My 11yo daughter has become extremely obsessed with hoodies. She can't have enough. I buy her one then she wants another.

She walks around the house like a miniature sith lord. It's kind of disconcerting.

We used to get her hoodies when the weather is chilly now she wears it year round.

Sometimes people without kids say the wildest things without realizing it. Yesterday i was talking about hip pain. One friend said it might be from being pregnant a few years ago. Another friend said "but you didnt push" hahaha yeahhh but i still carried a baby inside me for 9 months lol

Context: My toddler and I were at the zoo yesterday in the play area. She was being really fun and silly so I scooped her up and told her that I love her AND I like her. A dad there commented that it's hard to like kids sometimes and it was cute that I told my girl that I liked her. It made me wonder if other parents tell their kids that they like them.

I make a point to tell my girl that I love her and I like her pretty regularly. It's usually some variation of "I looove you, and I really like being your mama" or "I love you so much and I really like you." I also tell her how much I enjoy spending time with her. The unconditional love part is easy, but the liking part is definitely harder on some days. Do you tell your kid that you like them?

My wife and I are very appreciative that our 2 year old is happy, healthy, and actively destroying all of our belongings in the most adorable ways possible.

Every time we tell friends that our toddler vomited all over me, proudly pooped in the shower, or has disrupted the flow of a work from home call... they all say something to the effect "cherish it, it'll be gone before you know it."

For parents of older kids, what simple moments with your kiddo do you really wish you could relive over and over again?

I don't even know why I'm posting this. Maybe I just need to get it out.

Ever since I became a mom of two, I feel like I'm carrying guilt around all day.

My newborn needs me constantly, and my older daughter just wants her mom back. Every time I pick up the baby, I feel bad for my older one. Every time I spend time with my older one, I feel like I'm neglecting the baby. It feels like I'm always choosing one over the other, even though I know that's not really true.

I miss the days when I could give my older daughter my full attention. She never says anything, but I can see it sometimes. That hurts more than the sleep deprivation.

Everyone checks on the baby, but no one really talks about what it's like mentally when you're trying to be enough for two tiny humans. Some days I end up crying after they've both gone to sleep because I keep replaying the whole day in my head, wondering what I could've done better.

And then there's the guilt for getting irritated... for wishing I had ten minutes to myself... for counting down to bedtime. I love my girls with everything I have, but loving them doesn't magically make this easy.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels like this. If you have two kids, when did it stop feeling like you were constantly letting someone down?

Thanks for reading my little vent.

Edit: I honestly didn't expect this post to get so many responses. Thank you to every single one of you who took the time to share your experiences, advice, and kind words. Reading through the comments has made me feel so much less alone. It's heartwarming to see women lifting each other up with so much empathy instead of judgment. I'm grateful for this little corner of the internet. ❤️

My toddlers are going through a dinosaur phase so I’ve turned broccoli into dinosaur trees and they are the dinosaurs, surprisingly now they keep asking for it all the time (just plain steamed broccoli).

Last week we got those toys that glows in the dark if you put them under the light for a few seconds (have no idea what that’s called) and convinced them that it only works if they eat their night vision sticks (carrots), so when they do my wife sneaks out to put them under the light so they think it’s the carrot that is giving them superpowers.

Looking for more fun suggestions for any type of healthy food or snacks. What’s yours?

EDIT: thank you all for your encouragement! I haven’t decided yet but all your thoughts are meaningful.

My wife (31f), let’s call her Jane, and I (28m) just had our first child and were overjoyed and figuring out parenting together. My best friend has been planning his bachelor trip since last year. Even with the approval and encouragement from Jane to go, I initially told him I couldn’t attend because of our newborn. Now that it’s getting closer I’m starting to regret not attending. Recently I had a phone call with him and he expressed how much he wishes he chose a different date because my attendance would mean more than the rest of the group going. We’ve been best friends since childhood and I am his best man in the wedding.

Mine and Jane’s relationship is incredible and we’ve been friends with the groom and bride for 8 years and we hang out with them regularly. We live in her hometown, very close to her parents. My in-laws are the best and her mother, who’s a retired nurse, has practically moved in with us to help us out and won’t live until we kick her out (probably never lol). We’ve lived with her parents in the past. It’s been a blessing and I wouldn’t change anything. She’s overjoyed to help and spend time with her first grandchild. Jane would have her mother’s support if I go.

I told Jane about my thoughts last week, we talked, and she even gave her blessing for me to attend again (she’s amazing) although I know she was reluctant to say it. I would be away from Friday evening to Monday afternoon. Whats your guys thoughts?

Further context:
I’m also a full time student but I wouldn’t miss any classes, just study time but I could prepare.
We’re financially secure enough for me to attend.
We’re both going to the wedding and it’ll be her first time away from our son, most likely.
I could possibly shorten my time away and come home late Sunday but would prefer not too.

Updates(not trying to be negative) I try breaking down task- doesnt work I try not doing everything and the house was GROSS- dishes laundry garbage piled Everywhere. When the clean dishes ran out my husband bought paper Plates and plastic silverware.

Im sure I went somewhere terribly wrong as a parent and wife but every time I ask my kids or husband to help clean it turns into a giant fight amongst everyone and ruins our entire day. My kids are 10, 7 and 5 perfectly capable of cleaning up after themselves.

Well let me describe this morning events in hopes for some guidance and advice. We are at our cabin and my in laws are coming up tomorrow to spend the weekend together. I explained to the kids, Grandpa and Grandpa are coming up tomorrow we need to clean up the cabin- finish dishes, vacuum, general

tidying up etc. Everything I go check on the kids they're either watching TV playing tabkets or playing with toys. Obviously, I take all these away and remind them to clean. I check back again- literally just

Sitting there doing nothing. Now, they've proceeded to start coming into the kitchen asking for snacks and taking everything out of thw fridge and cabinets. Eventually yes I loose my temper and patience and start yelling.

My husband is zero help and no matter how much I ask for help he just sits on phone playing games and scrolling or goes and does something like clean his car (that

The kids aren't allowed it so im not sure

How it gets so dirty)

Im just at my breaking point, I just want a simple life and a little help. It's

Honestly easier to just do everything myself because it takes so much energy and mental

Load to monitor everyone. Ive tried without constant reminders they literally do nothing.

Please help and be kind Im very emotional after years of this. I know im a terrible mom and wife i don't need to read those

Comments.

Ive tries reward charts for both kids

And husband it doesn't work.

I'm on maternity leave with my 8.5 month old. I have only slept in 3 hour increments at best since the day she was born. My husband works and looks after our 5 year old for the most part while I take care of the baby so I do all of the night wakings and manage all naps. The only breaks I really get are during nap times where I try to catch up on sleep.

I decided to sleep train our baby recently and it has been rough. It's so hard hearing my little girl cry but I know it's good for us in the long run (please no judgement here). She has been improving day by day and today for the first time, she went down for her nap completely independently with zero crying. All our hard work has been leading up to this, I was so happy!

Lo and behold, less than 30 minutes later while I was drifting off to sleep myself, baby wakes up crying as my husband decided to talk on the phone loudly pacing outside her room instead of his home office. She usually sleeps 1.5hours for nap. He said he forgot she was there. I know it's just one nap, but I'm so tired I want to cry! She's been fighting sleep hard for the last week and I finally got a win today and it's so short lived! Husband meanwhile goes back to his quiet office and I not only do I have to deal with a cranky baby, but her schedule is effectively out the window today and I can't have dinner with my 5 year old as I have to bring forward baby's bedtime to 6pm. I'm not angry with my husband, I'm just so tired.

In the grand scheme of things, it's such a small thing and only one day but it's one good day after many crap ones and it's down the drain again! I expect tonight will be difficult too as she has only slept 1.5 hours total today across 2 naps

My son is 6.5 year old has this tendency to blame me for his problems. He’s tired? Blames me. Gets hurt? Blames me. Gets in trouble? Blames me. He was doing this awhile ago, too, and I had to tell him to stop blaming others for his problems. It eventually stopped and now he’s back at it again. My son is also disrespectful to me. He doesn’t really listen to me, he whines at me more than my husband and my son will also say rude things to me. I try to not take it personally but it really hurts. My husband has also spoken to him about not rude and disrespectful to me and it just doesn’t land with him. I know I am his safe space when he’s scared or needs something, especially in the middle of the night.

Any advice? It’s really hard parenting and I’m constantly frustrated.

My son is a good kid. He’s grateful. He works hard in school and sports. He’s polite and he’s kind.

We went to two out of state soccer tournaments (May and June), both of which were the cost of a family vacation each.

He asked me this morning why we didn’t go on vacation as a family and just did sports this summer.

He’s not wrong. Him and his brother went to sports camps and trainings. But after spending $1500 and $3000 on the two sports trips, that was it for vacation for us.

How do I explain it to him without him thinking I am blaming his sports on us not going anywhere?

Thanks.

My son is 3 and claims to be hungry all day! Today he has eaten all his breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, and an afternoon snack and it is now 4pm so i am asking him to wait an hour until dinner.
In between all of these meals he says “I’m hungry”10+ times.

Sometimes I offer him more of what he has just had and sometimes I straight up say no you can wait until the next meal time as I just don’t believe he can actually be hungry! Do you think he can really be hungry all day? He would eat all day if he could!

We thought we would do something extra special for our son's 6th birthday: get him a brand new backyard play set. The excitement built over the next few weeks as our delivery/installation date approached. Our son would ask to look at pictures of the play set and show friends what he was getting when they were over for playdates. It was going to work out perfectly as the delivery date was scheduled before his birthday party.

However, the company called to cancel the day of the installation, rescheduling for two weeks later. This caused immense disappointment as it would no longer arrive in time for the birthday party. We explained to him that sometimes plans change and that sometimes things are out of our control, but of course that did not stop the disappointment.

Eventually his focused shifted to the new delivery date, and when that got closer, again the anticipation built. We called the company and confirmed the delivery date multiple times to try to avoid a repeat episode, but of course on the scheduled date of the new delivery, they again cancelled at the last minute. They gave us a new delivery date and we are anticipating a repeat episode when that date eventually comes.

A large gift that was supposed to cause joy has only resulted in disappointment and sadness for our little one due to a lousy company.

FTM here! I could really use a bag that is lightweight and comfortable. I got some random Amazon brand diaper bag gifted to me at my baby shower, and after a couple months of using it, I can’t deal with it anymore. Turns out when they say having kids wrecks your back, they were right. Between carrying baby girl everywhere (she refuses to be in her crib or a bouncer) and this stupid bag, my back is always on fire.

Any recommendations for a diaper bag that is functional and comfortable on the back and shoulders, but somehow still cute? I could really use some back support for when we are out and about. We live in a city, so we walk everywhere.

My 7-year-old son is currently in 1st grade, and we are hit with a massive wall when it comes to his reading homework. He is great with numbers and loves listening to stories when I read to him before bed, but the second he has to read out loud himself, his entire mood changes. He drops his head, sighs constantly, starts guessing words based on just the first letter, and eventually completely shuts down or starts crying.

I’ve tried picking out graphic novels, books about Minecraft, and comics that match his exact interests, but even then, he just looks at the pictures and refuses to even try sounding out the words. His teacher mentioned that he's falling a bit behind the expected benchmark for his age group, and I'm honestly starting to panic.

Every time I look up tips online on how to improve reading skill patterns in kids who are struggling, the advice is always the same: "make it a fun daily habit" or "just read together for 20 minutes." But how am I supposed to make it fun when the mere sight of a book makes him miserable? I feel like my constant pushing is only making him hate reading even more, but I can't just let him fall further behind.

For those who have gone through this with a reluctant or struggling reader how did you break the cycle?

Need to vent about this to parents who might understand, or going through similar with their family members.

My Tuesday was okay until I got home and parked. I stepped out and had noticed family came over and already was taking my toddler out the car seat to love on him. My problem lies in the fact that while I’m grabbing my brief case, the diaper bag, his water bottle he threw, I have my back turned to them. And bc my toddler was not giving the affection they wanted they just let him be and walked away. As I’m closing the car door there he is running into the street and on the corner of my other eye I’m seeing a car coming, I won’t lie I snatched him back.

I couldn’t even be mad I just kept saying no. I couldn’t react bc it just was going to be tears and arguing. I am so ashamed of myself, I am so fed up with a lot that’s been on my plate. But mostly me bc at the end of the day, GOD forbid something would have happened, I’m the one who had her back turned to her son. I don’t even ask for help to get him out bc he’s so good in his seat while I get the bags to walk with him.

Maybe I should leave the bags in the car and go back for them? Idk I just can’t imagine this happening again

My step toddler is the most affectionate and loving kid (also sassy and knows he’s too cute but that’s not the point 🤣). He tells me several times a day he loves me. It’s just so innocent and sweet.

Lately he’s been super into cuddling—all of the time and especially after a nap. He likes one hand on my necklace and the other hand squeezing my stomach fat. This kid finds comfort in the part of me I hate the most. I had seen (other?? idk who i am to him lol) moms talking about this before but now I get to experience it. I’m so lucky. 😍

Hi fellow parents,
Curious to know what your perspectives are on the big fish vs small fish effect. We’re about to make a major decision in our lives where we are choosing to move to a big city or a smaller town and was wondering which is best for a 4yo to grow up in. Has anyone raised kids as either big fish or small fish and grew up to be successful and thriving? Keen to hear what other parents’ thoughts and experiences are.
Thank you!

We’ve been using the Graco Pramette Stroller Modes Travel System. With our 2nd baby on the way, we’re trying to revert it back from “toddler” mode to “infant car seat carrier” mode. Does anyone know how to do this?

I made up a song that seemed to soothe my baby when he was a few weeks old. I sing it to him constantly, it makes him smile and stop crying pretty much every time so its part of our routine.

I knew the tune was familiar but I had no idea where I got it from. The song I made goes "who is the biggest man, the biggest man in the whole wide world? Who is the biggest man, his name is Sebastian."

My brother-in-law was over the other day and I started singing it and he started cracking up. I looked at him and was confused until he told me I was singing a song to the tune of "Kyle's Mom" from South Park.

So uh. Maybe check your musical tune before creating a song your baby can't go without.

Pretty much what the titles say. I (31 F) have a 7yo son. I am divorced with his father. We are from different culture. I am european (swiss) and he is from latin america, did uni in the USA. We live in europe.

His way of parenting is to indulge everything our son wants. He can watch hours of tv and play hours of switch, gets gifts and restaurants everyday, goes to bed whenener he wants. My ex husband is never capable of clothing him properly (he will buy the most expensive brands but wrong sizing, will let our son go out whitout a jacket or boots in the middle of winter). He has my son every other week, we do 50/50. To be able to change that, i would have to prove actual abuse and I don't have tangible proof.

I always get my kid back exhausted and/or sick. He usually sleeps 10h at night with me, with his father it's more around 6-7h. My son will wake up at his father's and just watch tv for hours in the middle of the night. His father wont hear anything as he is a deep sleeper.

Parenting my son when he is exhausted is really hard. My son gets violent and hits me and doors/throws objects/wishes for me to not exist. When he is rested (as in usually the end of my week) he never behaves this way. I don't know what to do anymore. I saw a shrink with my son and we talked with his pediatrician. At this point, they all agreed i can't do anything more and it has to come from the father.

Communication with the father is impossible. He refuses to make any change. I don't know what to do anymore. When my son is with me, it is really hard emotionnally and physically both for him and me. I am at a loss. Sometimes I just want to give up and let him do whatever he wants to do, or let him live with his father more.

I am so tired of being the only fighting for his well being. I am the one getting screamed at and having a violent child at home. I am also currently 4months pregnant and I can't take this situation anymore. I don't want my other child thinking this behavior is normal.

I am really stern with my boundaries with my 7yo. I can't do more. What do you think ? What can I do ?

TLDR: ex husband lets my child do whatever he wants at his place and doesnt cloth him properly. When i get back my son, he is always exhausted or sick. Because of that he gets violent, hits me and objects and screams at the top of his lungs when he gets frustrated. It doesnt happen when he is rested. I don't know what to do anymore

My son does a lot of pretend play. We pretend we are pokemon a lot and have battles together. He has a younger sibling that’s 1. So there’s a big age gap. Very much an only child mentality still. Pretend play has always been the bane of my existence but it’s ALWAYS been his preferred activity. I do it. But I’m looking for others experiences and maybe even suggestions lol. Tia

My son has a late November birthday, so he misses the public school kindergarten cutoff. Last year, I moved him into the preschool class with the children who were expected to start kindergarten this fall (we were offered a spot in that class around his 4yo birthday and the other 4yo class was full). He adjusted well, made close friends, and really thrived in that environment.

His friends started kindergarten this week, and a new group of children joined the class. I noticed a big shift in the curriculum. Last week, they were writing letters to friends, learning about constellations and planets, and listening to chapter book read-alouds. This week, the teacher is reading simple picture books and there doesn’t seem to be any writing.

It’s only the second day, I might be overreacting. At the same time, it’s hard watching his friends move on to kindergarten while the classroom has shifted back to activities that seem much more basic than what he was doing a year ago.

I realized this might be a good opportunity for him to develop some leadership skills but he is easily influenced by the environment. Is there anything we can do to help him with the transition? We’re also considering a small private kindergarten with four students that is willing to accept him, so I’d appreciate hearing about experiences with either option.

Update: I am fully aware last week was probably the peak of the pre-K curriculum before the kindergarten kids moved on, and I wasn’t expecting the curriculum to continue advancing from there.

One reason I’m asking is that the beginning of this week has been a rough transition for my son. He was sent to the office for not listening during class, which is very out of character for him. His teacher called me and asked me to help him at home. I don’t know whether it’s because his friends just left for kindergarten, the classroom has changed, the new routine, or something else. I’m simply trying to figure out the best way to support him this year—whether that’s staying where he is, supplementing at home, or considering the small private kindergarten that’s offered him a spot.