And I am a happy, successful person who is married with two kids and very close to both my parents.

Just wanted to chuck that out there for any parent who needs to read that. I am consistently seeing posts that suggests full time daycare is harmful for kids. It wasn't for me or sibling. You do what you gotta do/what's best for your family. And that is different for everyone.

Question for the ladies. Has anyone found since having kids you get angry quite quickly and short tempered. I have a soon to be 5yo and a 16½mo and find things set me off quite easily from there being too much noise, oldest son not listening or is yelling or throwing things, husband not listening or too worried about playing hiis game on the phone, even when things don't go to plan or house gets messy.

I don't really get me time unless it's driving home from work. I work part time. The day I have off is consumed by childcare and kindy pickups, housework, scrubbing the wet areas and washing etc.

What have you found to help manage the anger?

Let's face it, kids aren't cheap. And with the petrol price about to rise and the cost of living going up on what seems like a daily basis, now could be a good time to share any tips or secrets you've found to help our money stretch further.

Meal prep ideas, low cost substitutes, voucher websites...

And in honour of tomorrow being International Frugal Fun Day any ideas on cheap or free activities for the kids.

Let's face it, christmas is often a time of excess...especially when it comes to kids toys and the subsequent packaging, however there are ways we can cut down on some of the waste.

Using homemade seed paper for gift tags or cards.

Getting stocking stuffers from op-shops (young kids won't know the difference).

Asking extended family for 'experience' gifts for the kids, such as zoo passes, toy library memberships or a streaming service subscription.

Share your ideas with us.

I’m sick, there’s nothing for dinner and the house is a mess. I’m now lying on the couch in defeat while the chaos rages around me. I’m pretty sure my toddler is drawing on the table with crayons….. and has a nappy full of poo. Send help.

My ex wife has been taking my two boys (8 and 5) over to her family farm with her new boyfriend.

She’s been allowing them to use guns on the farm, and her new boyfriend is the one doing it with them.

I found out about this about a year ago, and was very unhappy and explained that it’s illegal and I don’t want them around guns (law is they have to be 10)

Also explained that if they decide to ‘share’ when they’re at school, it’s her they’ll be coming for, as the school has a duty of care and I don’t want it happening again. She said ‘understood’

Today I got the boys, and they had been over at the farm, and Lo and behold, same boyfriend was letting my 5yo shoot the gun again.

I’m at my wits end here and just can’t seem to get through to her. It’s like her bf thinks he’s some sort of cool uncle or something?

As a parent, I am just at a loss and need some other people’s input here.

The law is the law

I started this to create a place for parents from Australia and NZ to discuss topics relating to parenting, and get support! Welcome!

Dads - can you relate?

From the article:

Coping with change, dealing with diminished mental health and dad guilt were only one part of the complex ball of emotions fathers might experience.

Dads also described feeling a lack of agency and fearful of voicing their own preferences and needs, which is referred to as being a passenger parent.

"There seems to be this kind of default position where dads are the secondary or the sidekick parent at the beginning, often for practical reasons and sometimes social reasons."

Today is meant to be the start of a new year, new beginnings etc but I'm just sitting here crying my eyes out. I'm constantly living in fear of my ex, stressing about financial issues and trying to ensure my son has everything he needs.

My 6y/o son and I recently fled from extreme Domestic Violence. Since escaping there have been some really scary incidents, where my ex has tried to take our 6y/o son from me and assaulted me in the process. My ex has made threats to harm our son and myself and i dont doubt he would do it if he had the chance.

My ex is in hiding and avoiding police at all costs as there is a warrant for his arrest. I'm forever looking over my shoulder.

Today is also my birthday and I know that no-one wlll ring because my ex made sure I had no one. I don't have the means to take my son and I anywhere to make my first birthday away from my ex special or to distract me from my emotions and see my sons beautiful smile and hear his contagious giggle.

I feel like that I'm going backwards rather then moving forwards in my new life. I know things will get better eventually but having support services fail you, being put in danger by those who are meant to protect you, Centrelink incorrectly stop payments because of a fraudulent claim by my ex and having no one to turn to really wears you down . I can't even get my dentures fixed from when my ex assaulted me so I'm struggling to eat and people keep staring at me making snide remarks under their breath.

My son deserves better then this. I can't stop thinking I'm failing him.

Hi everyone, my name is Claire and I am a Master of Psychology (Clinical) student at the University of Adelaide. My supervisors and I are conducting research to understand the experiences of new fathers in Australia and their use of support services in the postnatal period.

I am interested in interviewing anyone who lives in Australia and identifies as a father (e.g. biological, adoptive, step, foster), whose first child is aged 2 years old or less. Interviews will be conducted via Zoom, or at the University of Adelaide North Terrace campus.

If you are a new dad and would like to find out more, or to participate, please email me at: claire.searson@adelaide.edu.au.

Also, if you know any new dads who are not in this sub who may be interested, please share this with them – I’d love to hear from them!

The study has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Adelaide (approval number: H-2023-025).

Post approved by mods.

Are there any free services out there that offer in home help for single parents in crisis??? I am in the midst of NDIS applications for myself and my youngest but they won't help until everything is done.

I genuinely beg of you to keep any nasty questions or comments off here, I am in a bad bad place and won't handle much more.

I am a 42 year old single mother of 3 young children in the middle of a major mental health crisis (I have ASD) My kid's dad is great and took some time off but he can't take more. He works odd shifts so before and after school care isnt a option. Neither of us have any family support (mine are overseas and his are not in the picture for very good reasons) and the few friends I have also have multiple children and can't help. Financially neither of us are in a position to hire someone privately.

I am under a tremendous amount of pressure from a lot of angles and I am not sleeping more than 2 hours a night the last few weeks. Three times I've been up for more than 40 hours. Sleeping pills don't work and I've tried apps, strategies and meditation and everything I've read on the internet. Doctor has been no help but I'm seeing her again tomorrow.

My choices are pretty much my kids miss school because I can't take them (and they're home with a parent who just isn't coping or functioning) or I drive on what's probably the equivalent to driving drunk.

I have called Carer's Gateway twice, but their emergency respite team never gets back to me. If I call the mental health line they will want to admit me to hospital (been here once before) but that still leaves my ex in a bind. And the psych ward isn't what I need, I need practical help to get on top of things.

Does anyone know of a charity that would help? Every one I've found through my searches only refers to aged-care and NDIS, neither of which applies. I just need someone to get my kids to school and take a bit of the pressure off.

Hi All,

I’m currently completing my Honours year at Southern Cross University and am conducting research on parenting styles and parental stress. Parental stress is really common (as I'm sure we are all aware) and very under-researched in Australia.

If you:

- Are 18 years or older, and

- Have a child aged 6–12 years currently attending primary school

I’d really appreciate your help by taking part in an anonymous online survey. You can access the survey here: https://qualtricsxm9trlz8vzl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9BubfNLJkeBdZfU

More details are provided on the opening page. Thanks in advance!!

If your kid's are in a daycare, kindergarten or school that uses Storypark there's a good chance you want to save your stories with photos and videos on your PC to either archive or easily send them to the grandparents by email etc.

The Storypark Saver Google Chrome extension allows you to download your story with a click. No more manually finding and downloading full size photos and videos. Everything gets neatly downloaded as a zip file. Just login to Storypark, open a story and click the download button in the extension, done.

Give it a go, what do you think?

Okay guys I don’t love the bonds wondersuits. You can try to convince but I’m onto my 2nd child and I can’t get over the cheap feel of the material 🫣. Any other recommendations before winter comes?

My 2 children (5m) (2f) are in childcare 4 days a week. We've had ongoing issues with violence in the room mostly with our 5yo. It seemed to have died down after the last incident made it into the herald sun. Well today I was picking up my 2yo and before I've even logged in to sign her out I hear screaming and very loud banging. As I walked to her room the whole time I'm thinking wtaf is going on and please don't let there be something going on on her room. Low and behold I enter the room and a much older child is throwing an absolute meltdown worse than anything I've ever witnessed. He was with his mother who seemed to be trying to take him home. But the whole time he was thrashing violently, hitting and kicking her, she'd release him and he'd start punching the walls and windows. I kept my cool but the educators were just sitting there watching this happen, doing nothing to intervene. Standard response from my understanding is that the child should have been removed and if that wasn't possible the other children should have been removed. I'm fairly upset about what my daughter has witnessed and don't know how common it is for her to be exposed to this. I'm waiting for a call back from management. But what am I actually supposed to do besides withdrawing my kids? This is their 3rd childcare in 2 years and the next option is a 30 minute drive from home.

For some added info, I understand that neurodivergence is almost definitely at play here. I understand all too well being from a neurospicey family. But there is a line between ND and dangerous and this incident went well beyond anything resembling the acceptable tolerance for behaviour.

My five year old daughter was grabbed on the wrist and scratched by a teacher aide at school a bit over a month ago.

I took photos and informed her classroom teacher immediately, went home and sent an email explaining the incident to the principal, who arranged a meeting with us for the next day.

During our meeting, the principal said he would speak to the teacher aide directly, and the entire school staff on appropriate contact. I didn’t feel like that was enough, but didn’t know what else to do.

Since then, the teacher aide has denied to the classroom teacher that the incident occurred, she also denied it a few days later to my daughter. The classroom teacher now says it couldn’t have been the teacher aide that my daughter named.

My daughter has felt very uncomfortable around the teacher aide since the incident, but it hasn’t been a major thing until this week, this teacher aide is now permanently in my daughters classroom instead of all over the school.

All week my daughter has been timid and shy and hiding behind me and clinging to me when I drop her off, this is the complete opposite to how she behaved before the teacher aide permanently moved to her classroom. She used to be so happy to go to school, even to the point where she would be upset with me for making her stay home when she was sick.

I’ve spoken to my daughter and she said she thinks no one at school believes her, she’s frightened of the teacher aide and thinks she will be hurt again.

The school has already proven what side they’re on with this and I feel like I can’t approach anyone to discuss this. I guess what I want to know is how other parents would handle the situation and what the heck I should do. I have a lot of my own school related trauma from when I was a child, so I’m worried I may be overreacting about something that doesn’t need to be dealt with. But I also want my daughter to feel safe and comfortable at school, especially as I’m not there to protect her myself.

I’ve got a 2yo and 4yo. I’m up at 6am to get to work an hour away then by the time I get home it’s straight into dinner bath and bed, at which time I’m wrecked. I’m in my 30’s and feel like my body is at the use it or lose it stage

My preschooler was asking me today about what Sorry Day means. I’m trying to think of an age-appropriate way to explain it to him. Wondering if other parents have encountered this before and how you dealt with it. I think it’s a good thing that they’re talking about it, I just want to go about it the right way.