr old son got his heart broke for the first time, he’s taking it rather rough and I’m not sure how to help.

Just like the title says, my son was dismissed by his crush.We noticed last week his attitude changed and he was being more crabby. We just chalked it up to preteen hormones or whatever. His mother then noticed some scratches on his hands. She asked him about them to which he said something about a cat. Today we found more scratches and he’s confessed to self-harm. He said he used a pencil.. but we don’t really have regular pencils laying, and I’ve never really seen him with one—not that it’s impossible. The “cuts” or scrapes are all the same width and similar lengths but all straight.Well I looked through his phone, I probably shouldn’t have, but he’s only had one since Christmas. I’ve never invaded his privacy like this but I’m glad I did. This girl he has been talking to has been belittling him while he begs for her love. She sends him messages saying how ugly he is and his friend is hotter. She calls him trash and telling him he’s unimportant. It’s heartbreaking. He definitely isn’t taking the hint, worst of all.I haven’t approached this with him or his mother because it’s a really weird situation. I definitely want him to know he is loved, and this girl is just a mean little bitch—in good words though. But I also want to show him the side that accepts rejection with dignity. I’m not sure how to do any of that, and am Hoping you people can help! Thanks and if This the wrong platform to discuss this, im sorry. Also, I’m on mobile, so sorry I suck at typing. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2wZvVuK

Grapes

When do you feed your kids grapes (like whole not cut up)?I thought my five year old was ready. He has been eating them for a few months, and I always emphasize to take small bites. Well he had a coughing/choking episode that scared me tonight. I was sitting right next to him and he’s fine now, but it makes me want to review some choking/CPR first aid videos bc I forgot what to do. I smacked him on the back once when he seems to stop coughing and it seemed to help, he spit his food out but....damn. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2uDnKDo

Stealing.....how to handle/stop it

My all most 6yo daughter stole something while at the mall today. This comes on the heels of her stealing something from her siblings friend during a sleepover. When I found the items that belonged to the friend I made her return them and apologize for her actions. I was hoping the pure embarrassment would curb this behavior. Today, she took something from her favorite store, I found the item 4 hours after we got home. I’m at a loss on how to handle this situation. I’ve tried speaking with her but she shows little to no remorse for her behavior. I’m looking for advice on how to go about this. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/32DTTat

My boy tells us he loves us on his own

My son is now 2.5 and he’s at the age where he says he loves us without my husband or I having to say it first. It is so so so heartwarming when he randomly says “I wuv yu” or he’ll ask for a hug and kiss out of nowhere. I’ll never get tired of it! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/3ae60h9

A cool moment with my (33M) daughter (2F)!

Me, my daughter, and her mom were playing some version of catch, and I asked if I could throw the ball to her. She (playfully) said “no, girls throw better!” and threw to her mom instead.All I could think about was hearing the teasing and assumptions (some of it probably coming from me) about girls on the playground when I was a kid. No idea where she got the reverse idea, but I’m cheering it on for now. Raising a girl in 2020 is really hard and complicated. I hope she sees her gender as empowering for the rest of her life. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2PBuKYZ

I miss when my toddler was a fetus, that was the only time he ate everything without complaint

My soon to be 3 year old son is so picky, we’re limited to Costco brand chicken nuggets, Kraft Mac and cheese, vanilla yogurt, and random fruits.Any tips on how to get him interested in eating more variety? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2IdeDwh

Are we being too strict with technology?

We are generally pretty strict with technology for our 7 and 3 year old sons. We believe that too much screen time is harmful for kids, and, having heard all the nightmares about kids getting addicted to screens, we are very careful to avoid screen time. The only regular screen time they get is family movie night every couple weeks. They share a tablet, but it is only used on road trips or in waiting rooms, and even then, we encourage them to bring toys and books instead. However, it recently occurred to me that we may be making them unrelatable to their peers by being so strict with screen time. Kids these days are always on Youtube or playing video games, and while we don't want to give them too much exposure to screens, we don't want them to be known as the weird Amish kids who can't relate to their peers. What do you think of this? There has got to be a happy medium somewhere. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/3ak5b6D

Help me please. I have an almost 4 year old and I need help helping her.

When she can’t have something she gets frustrated, whines and this causes her to make certain faces and body movements that are difficult for me to deal with. She whines and cries when she can’t have her way. She annoys her sister on purpose and smiles which drives me crazy. She won’t listen. I’ve about had it. I’ve run out of time outs, sit downs where I explain things, I’ve tried what I thought would be helpful but I’m tired of it. I’m stressed out. Please help. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2I8rIqU

We spent 9 months searching for the perfect name just for everyone to call her "Sissy"

My youngest of four is 19 months old. Her name is Scarlett but when she was a baby my now 3 year old started calling her Sissy because she is his sister and he struggled with saying Scarlett. He can say Scarlett now but the nickname stuck. My older two call her Sissy all the time and family does as well.I don't mind. She responds to her real name and I am not worried about her learning to tell people her name is Scarlett, but damn. 9 months of searching through every name website just for everyone to call her a nickname for sister? Really? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/3cgf9Ym

🙃🤧Temporary Corona Virus MegaThread🤧🙃

We've removed a few not-really-related-to-parenting posts and also some way-too-close-to-asking-for-medical-advice posts and some very-kinda-racist posts about COVID-19 in the last few days.To stem the tide a little - please keep all COVID-19 and Coronavirus content here. We will remove inappropriate content.Here are the latest updates on COVID-19Here is a scam warning about COVID-19Q & ATravel AdviceDr. Mike is also doing a great job over on YouTube keeping people up to date and using helpful language that might help you understand more about this.Sesame Street Toolkits that might offer some helpful language and information for kids:Healthy HabitsChallenges & ResilienceReadiness via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2PAibwJ

Should I buy a PS4 for my 5 year old?

Bit of background: My son will be turning 5 soon and I'm thinking of buying him a PS4. I last had a PS2 who knows how many years ago, so gaming is limited to iPad games like Minecraft, Roblox, and Granny on practice mode.He loves open world games but I'd never consider a game like Grand Theft Auto.Thanks for your thoughts! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/399go9W

My happiness is based off of my babies nap scheduled

I am fighting with my natural tendency to feel happy when my twins nap for 2 hours at the same time verse feeling stressed out, disappointed, and anxious when they take a short nap or when one takes forever to fall asleep and their schedules are super off. I’m pretty sure even if I had one I would be doing the same thing.Anyone else ever feel this way? I don’t like thinking this way and I want to accept whatever the day brings me, especially since I can’t control my babies and I don’t want this pattern to continue as they grow up! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2PBCnyl

How do you handle bad behavior/temper tantrums in public?

My daughter will be turning 2 this summer & I’ve had issues with her acting out in the grocery store. She is normally pretty well-behaved so I’m unsure on how to handle this at times. Like when our cart is full & leaving isn’t an option. I try to explain things to her but communication is somewhat of a barrier for us right now because she isn’t fully talking yet. New to reddit, Advice? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/396NO90

Does anyone have any tips or book recommendations for bilingual language teaching?

Hello, I'm a new soon to be mother in Sweden that uses English as a second language. My husband is English and we're expecting our first child together. Since I want my child to be able to communicate with my husbands part of the family in an early age, I really want to teach my child to be bilingual. I heard that you can have two times of the day where Swedish could be in the morning and day, while English could be during the night. Is there any parent out here who has some great advice on how to correctly teach your child how to speak two languages? I'm fortunate that children over here learns English in school when they get older, but I still want our child to speak English early age. Please, if you have any recommendations on maybe books, pdfs or blogs we could both really appreciate it! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/3ciKRnR

My baby tries to get up at 6/7 am now and it’s KILLING ME.

I am, by far someone who requires a lot of sleep. I used to go to bed at 9/10 and get up about 11/12 to feel well rested obviously that was gonna change with a child. He used to get up around 8:30/9 and I adjusted to an extent but this morning...oh my goodness he was trying to play at 6:30 when my husband went to check him. I did the math he went to bed at 8 so 8-10 hours of sleep he’s in the ballpark for reasonably getting up.Anybody else just hit physical exhaustion with how early their baby wants to get up? How on earth did you deal with it? Anything here will be helpful I’ve already moved bestow back from 7 to 8 but not much help** to clarify I’m definitely not trying to make him sleep until 9 or anything I’m asking how those of you who are definitely not morning people processed the change and adjusted. I want to be more awake and alert in the morning to do more with him rather than being a tired slug for the first 3 hours of the day via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2PDrDzI

I'm drowning and I dont want to take my kids down with me

Hey all. I usually read some good advice on here so I figured I'd ask for some. I'm on my phone and I know the formatting is going to off, sorry for that.I have a beautiful 14mo old. I absolutely adore her abs want to have like a billion more of her cause shes seriously the most perfect little human ever.I'm currently pregnant. I dont know how far along I am but I've known since late October. Why haven't i gone to the doctor? Idk. That's part of my problem.With my first child i had the worst morning sickness ever. It lasted all day and really only calmed down after my 6th month. It never stopped. I was ok with all that even though it freaking sucked and my mental state was up and down the whole time.Fast forward to now. This pregnancy is a bit easier with the throw up. But my emotions. They are all over the place. It's really bad. I always had depression my entire life and managed it very well. I can't anymore. I told the father of my kids that I was feeling down and honestly really scared I will develop some kind of really bad post partum and not care for this baby like I should. My life right now absolutely sucks. I can't change it. I live with my parents and I love their support but they have a very different way of wanting to raise kids than I do. My sister has 2 kids. She comes over every day. I love them but I dont want to see them every single day. I love my quiet time and being alone with my baby.I have no support and really no one to talk to. Baby daddy just ignore my comment and so I dont know what to do. I have no insurance or even time for a therapist. I guess I'm asking for some advice? Maybe how I can help myself calm down in my bouts of manic anxiety. Maybe I need reassurance that I'll be ok. I mean I have bad days now with my emotions and I always pull myself aside and tell myself whatever the issue it's not my baby who caused it and I cannot be mad with her. I feel like I have a logical person in my head and a shitty pregbany hormonal one who wants to just rage and cry and laugh and eat.Idk how to feel anymore. The only thing that honestly keeps me going is my baby. Seeing her smile I know I need to fo what's right for the other one too. I can't even go to the doctor to confirm that I'm pregnant. I feel scared. Once its really my parents will react, once its real I can't keep denying I'll be overwhelmed with two kids. Once it's real what will happen with my relationship with their father and I? O It's all so complicated. Please just tell me I'll be ok. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/399WQ53

What do you do with all this art?!

I feel awful, but my daughter's 3 and does lots of crafting at her nursery that they send her home with. I love to look at it and compliment her on it. Some goes on the fridge, and some goes into her memory box.but there's so much!I have to throw some of it away. Most of it actually. A lot of it isn't very good as she is little. I felt awful! But surely you love don't keep it all do you? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/39ahl1L

The struggle is real.

Do you ever get that feeling that you are being watched? Well I woke up with that feeling looked up and my child was silently standing over me staring at me. It scared me and I jumped, I am convinced he is secretly taking ninja classes. I feel so bad because I scared him when I jumped. This particular child is my 13 year old cognitively disabled baby who is nonverbal, he is also over 6 ft tall. Well my poor baby came in to tell me he lost his stuffed animal and cannot sleep. I spent an hour searching for that stuffed animal and found it on top of the refrigerator ( I have no frickin clue why it was there). Anyways I am 4'9 so I had to climb the counters to get my baby's stuffed animal, finally got it, and the boy has fallen asleep on the couch in a fetal position with the dogs curled around him. I now have the choice of waking him up and taking the chance that he will not go back to sleep or covering him and sleeping in the living room myself in case he has a seizure. I also have to figure out why his bed alarm didn't go off when he got up. We finally got to the point that our baby daughter will sleep thru the night and now I'm up with the teenager. This is life. I shall never get a full night's sleep. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/3codpwr

Husband keeps delaying on when to have baby #2

I’m hoping I can get a little advice on this as I feel like I’m going crazy. My husband and I have a wonderful almost 2 year old son who is our world! We’ve always planned on having at least two kids and the itch started creeping in for me around Thanksgiving. I saw my son playing with his cousins and I wanted him to have that at home too. We decided to hold off until after the holidays and start trying after the new year.Well, that came and went until finally I asked my husband if he wanted to start trying. My husband is a pretty pragmatic guy and did the whole let’s look at the finances and then see thing. After doing that, we talked and he told me he thinks we should wait another year, minimum. Pay off the credit card and the car first and then go from there.I was completely crushed. I really thought we were on the same page with things. I know he’s 100% right in being financially responsible, and I know it’s the smart thing. But I just can’t seem to reconcile that with my heart. I was so sure the time was right. He’s told me that he just wants to be prepared this time (we got pregnant very quickly with our son). But I’ve always felt like you’re never truly prepared and if you try to plan it like that it won’t ever happen.Does anyone have experience with this? I’m having a rough time dealing with the fact that I have massive baby fever. On top of that, I feel like a terrible mom because no matter how much I focus on my son I can’t seem to not think about having another child. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/38g1PjG

Different reactions based on baby’s gender??

Hello everyone! I’m am the mother of one 3yo girl and a 6mo boy. It just so happens that in the past couple of weeks I’ve had multiple encounters with strangers saying almost the same thing to my son. My son is a super happy baby and smiles at pretty much anything. So when he sees someone he will smile, and the person would say almost exactly this, “Aw he is such a flirt! What a little ladies man!” It’s been said so much lately that it made me realize no one ever said anything like that to my daughter when she was a baby. She was just told how sweet and cute she is. I don’t know, but has anyone else thought about this difference? Sorry for the random thought but the whole thing kind of rubs me the wrong way and I was wondering what others thought. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2Tary8G

My daughter's (15f) brother (in his 20s) may have attempted suicide.

I will apologize up front because I am not a great story teller and my brain is pulling me in 1000 different directions right now. Also I'm not looking for up votes here, just trying to vent a little bit and also some advice would be appreciated.I little background, When I entered in a relationship with my ex, she had a 8 year old boy. About a year later we my daughter was born. Our relationship lasted about 5-6 years and we decided to part ways. During the time that we spent together I tried to be the best example that I could for a teenager boy. Never got drunk, no drugs, went to college full time and also had a job, took him to concerts and other social events. Well the point that I'm trying to make is that I treated him as one of my own. After I separated from his mom I moved to a different state because of work. I am one of the worst people when it comes down to keeping in contact and that included him.Jump forward to last week. I got a message from my daughter saying that her brother was hospitalized. I asked her why, and she was not able to provide any details. So I text my ex, she calls me back and when considering everything that she tells me it sounds like he tried to off himself. She says that he had some sort of problem at work, and that he was addicted to some prescription medication, that he was buying the pills on the "street". She had to take him to the hospital because he couldn't sleep, was hallucinating, and speaking gibberish. The hospital ran blood test and from what I understand his kidneys were failing. Which leads me to believe that the pills he was using were opioids, I heard somewhere that opioid abuse can lead to kidney failure. I asked her if he did this to himself and she said yes, but given that my question could be considered a little ambiguous I'm not 100% sure that it was a suicide attempt. It sure sounds like that to me.Earlier today I was able to contact him because the hospital had taken his cell phone away. I had a conversation with him and he sounded like he is really positive. However I have this feeling that he was just saying what he thought I wanted to hear. It was almost as if I was speaking to a sales person who is desperate to make a sell. He was providing more information that was required to properly answer a question. I don't know, I cannot shake the feeling.Right now I'm not sure how to approach the subject with my daughter and with him. I did let them both know that I am always available and that they can contact me anytime for any reason. I'm also making an effort to be better at keeping in contact and calling them more. I want to help them moving forward the best I can.Now if you guys would indulge me a little bit, I'm not sure what is my approach here, when it come to him am I supposed to be the tender love and care guy, or more of a though love kind of guy?Thanks in advance,u/rios_635 via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/3aitrGf

How do I stop yelling at my daughter?

I know the title sounds a little harsh, but hear me out. My daughter is 5 years old and will soon be 6. Most of her life she’s been a very well behaved child. She’s so sweet and kind. However, in the last year she’s started pre-K and has developed more into her personality. She’s become very sassy, which isn’t always a bad thing. She gets it honest, if I’m being truthful. I’m pretty sassy myself. However, she’s started bossing me around and demanding me to do things. She’s persistent if I say “no” and will continue to argue with me until I raise my voice/yell at her. She will argue for what seems like 20 minutes with me as long as I’m speaking at a normal volume. It’s not until I yell at her that she actually listens to me or apologizes for her behavior. She doesn’t respond to positive redirection, spanking, or having privileges taken. It seems the only way to make her listen is to yell and it’s just so violent to me. I hate it but it works. I want to be peaceful. I don’t want her to be afraid of me, but it’s the only way she responds to discipline. What else can I do?Edit: I know that yelling and raising my voice at a child is frowned upon so if you’re thinking about shaming me, just save it. I’m here for help, not judgment. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/39ahK4d

I absolutely love my children. But I am so goddamn bored.

I have been married for 20 plus years. My wife and I have six children, four of them still live at home. Two older swans are 19 and 17 years old, the two little ones are girls we adopted 3 years ago there are 6 and 8. They are the absolute love of my life. My world revolves around them.We moved to a new state 3 years ago to get away from my wife's overbearing family. A fresh start for all of us. So we have no family / friends for support around here. To make up for that my wife has to work opposite shift from me. I work straight days Monday through Friday with weekends off. She works for 10 hour afternoon shift. Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday.Our routine is pretty set. I pick the kids up after school, bring them home and make dinner, do homework, showers and baths, clothes ready for the next day. Everything. Put them in bed. Most days I get him up in the morning and drop them off at school on the way home to let her sleep in because she doesn't get home till after midnight most nights.Weekends are pretty much left up to me also. My wife has to go to work at noon. I usually try to find something entertaining for us to do. Hiking, shopping, walking on the greenway, Museum zoos.I'm busy, but not exhausted... But at the same time I am so bored. At the end of the day when the kids are in bed I have absolutely nothing to do. I don't have a hobby, I don't have any friends that I can call or socialize with or go hang out with. I end up sitting around flipping channels on the TV. Hell, tonight I watched two hours of videos from 1980s on MTV. I'm just so fucking vanilla it's not even funny.I'm not fixing or molting or complaining, maybe I'm just venting. I just wish I had something to fucking do to entertain myself.Anyone else like this? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/399rls5

11 year old “dating” a 14 year old suddenly! Help?!? Advice

My 11 year old son is a mild mannered, “good” kid who has never been in trouble in his life. He is shy when it comes to his personal life aka sensitive and gets mad if I ask too many questions . He is very handsome and has had girls liking him way before he ever liked them back. I look in his phone on occasion and I have never found anything out of the ordinary, so I don’t mention looking and I know as soon as I do, he will spiral into an emotional defensive ball of emotions and the conversation will go downhill, but I found something and I’m seeking advice!!! He recently broke up with his 11 year old girlfriend and is apparently “dating “ a 14 year old . FYI he isn’t allowed to date. This little girl sends him texts asking if he wants her to kiss him at school breakfast, because he gets there early since I leave for work early , and stating often that she wants to f*** him and asks all the time if he wants to get her pregnant ?!?! She asks him if he knows how to have sex (this dork of course says yes) She also asks him if she can give him a hickey and in her words “suck his d***.” My son being a typical male, is beyond interested in this and of course replies yes all the time. First of all, as his mom I feel like puking and he isn’t unsupervised, but this little girl is determined. Second, I have had open discussions about sexual health and what is and isn’t expected of him at this age. This 14 year old also mentions being on house arrest recently, beating people up, having already had one sexual partner, and says she drives! Even took a selfie driving! Are threatens to kill herself if they break up. This is a NIGHTMARE?!?! I saw where several of his friends told him she’s a “hoe” and that he does not need to be “dating” her. I thought about all kinds of stuff like texting her myself and giving her a piece of my mind (bad idea), calling her parents (soon as I find out who they are), talking to someone at the school (and say what exactly ?!?) , forbidding him from being her boyfriend (?) , blocking her texts and taking him to school later. He needs to WAIT until he’s 14 before I have to deal with this nightmare and ...even then, this would be too much. Advice PLEASE?!?! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2PBhpzA

Hope for anxiety

My son has struggled with anxiety and self image. He absolutely could not tolerate compliments and couldn’t see annoying he did as good enough. Today he played his first basketball game. Basketball is his greatest love. When he walked out of the locker room we gave him specific positive feedback. He said he had a terrible game, exactly what we expected. When I tucked him in he told me he thought he had a good game and he loved it. I have never been prouder of him. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/39cOji2

Feeling really guilty for spending almost $200 on myself

Got my tax return and desperately needed some new clothes, so I went shopping. I rarely spend money on myself— everything goes towards my 2 year old. Went to my pricey, but favorite clothing store, picked out a few things, and immediately felt so guilty when the total came to over $150.Most likely going to “borrow” the outfit I picked out for our family pictures tomorrow and return it. Does anyone else feel really guilty after buying things for yourself?! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2vgF9SY

Dual Working Parents with Kids in Pre-School: how to you navigate drop off/ pick up equally? Tips for success?

Post title says it all.We’re working parents, 37 and 39, with a 3yo and 5mo. We’re trying to figure out a schedule of drop off and pick up that allows both of us to be successful.I don’t want to limit the post discussion to my exact situation. But for background, I work billable hours and start at 8. She’s more flexible, but travels by car a lot. We’re both compensated by hours put into work (not true salary).We’d love to know how other parents share the workload or what we can do to make things easier (meal prep the night before, earlier / later drop offs or wake ups, etc).Thank you!! ❤️❤️ via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2VvROMn

8 year old refusing to go to dad's house

I posted a couple of weeks ago about my daughter who wets the bed but my ex won't allow her to wear the sleep pullups to bed. He even lied and said she could the last time he had visitation, then took them away and wouldn't let her.So when it was close to the next visitation weekend, I texted him to let him know she didn't want to go. He finally responded, saying that's fine and he wasn't going to force her to do something she doesn't want to do and he'd call her the next morning, but that he had the weekend planned and was busy. I do not know why he mentioned that and I didn't ask. Nor did he question why she didn't want to go. I replied and explained why she didn't want to go. He as usual didn't respond and didn't call.When we got divorced he quit acknowledging our two grown children and then later stopped talking to our 16 year old, despite them all begging him to talk to them. Now he only sees the 8 year old every other weekend, won't go to any of her school functions or athletic events, never calls her. There's no court ordered visitation, he just gets her on whatever schedule I offer. I settled on the typical every-other-weekend but reminded him all the time he can always get her during the week any time he wants. I used to try and encourage him to talk to the kids, even texting them every few days "how are you doing" is better than nothing, blah blah blah he just ignores it. I'm done. We are both adults and I feel stupid that I chose to have kids with him, I don't know what happened to him, and he every single day hurts 3 of my kids by pretending they don't exist and I know my youngest is next.My question is when my daughter says she doesn't want to go on his weekends, do you think I'm right to just say ok and let him know? Should I continue encouraging him? I'm just drained by all this. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2I8ePNi

People and baby rabies.

It really irks me the damn typical question they keep asking."Are you going to have children?"Then you got one kid."Are you gonna have another?"You ended up with two."Ah, maybe another addition to the family?"You finally got three."Maybe it's enough already?!".I had a bad pregnancy.I spent a week in the hospital bleeding profusely due to my body somehow had this idea that the pregnancy itself was a germ to get rid off and my plasma decided to drop from 100,000 something to 150.Yeah, it was that bad. And people know about this. The ones that ask me about having more kids anyway.Do they care? Nope. Because it's always the same question..I just wish I could pull out my placenta and hit them right in the face.Sorry for ranting. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2TpFb2H

A surprise...

I just found out yesterday that I'm pregnant... My husband and I already have a 3 year old and a 13 month old. We knew we would want to eventually try for a third (and final) baby, but didn't expect it to happen this soon. The initial shock is starting to wear off, and I am trying to look at the positives. Parents, what are some tips you can give from transitioning from 2 to 3 kids? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2PuRLws

Looking for reassurances that having a late-talking baby isn't the end of the world.

My son was born 7 weeks prematurely so he can either be considered 16 months or 18 months old, depending on how you count. His language skills are way behind. He doesn't seem to know his name, and although he says "mama" and "dada", he doesn't really direct it at the right person. He doesn't respond to any other words like eat, banana, nap, sleep, outside etc. It just doesn't seem to register.He's been assessed for Autism Spectrum Disorder and the doctors don't think he's at risk, but have prescribed him Speech Therapy for the language delay.In an effort to be chill and believe that everything will work out fine, I'd love to hear stories from other parents of late-talkers whose children eventually figured it out and now won't stop talking.Weird request I know, but it would be great to hear, thanks! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2PBxWDU

Melissa and Doug armchair for toddler

I want to get my little one a child’s recliner/chair. Melissa and Doug makes one that looks beautiful and I know their products are usually of high quality... has anyone owned it or can give me any insight on if this is worth it?I know those spongy chairs with characters on them are usually popular, but I find them just low quality and looking for something that’ll last for hopefully my next child. Thanks. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2Tm0tOI

Ex [30F] asks for time with son [4M] on every single one of my weekends, then doesnt spend any time with him on her own weekends.

My [32M] ex wife and I have 50/50 custody of our son, rotating every other weekend. I respect her schedule, yet 6 out of the last 10 weekends I have had him, she texts and asks me if she can have him for a few hours. The first couple times I just said yes because it was around the holidays and I know she cant control when her own family schedules different get-togethers, but now she is asking if she can take him to the movies, or on a play date with one of her own friend's kids. Stuff she can do literally any other day.On top of that, the people I know who have her on social media, have showed me that on her weekends with our son, she passes him off to stay with grandparents for the weekend and she goes out.The easy answer would be tell her "no". Which I have done, and just creates an argument where she goes off on me and says she is going to take me to court and get full custody. It has gotten stressful, and I'm ready to pull my hair out. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/32ASqlf

Change the phrase...

Until recently I would often say to my kids “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” A friend changed the phrasing and I think it is an important change that I’m sharing with every parent I know.“You get what you get and you appreciate it!”I’m trying to teach my kids to be appreciative of having a cup, not focusing on whether they got the blue one or red one. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/32EZ3mD

Fiancé [25F] is going to leave me [29M].

I’m going to try to make this as concise as possible.My fiancé and I have 2 daughters together, 3 and 2. We’ve been together for about 5.5 years. My fiancé stays home with them while I work full time.She’s been kind of depressed and saying things like she wants her own life back. She’s just not happy, period. She’s always angry or sad. She hates staying home with them 24/7, so we agreed that she should go back to work.Well, I guess she took that as “I should just leave” too.She’s been saying comments like as soon as she gets a full time job and her own car, that she’s moving out. I know she doesn’t care about me. She probably wants to relive her youth and everything that she missed out on. (She didn’t say that, but I’m guessing.)We’ve already agreed on 50/50 custody. I make close to 3 times what she would make, so she knows she can get decent child support to be able to live on her own without me.I also know that she’ll be living her life while I have the kids 50%, and that kills me. It makes me sick and I can’t sleep.Is there any saving this? I don’t want a split family. I still want to marry her, even after this, but she doesn’t want that. She just wants to explore life on her own. I guess I’m weighing her down. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2I68MsU

Is 12/13 the age where boys made a 180 with their friends?

My 12yo has known most of his friends since elementary school. He has been best friends with one boy since pre-k. Totally utterly inseparable. All of a sudden, his best friend has be MIA. I asked my son about his best friend and he says he doesn't talk to him anymore. Nothing bad happened. Ironic part is that they play on the same sports team, are in the same classes and have overlapping friends. They went from best friends to acquaintances. Is this a dynamic of middle school boy friendships? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2T8cKYo

How to get help for my suspected autistic baby?

Hi all. My fourth and youngest child is 16 months old. I have always known he was a little different. As a newborn he never cried and slept through the night almost instantly. My family and I are now noticing some “quirks” he has.He is distant and in his own world. Even though I spend every waking moment with him he won’t respond to me or seek me. He doesn’t notice if someone else is looking after him.He is starting to walk but he never crawled. He doesn’t like having his hands on the ground. He walks on his tip toes.He hasn’t said anything close to a word yet.He will ball/scrunch up his hands repeatedlyHe has to touch a room before entering it.He only eats smooth porridge and yoghurt. He HATES eatingI had a health visitor come and she said they will give him a hearing test. My son does react to noises and I think a hearing problem wouldn’t account for his lack of interest in people. I just think it is autism but no one will help me. My niece’s boyfriend is an ABA tutor but the youngest he has worked with is 3 so I don’t know if he could help us, they also live 2 hrs away. I just really want the earliest intervention possible because it’s clear something is off. Any advice very appreciated. Thank you via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2T8kvxp

My son's girlfriend is living with us

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Birthday invitation gone wrong.

I am friendly with one of the moms at my child's school. She invited us to a movie on the actual birthday of one of her youngest. There is a movie theater really close to both our houses and she mentioned taking the kids there. A few days later I got a text from her with a more formal invitation, the name of the movie, the time and the names of the kids that were attanding. My kid was excited as they are good friends.On the day of, we get ready, and go. My child is super cranky, but I feel like we have already committed to this activity and practically carry him part of the way.We arrive at the movie theater and there is no sign of the party. After some frantic texting it turns out that the woman who invited us took her kids to the movie theater across town, the furthest possible location from where we are currently and impossible to make to without missing half the movie. She did not at any point mention it while texting me the night before or in the morning of. I let her know which theater we are at only to get a very non chalant response "Oh, my kids will be very disappointed they didn't get to see your son".Like WTF lady? What about actually providing the right address? Or at least the name of the movie theater. What about recognizing that we went out of our way to make your kids birthday special and now I to deal with a moody kid that wants to know where his friends are?I'm annoyed. And I don't want to go the polite civil route. So I just ignored her last text.I don't think it was mean hearted or intentional. However as far as communication goes, this was a major gaffe. What hurt me and yes, I am hurt, was the disregard to consequences for son and I. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2vsdsqf

The egg..

Everyday I wake up with a goal in mind. And almost everyday I wake up telling myself to boil an egg Incase I get hungry. That egg has yet to get boiled... I get so lost cleaning taking care of my 6 month old that at the end of the day I still wish I would have boiled that egg.... just a little funny story I know it happened to a lot of parents via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2T4T7QQ

Owe daycare a lot of money and can’t afford to pay

So Im in a pretty bad situation, Im a single mom (28f) and owe my daycare a large amount of money, over $1100. She watches my two year daughter 3-4 days a week. I work full time, have a almost 2 hour commute and make minimum wage. Im already drowning in bills and can’t afford to keep pay for child care. My ex husband(baby’s daddy) is also too broke to pay me any child support. I’m trying to find a second job but my availability is so limited it’s hard. What can I do to help pay for this, I can’t keep up and I’m not sure what to do. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2VqGr8t

6yr old asking for siblings

How can I tell my 6yr old he might not have a sibling. He sees all his friends with siblings and tonight was bad. He left a school thing and saw all his friends walking out holding hands with siblings and cane home crying asking for one. We have tried for years and have at least 2 miscarriages recently. I feel lately like I'm slipping into a dark hole, all our friends are having second children, and someone at my job is pregnant and I just feel my heart shredding everytime. I've tended to stay away from gathering lately because it is just so hard with everyone asking when we are going to have another child. I dont know how to say we have tried or what to say to get them to understand. Now my sweet boy is coming home crying about this and it destroys me. Any advice will be helpful. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2Vt5YOh

Daughter sexually assaulted on school trip. Boy suspended, returns to school tomorrow. This dad trying to do the right thing. (Tldr)

Father of four, oldest is 16. She's very petite. A few weeks ago she was telling me that she was interviewing for a leadership position at school. She planned to tell the teacher that her chief competitor wasn't fit, as he "did things to girls, even me."My heart dropped.What?!I learned on a bus trip for the team, he moved to her seat one evening, and cuddled up to her. She asked him to stop, but he drew closer, put arms around her, and after further protests, forced himself on her, kissing her. It took a few friends to pull him off.This happened a MONTH before she told me (her mom didn't know yet either).She was concerned about telling the teacher, as she didn't want to cause drama. What!?We had a long talk about consent, victimization, and power. The aggressor had done similar things to other girls.I encouraged her to not tell the team teacher (a male) in the leadership interview, but instead to find a female teacher she trusted, and start there. If she had been assaulted, that was a separate issue than leadership.I wanted so much to swoop in and lead the charge against this boy. But I also knew this was a moment for my daughter to find her own self power. So, I encouraged action, advised about the blowback and consequences (NOT her fault, but HIS).She talked to the teacher. Who told the counselor. A string of girls came forward with their own stories, one apparently had been all but raped by him (clothes on, but inappropriate touching of the most intimate parts).The school called my wife (good) and suspended the boy for 10 days. A light punishment, but a clear signal that behavior is not acceptable. No one wants to destroy his life. He's young too. Doesn't excuse anything, but hopefully he learned that he cannot victimize women and see no consequence. It's complicated, isn't it?Tomorrow he returns to school, and the social anxiety begins. I hate my daughter has had to experience this, but I am proud that she decided to act, and she has seen that she has advocates and allies beyond mom and dad. The world, by and large, doesn't tolerate this behavior any more.I hope I have done well here. So hard to balance being an overprotective dad with being a supporter who empowers her to act with her own agency. I could make a scene and probably have him arrested - and make her social life even harder.... or let her moderate her own path forward in a measured way, minimizing social blowback.She is a smart smart young woman (number 1 in the class),she has a black belt, and leads well in all she does. I am sure she feels supported by me (and my wife). But geeze.... what do you do?It's been an interesting journey for me. I've had to get comfortable with the phrase sexual assault. There was a time that felt too strong to describe forced kissing. But I'm better with that now. This was well beyond harassment. He violated her body, her agency. Imagine your first kiss being that?No advice sought. Just here to tell the story and get it off my chest. It's been hard for the three weeks I've known about it. I fear tomorrow will start a whole new thing, facing the aggressor again. I hope I can be the dad she needs me to be, every day, through this. She is my heart, removed from my own body and walking about in hers.TLDR: 16yo daughter forcibly kissed on school trip. She downplayed it, but I encouraged action. She spoke up to a teacher, boy suspended. He returns tomorrow. Queue unknown drama coming soon. Loving dad doing his best to be what she needs through it all. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/39bBkgo

"You're the reason for cancel culture!" Yelled the old guy who almost ran into my baby

My wife and I are walking our 14 month old to daycare like we do most mornings, I've got the kiddo in the carrier on my chest. We're almost at an intersection on our quiet residential street when I see a big black SUV coming towards the stop sign so we stop and wait for it to come to a complete stop. It stops 5 feet short of the stop sign, 'awesome, how rare' I think and we start walking through the crosswalk.As soon as we get two feet into the crosswalk he starts moving forward towards us, passing by behind us with only about a foot to spare as we cross the intersection. (Btw: This. Happens. Constantly.)I yell at the guy, something like "Hey, maybe wait for us to cross?!" (not even swearing cause I am wearing my baby) and he stops in the middle of the intersection.He winds down his window and he's some white bearded guy in his early 60s and he starts yelling back at me: "I stopped well short of the intersection!"Me: "Yes, then continued forward while we were still walking through it."Him: "I absolutely did not!"Me: "You accelerated as soon as we stepped foot in the crosswalk. What, you couldn't wait 10 seconds for a baby to move out of the way of your 4,000lb SUV? Was that five seconds too precious for you?"Him: "You're the reason for cancel culture!" Drives offI've had lots of arguments with terrible drivers in this city, but this is the first time I've been accused of being responsible for cancel culture.My wife and I were more confused than angry about the whole thing, and I was way more upset when a minute later I realized I missed the perfect opportunity to just calmly call back: "Ok, Boomer." via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2PtuIC3

Taking unpaid time off to share the load - good idea/bad idea?

Hi new to reddit and looking for a bit of advice. Hope this is in the right place. English is my first and only language so if there are mistakes feel free to rinse me for it.I’m about to become a dad in June, which feels weird to type out. My girlfriend and I didn’t exactly plan this but, after a lot of tears (mostly mine), we’re thrilled about having a family together. At the first scan last year we found out we were expecting twins so, for those of you counting, we’re having two more babies than we thought 6 months ago we’d be having and 100% more babies than we originally anticipated.I talked about this with my manager at work, basically giving her the heads up that I would be putting in for paternity leave. She told me that I have the opportunity to take up to three months of unpaid leave from work on top of the 2 weeks semi-paid paternity leave that we get now. This got me thinking - I have a pretty sick motorbike that is just gathering dust in the garage that's worth just over 2 months wages, so I figure I could sell it and then we can live off the proceeds the two months before I have to go back to work. The bike is basically a toy, I lease a Focus that I use for actual transport, so it won’t be missed (OK, I’ll miss it a bit, it’s matt black and makes really loud noises). My girlfriend will have statutory maternity and is planning to use all 52 weeks before returning to work.I’m not doubting my girlfriends ability to look after two babies, but if we can afford for me to be at home for the first two months then we can both share the load, plus I can bond with the babies at the same time as she does. My girlfriend doesn’t think this is a good idea, she’s convinced that she’s got this and thinks that the other women in her antenatal classes will think she’s a wimp for needing help (it sounds like a lot of them are doing this solo from what I’ve heard). On top of this, my mum gave me some old-fashioned shite about it being the woman’s job to look after babies and the mans job to work, which is total bollocks. Basically everyone is telling me that the money would be better spent on setting up savings accounts for the babies.The bike is definitely going either way, but am I wasting money by taking time off work? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/384GIAK

After you have the baby

I find it sad how, when you announce you're pregnant everyone is so excited saying congrats etc. You have the baby and people say their congrats , come see the baby once, maybe bring a meal...and then...nothing. like I get people are busy with their own lives etc...but having a baby is one of the most difficult times of a mother's life...sleep deprivation, loneliness, ppd, ppa etc.. I just wish more people had asked how I'm doing, how's baby doing. It's like everyone forgets about you , and it shouldn't be like that. Mother's need support, someone to talk to, vent to, share with, it shouldn't be so isolating and lonely. It just makes me sad. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/384W2x5