My MIL is a big crafter and makes us a lot of homemade stuff. It's beautiful things like quilts, toys etc.

I can tell that it takes a lot of time and effort and we use a lot of the things.

Now some stuff is unfortunately dangerous in my opinion. Like a beautiful play mat, but with what feels like hundreds of buttons sewn on. Or a busy book, also full of buttons. In general there is a overuse of tiny buttons on stuff.

With the mat I just cut all the buttons off, the busy book baby only gets when supervised and I'm holding it at all times.

I tried to bring up my safety concerns, but all I get is rolled eyes and that I'm overreacting and that her kids were fine playing with these things etc.

Should I just put everything away till baby is older? Or just keep cutting off everything? It's just so frustrating.

Tonight my 11 year old lost her last baby tooth and I played tooth fairy for the last time (🥲) I’ve kept all of her baby teeth when she’s lost them and so now I’m realizing I have the full set lol. So what should I do with them? Like I feel like now that this phase is over I should bury them or do something with them. Any ideas?

My daughter started kindergarten and was very excited to start following a big girl routine. I very much want her to have discipline / responsibility/ life skills so we developed a short check list of after school things to do. The rule is when she gets home from school she is to wash her hands, unload her lunch box and put the dishes in the sink, and put a snack and fresh water bottle in her backpack for the next day. It takes just a few minutes but I feel it is really important for her to get into a routine and also will help her build confidence / long term life skills. She is also responsible for practicing the piano for 10+ minutes and that’s pretty much the routine.

When she is with me she definitely still needs prompting from time to time but she gets her little routine done after school.

I work two nights weekly and when my husband is caring for her after school everything goes by the way side. Piano is skipped some the time because he has bad time management skills TBH but the other after school routine never gets done. I always come home late at night when she’s in bed and find the snacks and water bottle not packed. It’s a small thing but it irks the crap out of me because these small habits are setting a foundation for a life of success. It’s also undermining because I work so hard to help her be responsible and establish a routine and it’s like one step forward, two back.

I am just insane and rigid and asking too much? I’ve talked to him about this multiple times but tonight walked in to the same situation.

I’m trying to decide if this is just a personal problem/annoyance….or if it’s something that should be corrected.

To be clear, I do not text anyone except my wife or mother on my personal phone when my kids are awake/around. I consider my phone behavior to be acceptable.

My kids (twins, 9) will regularly come up from behind me and start reading the texts. Today, my daughter asked me why it mattered if they saw what I wrote to mommy. It’s a good question. But sometimes we are talking about school, kids at school, teachers, etc.

Is it inappropriate behavior for my kids to hover and read my texts? Or is this a personal problem?

Thanks.

My child (7) is never quiet. She talks on and on and on from the second she wakes up until she falls asleep. Her teachers have all commented on how much she talks. It’s exhausting. I have a one year old and sometimes at the end of the day I reflect on the day and I can’t recall just talking to the baby or having a meaningful interaction beyond basic care. She takes up all the space in the room. She behaved this way before the baby was born, but I feel like I notice it more or it bothers me more. I usually try to tune it out but it hard. Does your child do this? What causes this 😅

The biggest issue I have is her texting me from school, relying on me to help her make decisions she should be making on her own. I HATE that they allow phones in school. Not in the classroom. But everywhere else during the day. “Should I go for geometry help during lunch?” “Ugh I forgot my Invisalign” “I’m so stressed I have so much homework” “Should I email the athletic director and what should I say?”

She’s a sensitive kid, very indecisive, stresses a lot, and has anxiety. But a really good kid. We’ve talked a LOT about her needing to make her own decisions. I really feel like I don’t coddle her and I don’t always help her out when she texts me throughout the day - I often give a quick “your decision” or “I’m busy, good luck” response. Which I often am! I work (my schedule is very fluid, sometimes I’m at home and sometimes not) but it’s often pretty grating to be getting texts about things my 15 year old should be figuring out on her own during my workday.

I think I really need to set some boundaries here and have a talk about this or this issue isn’t going away. She’ll likely be in college in 3 years or wherever she is at 18 she just can’t be texting mom about every little thing. Or god forbid what if something happens to me, I might not always be around for her in a time of need. My biggest concern though is that she’s using this as a crutch because she’s had a lot of social struggles, especially recently. Her closest friend ditched her and she’s struggling to find her place at school. Sometimes she has no one to talk to at lunch, so I know it’s a relief to be able to chat with me a bit or to vent. She had a really really tough time with lunch at the end of last year and it really broke my heart.

It’s hard to find people who can relate to this because most people’s teenagers want nothing to do with them! My daughter on the other hand wants to talk and be with me constantly. And yes while it is in some ways nice, it just worries me that she’s not maturing as she should and gaining her independence. Ironically she did go away for 2 weeks this summer and thrived, and I thought maybe we’d see some changes, but now with the new school year I feel like we are right back to square one.

Ok forgive me if this is rambling and all over the place. I’m just really struggling and unsure how to handle this. It feels like a really big deal to me and I’m kind of spiraling.
I have a very sweet and sensitive 6 year old first grader. Hes pretty open and honest with us which I love and hope he continues to be.
Tonight we had our babysitter over. She is a super sweet girl and she’s young and fashionable but never inappropriately dressed for babysitting. I’ve never had one weird feeling about anything she’s ever worn to our house. She is heavier than anyone in our family, but I have never labeled her in my mind as “fat” at all.
After she left, my son came and said “I want to tell you something but I don’t want it to make you mad at me”. I told him I wouldn’t be mad I just want him to be honest. He made me lean down so he could whisper even though no one else was in the house. He said “I don’t like it when fat people wear dresses. Like when “babysitter” wore that dress tonight it made me feel bad. I didn’t like it. I only like it when she wears t shirts and big clothes”. (She wasn’t even wearing a dress so not sure where that came from. She had on a tank top and sweatpants.).
I am FLOORED. First of all, we don’t even say fat or skinny in our house. We literally never say those words to describe anyone. Ever. The closest thing to labeling someone’s body is when I joke about our teeny pipsqueak baby who was a preemie and has always been small. One time I said she’s the strongest little pipsqueak and the big kids thought it was hilarious so it kind of stuck. Otherwise, we never draw attention to people’s bodies in that way. Because it’s truly not a big deal in our household. Which I think is why this is bothering me so much.
I tried to not act shocked or disappointed because I didn’t want to shame him or make him think he can’t tell me things. I just said “oh. Hmmm. I wonder why that makes you feel bad. Do you know?” And he said no and ran out to play.
My husband wasn’t home yet and I wasn’t even sure what to say so we haven’t brought it up again but I would love any and all advice.
It breaks my heart that he even has these feelings or even thinks of this girl as fat because honestly in my opinion she’s not! And I don’t want him ever looking down on someone he deems bigger for wearing clothing he doesn’t think they should be wearing. Ughhh even typing that out makes me cringe. I cannot stress enough how we do NOT talk about peoples bodies or clothing other than saying “Oo I love your outfit!” Or something. Where is this coming from and what should I do to address it??? Help!

Okay this might sound ridiculous but please tell me I'm not the only one 😂

My baby has started waking up the second I put him down after falling asleep.

So for the past few weeks I've been doing this whole ridiculous operation where I warm the spot on the bed with a hot water bottle, remove it before putting him down, put my hand on the mattress for a minute, then VERY slowly slide my hand out and pray to god 😂

Today I was doing this at 2am and thought...

WHY AM I ENGINEERING A FAKE WARM SPOT ON A MATTRESS AT TWO IN THE MORNING??

Surely other parents have figured out some better solution to this??

And it got me wondering what other completely ridiculous little hacks everyone has developed because the actual product doesn't exist / doesn't work / is just not worth buying.

What is your most unhinged baby hack? 😂

My kid’s school keeps planting seedlings as a project. So we are on the 3rd or 4th one. (And it is still pre-k.) I had a few herbs growing on a windowsill and my kid was excited for his plants to join them every time they sprouted something. I have fortunately (unfortunately?) improved at keeping plants alive and now have several pots of plants taking up the entirety of my south facing windowsills. Are we all keeping all of these plants? Letting them die “accidentally”? If they keep sending home plants idk how long it will last. There is no yard. No outside growing location. Just 6 ft tall plants in my living room.

Son is a 7th grader and just simply hates school. He seems to have many school friends, is a good student, no behavior problems. We just can’t figure it out. Today was the first day of school and again this year he just hates it! How do your middle schoolers feel about school?

I’d love to hear what you all are going as! Also…. Any suggestions for a triangle family? He will be 18mo for Halloween. We’re a huge Halloween family, but I always panic when choosing a costume!. Now that I have to theme THREE? Oh lord. So I thought I’d start early 😂

We are hosting our annual Halloween party, and our theme is witches. I’m not fully set on us having to dress in party theme, though. It’s more for the food and deco. But I do like the idea of all 3 of us having a group costume, especially since this is probably our last year where it’s more our choice than his.

Happy Spooky Season! 🎃 👻

I desperately need advice. My ASD level 1 son is saying he doesn’t want a party this year (birthday is in a month) and wants us to pretend his birthday is just a normal day.

We moved in the middle of the school year earlier this year to a new district and he starts school back up again next week and so that’s been challenging. He has not seen any friends from his old school/neighborhood except once, and a few times played an online game with an old school friend.

He seemed to make friends at his new school and had one over for a play date but then didn’t want to play with him again. His new teacher said he seemed to be making friends. But I know he is very shy and withdrawn socially.

He says he has no friends, nobody likes him and has low self esteem. But then he will turn around and mention someone at school as a “friend” so it’s hard to know what he really means by this.

I’m worried he doesn’t want a party because he thinks no one would want to come and so not having a party would reinforce this belief. But I also want to respect his wishes.

I am torn between having no party, or a small party (but worried that will put more pressure on him and emphasize any social awkwardness), or a party where I invite his whole new class plus some old friends (maybe more kids will be a bigger buffer for awkward social feelings?).

I need help please. I feel immensely guilty that I have not been keeping up on social relationships for him but have been very overwhelmed myself.

Hi everyone, I am a married 26F with a 3 year old boy, and he will be just over 3.5 when the baby is born. I am only 6 weeks pregnant with my 2nd, and this pregnancy was wanted, to our surprise we ended up pregnant on the first try which was the complete opposite of the 1st time around. I have been nothing but grateful and excited for this pregnancy, until today. It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks that everything is going to change, and be so so so so so so so so soooooo much harder than it already is.

Im not sure if its the pregnancy hormones and first trimester exhaustion along with having a 3 year old but I just have no patience for my toddlers tantrums right now, we're in the thick of potty training, I work full time opposite shifts of my husband so we are the only childcare we have besides my in laws that live down the road from us, but they work full time too and I won't want to put watching two kids on them very often.

Im terrified about our routine changing, about how my toddler is going to adjust, about how this will financially affect our future and whether we made the right choice for our son to give him a sibling rather than using that money and time to foster the best life for him. I am terrified that he will hate being a big sibling, that there will be jealousy, or that my relationship with him will become different, im terrified that I will be so focused on keeping the baby safe that I will grow resentful of my toddler...

I work from home so I'll literally have no break between working and clocking out and parenting two young children fighting for my attention, idek I can't even really form a fully coherent thought about what exactly im terrified of, today was just a rough day and I'm just so terrified we made a horrible mistake. Anyone with two kids, especially with this age gap please give me any advice you can, don't feel the need to sugarcoat it... thank you for listening to my rant.

We’re currently on vacation, and my son (3 1/2) must have picked something up. He has the normal sick stuff. Fever, tiredness, the works (no coughing). This would be fine if our flight home wasn’t for tomorrow! What can i even do? His father and I have to get back to work, and we have nowhere to stay past our Airbnb reservation here. Can you fly with a sick kid? It should only be a ~3 hour flight, but even the airport is a lot for a poor sick baby. I’m lost on what to do and stressed beyond measure. 🫠🫩

My mother is very overbearing. She often makes me doubt my own parenting skills and the ability to have more kids (I currently have one toddler and want to have more).

She'll just say the most hurtful thing. I know in my heart that I'm a good mother, but she makes me feel weak and not good enough.

What helps you feel confident as a parent and overcome criticism from other people?

My son and I met a family who is at the same school as he is and who happens to live right down the street.
I talk to the mom often and we tried to get our boys together almost weekly last year when they were in TK. We stopped over the summer because I was welcoming a new baby and they were always around people who were sick.

My son loves other kids but it seems like not a lot of kids love to play with him. He loves tractors, construction, monster trucks and all of that.

I have noticed that prior to me having the new baby, my son seems very excited to play with boy from down the street. But it doesn’t seem to be reciprocated. When my son would go over to his house to play, the boy wouldn’t play with him much, only boss my son around and tell him he isn’t allowed to play with x toys.

Recently my son has mentioned that he has tried to play with the boy at recess but the boy keeps telling him no he doesn’t want to play with my son. My son mentioned he felt really sad that the boy didn’t want to play with him.

Do I keep scheduling playdates even though it seems like the boy doesn’t really like my son? My son says his best friend is the boy down the street.

My 11 and 5 year old demand things instead of asking in a sentence. It’s obnoxious and super rude. For example, if my 11 year old wants to go to Dunkin she’ll say “Dunkin” instead of asking nicely. Or if my 5 year old wants another bowl of cereal she’ll just say “cereal.”

We absolutely didn’t teach our kids to act like this. We are constantly teaching them manners and reminding them to speak nicely. They don’t do this with anyone else… wtf did I do wrong and how can I fix this? It makes me feel like I’m not even a person to them at this point.

We are striving hard for 8-8:30 but usually end up somewhere around 8:30 to 9. I’ve spoken to other parents and they are strict 6-7pm and I can’t fathom it. Between activities and WFH it just doesn’t feel possible. They are both up by 7:30, it will absolutely be earlier with school starting for the older one in a few days.

I feel like a failure on that front. Trying to implement better routines but the day truly just gets away.

I’d love to hear others bedtimes and your overall routine.

Any tips/hacks for working parents so that they're organised for meal times, school runs etc.

Want to minimise stress as much as possible.

Hi Everyone! I got 2 kiddos - 11M and 6F.

The girl is heavily into dance and the boy went through soccer and martial arts over the years.

I’ve run out of storage space for their uniforms.

I don’t feel comfortable donating their old uniforms to charity…because who would wear them? Especially the kids dance outfits.

What do you guys typically do with the old stuff?

Thanks so much !!!

How do you find time to shower, eat, cook, do laundry, or even use the bathroom when your newborn needs you constantly?

My parents are helping right now, but they’ll be leaving soon, and I’m already stressed about managing everything alone. Especially when I need to use the bathroom or take a shower and there’s no one else around to watch the baby. What do you do if the baby starts crying while you’re in the bathroom? Do you leave the baby somewhere safe and go anyway, or wait until they’re calm?

I’d love to hear your realistic newborn survival tips!

We are doing some renovations and have a room (a converted attic floor to livable space with fairly high ceilings) dedicated to a play room. I was looking into some climbing structures (indoors) with foam mats, or like a Little Rock climbing situation up one wall , but I’m curious if people who did this find their kid doesn’t actually uses the space and if they felt it was worth it. There are infinite options online (swings/climbers/foam pits). Does anyone have any suggestions/personal experience/recommended items. My son is 2 and we have another one coming but I want it to last a few years atleast.

I have a 3 year old that recently seems to have intense tantrum. She would scream, cry, shout and sometimes hit. These tantrum can last anywhere between 20-45 minutes. Its always so intense and it took so much out of me to try and calm her down. Im trying to find patterns for her trigger but sometimes its saying the wrong thing upsets her. On a bad week this can happen multiple times a day or a couple of nights in a row (lasting at least half an hour).

Is this normal? Anyone elses kids are this intense? We are flying overseas in December (not her first trip) but i have major anxiety now since shes been having these intense tantrum/meltdown.

Also, parents how do you regulate yourself after an intense tantrum. Its been nearly an hour and I feel like my body is still in a fight/flight mode 🫠

My 2 older kids are going back to school on Thursday (Pre-K and 5th grade.) Both are in the same school as last year so it isn’t a huge transition for them. However, as a parent I am still so nervous for them. I get like this every year. I absolutely dread the start of a new school year and get anxious for them. Do other parents feel this way? If so, at what age does it end?

My kiddo was informed that someone is spreading rumors that they threatened people and the school. Person claims they have screen shots of these conversations. Unfortunately before kiddo heard of rumors, they blocked Person and deleted their chat, so kiddo can't even looks to see what they are talking about.

Kiddo is 10000% nothing was ever said or could be construed as a threat of violence against a person or place. May said they hate people or the school but kiddo is a super woke, empathetic and a socially conscious bleeding heart person so I believe when they say nothing of that sort was ever said.

As soon as I heard this I emailed the guidance counselor that I needed them to call me right away so that we can resolve this before it escalates. Those kind of accusations aren't to be played around with. To me, things like this as well as other drama and fallouts that kiddo has had with that peer group constitute as bullying.

For those of you who have experienced this how seriously did your school take complaints? Kiddo is terrified that by reporting this it will only make things worse. I'd like to believe that if they continue to do things like this it would equal expulsion because I always hear there's zero tolerance with bullying but what is the real world likely hood of this?

Unfortunately there's no availability in virtual school for our County and all the classes kiddo is taking are high school level courses, so transferring to another Middle School would be unlikely. Maybe we can get them skipped a grade? I would just like to hear of other experiences so I know what to expect from the can of worms that has been opened.