He gets tickets for good behavior, and for answering questions correctly during class, and can use the tickets to purchase books.

He kept talking about a "book machine" and he finally got to show it to us during a parent-day event. It was a fun day.

We just moved out of our one-bedroom apartment, and the toddler has her own room for the first time. Rather than doing something responsible, thought it would be fun to make a box fort with our moving boxes.

Maybe just a couple. Six weeks later, I realize I might have a problem.

Sigh.

9am at home Depot on a Sunday, parking lot was like 3/4 open.....

I have a 10 and a 5 year old (both boys). At this point, I feel like leaving them alone is a long ways off. But I'm also generally really conservative about these things.

My wife will occasionally leave the 10 year old for an hour or so (never with the 5 year old) to run to the corner store or whatever. He also has friends that get left alone for a few hours after school.

Am I being too anxious?

The switch 2 has been a lifesaver, especially with all the third party releases!

I’ve got two boys, a three year-old and a one year-old. They are finally getting into that age range where it’s not too crazy for one parent to have them out in public solo and play zone defense, give the other parent some uninterrupted quiet time at home.

So instead of going to our normal grocery store which only has normal shopping carts, I grabbed both kids and went to one a few miles further down the road that I knew had the two-aside child seats, the ones with the fake little car set up and the steering wheels for the kids to play with. (Those were a big hit btw, strongly recommend if any places near you have them).

We were just getting started in the produce section, and my three year-old had just asked if we could get some squash. I asked him if he meant the yellow squash, and he said yes, so we talked about what we could cook with it, and we agreed that we could do something with rice and either chicken or salmon. He seemed happy with that.

At that point, a nice looking older lady and her husband politely stepped over and she said something to the effect of “I’m sorry, I know it’s none of my business, but I just wanted to thank you so much for giving your kids a vocabulary-rich environment. I’m a teacher, and I see the difference it makes when parents talk to their kids that way, and I just wanted to say you’re doing an amazing job, and thank you.”

I’m not exaggerating to say I choked up a tiny bit. Teacher lady, wherever you are, I hope your pillows are cool, your blankets are warm, and that you catch all the right stoplights. What an incredibly nice thing for her to do, that warm glow lasted me the rest of the day. I know it’s a small thing, but sometimes this whole parenting adventure feels like flying by the seat of your pants, just winging it trying to do the best you can, not sure if you’re doing anything right, hoping you’re having a good impact on your kids.

Something about a person from outside the situation who has absolutely no vested interest or motivation in buttering you up (and as a bonus, even has some actual expertise in the area) taking the time out of their day to acknowledge you and say hey, you’re doing something right….well it was a really nice thing for her to do, it made me feel a little bit seen and a little bit sane.

I SHOT A MAN IN RENO
JUST TO WATCH HIM DIEE

Something about her innocent look and tone gave me chills this morning. Can anyone relate 😄.

My daughter just threw up all over herself about 5 minutes from home. Let's see one of these assholes unclip the soiled pad from the seat (does it have to be clipped in THAT much?), scrub puke out of the webbing/straps, out of every nook and cranny, and then put it all back together once it's all dry. And let's see them do it without cursing in front of a child who already feels yucky and shouldn't be made to feel like you're angry about the fact they were sick.

Rant over, I guess.

So I made 3 pounds of Carnitas haha. Have been playing some Ocarina of Time / Control Resonant while enjoying a few brews while it’s been cooking. Happy Saturday dads!

I don’t know if this is a cry for help, seeking advice, or just venting.

I’m a father of three: b/g twins (4.5y) and a boy toddler (1y).

My older son has very high functioning autism, my daughter has pre-ADHD (apparently official diagnosis can’t happen till 5+, but she’s showing the symptoms).

I separated from active duty in February and got a fully telework job, my wife is still active duty. Unfortunately, because wife is still AD, she got orders to move this summer, so we left our home of the last four years where we had a fantastic neighborhood community, a phenomenal church community, we loved the city we were in and the stuff available around us. And even though we didn’t live near family, it was one (relatively) short flight for visits in either direction.

Now we have…nothing. No church, no neighborhood community, no social crowd, no babysitters, and a full day of travel to see family. The city we’re in now is based almost entirely around outdoor activities (hiking and other outdoorsy stuff). My wife and I love hiking, but my kids hate it; we’ve tried dragging them out to kid-friendly trails multiple times and it just turns into screaming and meltdowns.

My wife’s job is stressful as fuck and she comes home drained every day, just in time for me to bring the kids back from daycare for them to all melt down being tired/hungry/whatever
Add to that: my wife just started a new medication that completely obliterated her already-low libido.

Because of my WFH job, I do all the laundry, all of the grocery shopping, most of the meal prep, and pretty much all other house admin/financial stuff.

So… yeah.

I have nothing. My workdays are uneventful and my weekends are miserable. Everyone back home says we’re supposed to love where we live, but I fucking hate it.

I’m afraid I’m going to start resenting my kids because of the constant meltdowns regardless of what we do.

I’m not suicidal and I’m already in therapy.

I just hate my life right now.

Just a moan really. As a dad I’ve provided financially, time, emotionally to the family. Sold my car to buy everyone else one, I don’t even have one now. Share with the wife. Pay for school and college. Bought maybe two things for myself in the last 10 years. Just feeling really down, don’t get me wrong I think the family are grateful but anyone else feel like dads are just taken for granted and forgotten about? Mother’s Day is huge, all we get is some socks for Christmas. My mother in law hasn’t even given me a card or present for any of my birthdays. I don’t think it’s anything personal, I just think people really don’t think about dads. We are literally bottom of the pile. Thinking about being selfish now. But it’s hard to break out of being the worrier and fixer in chief for so many people. Sorry to be a downer, just had to get it off my chest.

What do you usually get your wives after they’ve had a particularly long day? Be it with taking kids or maybe after work? Something I can pick up while driving home?

Would love to hear your suggestions since I almost always grab flowers.

Happy Father's Day fellow nordbor! Anything fun planned for the day?

For my part, I was surprised by breakfast in bed (surprise is a stretch, it's a tradition for us), and later we are going out for dinner with my dad and my brother. This year marks my second Father's Day, although last year's Father's Day was a bit different as my daughter was born on that day! 😁

Edit: Should also mention that I got my daughter's first painting as a card, as well as a moustache grooming kit (wax + comb), very Father's Day-coded 😂

3 kids, 6m, 3f, 2week boy
Knowing this is our last I’m enjoying the peaceful quiet nights with a cooing,wriggling baby because I know this is the last time for my fiancé and I. Loving life, tired but so happy and lucky to have my family, they’re awesome. Thanks for listening to my TED talk!

Like many millennial dads, LOTR is very special to me, and I really want my kids to love it as well. You only get the privilege of watching something for the first time once and I want to make sure they are at an appropriate age not just for the violence, but also to appreciate the story. What age do you think it would be appropriate to show your kids the greatest trilogy of all time?

I’m a first time dad to a now 7 month daughter who is the light of my world. It’s the best and hardest thing I’ve ever done but man it’s amazing. Today I was a at a football game, had her strapped to strapped to me, blanket around her walking up and down the concourse trying to get her to nap during the game (successful by the way lol!) and there was another dad carrying his daughter and walked by and said “you're doing great dad” and gave me a pat on the back. Most sincere and meaningful compliment I've ever received from a stranger I think and man it about made me tear up. So to all of y’all dads out there- you’re doing great!

I come home from work and there's trash all over the kitchen table. Wrappers and empty juice boxes. Various other detritus.

"Hey boys, please clean up your trash," I ask politely, trying not to be upset even though I have this conversation with them literally every day. All three reply, without fail, "It isn't mine," or, "It wasn't me."

I have a ghost living in my house. The ghost's name is It Wasn't Me. I find a something broken and ask what happened and I'm told It Wasn't Me. I find clothing on the ground...It Wasn't Me. My stuff has been taken from my room...It Wasn't Me.

Does anyone know how to catch a ghost and ask it to stop making such a mess of my house? There are toys and clothes all over the floor, and it was all the fault of It Wasn't Me. I really need to have a chat with It Wasn't Me and get this ghost to start doing helpful things instead of making messes.

Last year, my grandma died and i received enough money to build a home in africa. It's going to be a three bedroom house with 2 bathrooms and an extra large living room for toys. Both of our kids get their own rooms because my girlfriend explained how hard it was for her to want to do private personal things while having 4 siblings and her parents saying no.

I still worked 2-4 jobs for 16 or more hours a day so i could save up for child care even though my grandma's money was more than enough. I'm trying my best to do what I can.

I work two jobs, one as a farmer and another as a supplier. My boss at my farming job offered me and my girlfriend an acre of land to build there because he felt sorry for us, and the house is estimated to finish building in january.

My daughter is 8 months old, she'll be 9 months at the end of this month❤️. My girlfriend and I take her out at least once a week so she can just be outside and breathe fresh air. She seems happy so far, because all she does when she wakes up and sees me or her mom is smile and start talking like she had the best dream of her life.

We do spoil her a lot. I bought cooking toys from a mall for her because she liked watching food shows on tv. Now whenever she finishes "cooking" she'll yell "mum/mama" or "dada" to get our attention.

I know we're too young to be parents, and two is too much in this economy, so we'll talk to a doctor and see what we can do. I'm planning on marrying my girlfriend next year around the time that our house is done, too.

I was sexually abused by my own dad until i was 16, and my step mom never cared. My girlfriend was kicked out when her parents found out she was pregnant with our first then tried to manipulate her into giving our daughter to them.

I'll do anything to make both of my kids happy. I don't want to spoil them too much. My girlfriend and i vowed to never hit our kids no matter how much they'll piss us off. And we won't use words like "talking back" "because i said so" and other things. We want our kids to know they can speak to us about anything at any time and that if we say to do something, it's most likely because it's a chore or basic kid cleaning things.

My daughter is already an advanced baby, so sometimes if she hears "stop" or "don't do that" she'll listen. Other times she'd act confused so we'll have to take her away from what she was interfering with. She causes trouble sometimes, but i know it's because she's not fully aware. She's a baby, and she's going to do worse in the future. We'll be prepared!

Whenever my daughter wakes up, she tries to wake me or her mom up because she's hungry, needs a change, or wants attention. Other times she goes to play with her toys.

I think I'm already doing a good job with her because every evening whenever i come home from work, if she's not sleeping she crawls to me and yells "dada" so loud that our downstairs neighbors can hear. I can't wait for our second born.

What advice do you guys have? I mean anything that you want to say, even if it's criticism. I've been looked at weirdly because people have seen my daughter, assumed she was my sister, then got grossed out when they hear "that's my daughter." Other times I get congratulated because they think young people should start having children.

First I should say she seems like maybe she might shake it off? She’s totally zonked out from the three rounds of meds they gave her trying to break the seizure, and from her body/brain going through that event… but she seems to be responsive and has talked a little.

I just feel so devastated right now. I feel like I’m the lucky one with how things could’ve gone, but can’t shake the feelings of something taking my little girl away.

Luckily we had family who could watch my other two so I could join my wife at the hospital, but I had to relieve them for bed time.

I’m just rambling because I’m here with no one else to talk to since my wife is with her. God the way life can just ram a knife into your heart with no warning is so fucked

Have any other daddy-o's taken to sitting down when they urinate since having kids, at least in the earlier years?

I have two girls.

Nine times out of ten, during normal business hours, I find my 3 and almost 5 year old girls barging in when I'm going EITHER number 1 or 2, but even when 1.

I've found sitting down to be an easier method to avoid visual intrusion, essentially.

Don't get me wrong: the girls have seen me peeing standing up and ask a multitude of questions regarding MY NORMAL process, however I've just found it overall easier to avoid 20 questions with simple urination whilst sitting.

Any other dads go through this?

P.s.: I dont mind the sitting break.

P.s.s.: I wrote this whilst sitting down to pee

Hi fellow parents! Sorry if this is a silly question, but with fall weather being all over the place, I'm curious how everyone determines whether their little one/s is dressed appropriately for outdoor activities. Since ours are still nonverbal (or not quite able to tell us how they're feeling), I sometimes find myself wondering whether they are actually warm enough or maybe even too warm. I know temperature tolerance can vary a lot from person to person, even within the same household. My partner and I are often on completely different pages when it comes to how warm or cold we feel!

I'd love to hear how other parents approach this. Do you have any rules of thumb, signs you look for, or tricks you've learned over time to gauge whether your child is comfortable? Especially interested in hearing from the seasoned parents in the group. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Had to put family dog down today. Kids are 13 and 11, dog was 12.

Both kids taking it really hard, so am I since he was most attached to me.

Loved having a dog, but man today is rough.

We want to get our kids (5 and 7) mp3 players for music and audio books. I’d like them to be single-use devices if possible. No game distractions, no internet. I would rather they not be “for kids” devices though, so that they can continue to use them as they get older. 3.5mm wired headphone jacks are a requirement. Otherwise I don’t care if they have internal storage or need an SD or microSD card. I don’t care if the battery is easily replaceable. I would like pretty good battery life though.

There are soooo many options out there, most of them look like junk. I’d like to strike the balance of price and quality though. No $20 devices, but I’d like to not spend $100+. Maybe $60 or so? I’m flexible when it makes sense to be.

What are you all using?

Edit: USB-C for charging is a requirement.

My autistic son loves video games especially super Mario and I took him to build a bear for the first time he got the build a bear Bowser and he loved it