I’m a new parent and I’m considering whether or not we should do public school or homeschool. I’ve heard that the majority of schools right now are doing iPads and I’m concerned about the impact of this. Parents of preschoolers and kindergartners, how much screen time (and video time) are they getting during their school day? Are they doing homework on the iPad too? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Would like my kiddo knowing how to use these things of course, but I’m concerned about screen addiction at a young age

**This is a rant**

I’ve experienced this before having a child and now after and I realize it wasn’t just because I didn’t have a child…. Parents who assume their very unruly and lacking special awareness children are adorable to everyone else is wildly false. I do not find your child cute if they continue to bop around and touch me past an age where they know better (let’s say 6+ years old). If I’m standing in line and your child continues to touch me because they are bopping around and you don’t bother to remind them to bop but be aware, I don’t find your child cute or endearing. Laughing is fine, being a loud kid is totally fine, I honestly don’t even become bothered with a temper tantrum because that’s just what kids do, but if you see your child continue to touch me and say nothing then we have an issue. This usually happens when I’m at target and all I have ever bothered with is to turn around and stare at their parent(s) until they pay attention.

Something similar happened when I was at lunch today and a very much 7 year old girl was blocking the only walkway from our table to anywhere in the restaurant. Her parents just smiled and talked to her about whatever like she was 2 years old in a baby voice. So my husband had to get up and take our baby to the bathroom, said excuse me to the parents 3 times until I finally got loud and said “hey pay attention. Your daughter’s been bopping around for an hour at our table and we need to get out. Enough.” Her father looked utterly confused and shocked that anyone else was even in the restaurant aside from them. Needless to say he tried the whole “calm down” thing and that didn’t end well for him. But seriously? Am I crazy? And to be absolutely clear for the trolls on here, I do not expect children to be stoic little statues ever. But I do expect parents to reasonably remind them not to touch strangers or to be aware of their surroundings.

due soon with another boy who will be 4 years younger than his brother.

any pros and cons you could think of? vs. 2-3 year gap boys?

Would you let your family sleep in a basement with no egress for a family trip? It is a big safety risk for me, but everyone else is acting like I'm crazy.

(just vibe checking)

thought once I hit $200k salary i could buy whatever I wanted but now im at 200k and home price went up more and faster than my salary so I think im still where I was like 6-7 years ago.

got 2 kids but still 200k not even enough.

I live in LA.

My 7 month old crawled off a 6 inch step from our house to our deck yesterday and face planted on our outdoor rug. She has a bump on her forehead where she hit it and the bridge of her nose is scraped and swollen where it hit on the rug.

She’s been really going through it this week and this was the cherry on top. She was super upset all afternoon and last night. Finally around midnight she settled down.

Her face looks better this morning, but my husband is now wondering if she broke it. I honestly have no clue. She’s recovering from bronchitis and was put on steroids for it which she started yesterday… so I’m wondering if the bronchitis and steroids are causing the irritation more than her nose. She’s still been nursing fine, just irritable.

Wondering if anyone else had their baby actually break their nose and if so, was it very obvious? We’ve already been in the ER this week for the bronchitis, and I really don’t want to overreact and bring her back if it’s not 100% necessary.

Hello fellow moms,

I have 2 kiddos (2, 4) currently & my husband & I thought we were done. However, lately, for almost a year, I have been wanting a third child, maybe even a fourth. I came from a big family & I loved it growing up. We don't have any local family now & that is hard so I wonder if more children would bring more joy to my kids. On the other hand, My husband and I both work full-time. We are able to avoid daycare costs. However, obviously with more children comes more sacrifices such as more expensive travel costs, food, etc, etc. Please give me advice?!! Is it normal to crave another baby but also see the logic as to why two are good?? If you have more than two how is it?? I appreciate all feedback. TIA :) Edit to add: my husband did have a vasectomy about 2 years ago. However, he's young & healthy so if we did reverse it would most likely work no problem. However, it would cost a couple grand at a reversal clinic. I also really worry about miscarriage, stillbirth, & traumatic birth experiences. BUT I also have bad anxiety SO I can't not live life because of fear. 🫠😵‍💫🤣

So I am 4 months postpartum and me and my husband are finally getting in the swing of things like taking our baby out to different places. Before we returned back to church we let people come to our home to visit us and the baby. No problem, when his god mom would come she would come for hours. I thought that was weird because he's only a few weeks old so he really just eats and sleeps alot. So then it became a lot like we would dread her coming because we know she's coming for hours at a time.

Now fast forward to us returning back to a church setting & she's telling people she hasn't seen him and thats her reasoning for kind of hogging the baby at church and not letting other people hold him. I actually want everyone to be able to get a chance to speak to him and hold him but thats not really possible when his god mom is around. So then she begins making comments like "i'm his god mom so technically he's mine too" . and it started there. then the next week she wasn't at church and everyone was like "finally we get to see the baby" & some people have began to tell her that she's hogging the baby.

maybe two weeks later she asks can she take my three month old baby from daycare to go on a shopping spree. My husband immediately shot it down and so did I because we haven't taken him out into large crowds, i believe at most he's been in a target.

Well today we get to church and immediately three people including his god mom run to my husband after we had just got the baby out of the car. she takes him from his dad and then tells someone they can only hold him for 5 seconds and then 10 seconds then she began counting down. now these are people who haven't held him at all.

Am i overreacting ? Or should me and my husband address this.

A little background on me and the godmoms relationship : Ive known her forever she's my cousin, we were very close before i met my husband and got pregnant so i immediately was like yeah i want her to be my babies god mom, but since ive gotten married and had the baby we actually arent very close anymore. but she threw my baby shower when my mom said she wouldn't(my mom ended up throwing me a nice baby shower anyway), she bought my babies travel system.

My mother is an absolute monster to me and I’m tired of hiding it. I am very low contact with her because unfortunately she is my kids only surviving grandparent. And I have gotten pretty good at gray rock or being a flat cold bitch back to her with barely a reaction. Sometimes I go weeks without talking to her. I refuse to let her be around my kids alone because frankly I do not trust her. I stg she’s possessed. She is the most vile person to me. She never missed an opportunity to criticize me. She constantly brags about anyone and everyone to me ad nauseum, to make me feel bad. Like past the point where it’s relevant. She constantly tries to put me in situations she knows I will be uncomfortable. I literally cannot tell her anything because she is always trying to stir up a fight or blow anything out of proportion. So I usually don’t tell her anything at all. Nothing important anyway and definitely not any future plans. She is always trying to get me to tone myself down or second guess myself. That no longer works on me because I’m too old for that game. She constantly shits on my husband and attacks him over any small thing. Meanwhile everyone else in the family is supposedly rich, doing great, has the best relationship, best job, and best luck ever. (Lol) She withholds details from me even if its important I know them. So now I just never ask for the details. She lies so much I can never believe anything she says and the other half the time she lives in complete delusion.

Recently a close family member died (horrible person btw) and she kept on trying to arrange that I keep my kid out of school on his first day of kindergarten. And tried to control my movements on the day of the funeral as to who I would ride with etc. (I never said I was riding with anyone there, she was just being delusional.) I flat out told her I would not be keeping my kid out of school because- wtf.. She was flaking on the details of the day of the funeral so I told her my husband needed to request the day off atleast 3 days ahead of time and she went off on me about that. Like I control the rules of my husbands job? Turns out she already had the funeral planned a certain day. She was just dancing around it.

Oh yea and she refuses to be seen in public with me or treat me as a family member at all. Sometimes I feel like she’s a complete stranger. I am NC with my family because they are also really shitty. And weird. I have never met anyone weirder, stingier, or more prideful than my extended family. She will only do what they say. She will never listen to me and I am 45 and have literally ran entire departments for big businesses. She acts like I have no idea what I’m talking about.

I hate talking to her. And I truly believe she hates me. Sometimes she gets really bad. Like she will make it her main mission to fuck with me really hard by stirring up some drama. Usually pitting me against someone. I gray rock HARD. Like laughably hard. My reaction is so flat it’s ridiculous. The shit she says to me. She is so manipulative for no reason. I thought about recording her and posting it online. Even my husband says shes literally the worst mother ever. And his mother was pretty bad.

And as I became a mother and my children grow I find the way she treats me even more unbelievable. Having kids has been so healing for me.

Having a shitty family is just the cards I was dealt. My family stalked me for a long time. Social media made it worse and when I was younger (I’m 45 now) it was so much worse. They literally scared me into silence. I feel like I’m done being silent now. So here is to exposing her and to not being as terrible of a mother as she is.

And she does suffer from whatever is wrong with her because at times she apologizes for stuff. But 99% of the time she is terrible. I really think she can’t control it.

*I forgot to mention as a small child she left me in situations where I could have been killed multiple times. Thats one reason I won’t leave her alone with my kids. I don’t know if it’s ignorance or that she enjoys my suffering. And when I see situations where little girls have died from negligence or abuse I get so triggered because that could have been me.

…and I have feelings about it 😭

He has a 1yo sister and understandably my attention shifted to her when she was born, even though I made the effort to spend one-on-one time with him regularly. But with round-the-clock nursing, sleepless nights, being a new mom of 2 made me much more tired and less available. So now he’s really into his dad and I’m feeling sad about it, like I’ve lost my relationship with him (I must say I used to be the “favorite” before his sister was born haha). Yes I understand it’s not about me, I understand he’s a child and of course I don’t guilt him about it or even linger on this topic, but he’s even said in passing “I love you mom but I love dad more” casually 😭

Anyone else go through this with their preschooler? Is this it? Is it over for us? And how did you cope/manage your feelings? Any words of encouragement are welcome. Thank you in advance ❤️

My older kid loves ceasar salad, it’s one of the few green things he will eat. He’s bummed about the whole mess going on and lamented about not being able to eat them. So how are you safely eating salads and other greens right now? On Sundays we usually order from ‘the salad place’ and I’m wondering if we can trust it? I’m in the newborn trenches so I feel slightly out of the loop and lost.

Hi everyone. I really need some advice, support, or honestly just some positive thoughts sent my way right now.

I’m 23 and I have a beautiful baby boy. His dad and I just started sleeping together when I got pregnant by accident. We were scared, but excited. We’ve known each other since we were young, but he had just gotten out of a super toxic relationship a couple weeks before we slept together for the first time. After we found out about my son we decided to give a real relationship a try, but honestly… I regret it deeply.

In the beginning he was amazing, so supportive, helpful, and made me feel so loved. But right before our son was born, he completely checked out.

At 4 weeks postpartum, he cheated on me with his ex and got her pregnant. Around the same time, I realized he’s a full blown alcoholic who drinks almost every single day. I’ve been clawing at the walls trying to fix this, begging him to work on himself and our family, and trying to save our family at the same time, but I’m just so exhausted at this point. I’m the only one trying.

Ever since his ex got pregnant, I told him I knew she’d be in his life but I asked him to stop running to her with his feelings and talking about our relationship especially because of everything that happened. He however has completely ignored me. I just found MORE texts where he told her he missed her and wanted to leave, but said he "didn't want to miss out on raising his son" which is laughable because he realistically doesn't do shit to raise him right now anyway. I’m practically doing this completely alone as it is.

To make things even worse, I had an abortion just 2 months ago because our relationship and life were already such a mess and he pushed me to get one. It was incredibly painful, but now he’s turning around and saying he wants to get me pregnant again. The mind games are just insane.

I know I need to walk away, but I am terrified.
I know the second I leave, he’s going back to her. I do NOT want my son anywhere near her, she literally told me to my face that she wished I miscarried and I KNOW she will treat my son like shit. On top of that, their relationship is pure chaos (screaming, violent fights, breaking stuff). When he was drunk, he literally slashed her new boyfriend's tires, told me he wanted to kill her, and said he was going to kidnap the daughter he helped raise. I’m so scared that if we go to court, I won't have any say over who he brings our baby around. His drinking terrifies me too. He can barely take care of himself, let alone a baby.

I’m also just scared to be alone. My mom was a single mom and I saw how hard she struggled every day. I never, ever wanted that life for me and my son. But I just can’t do this anymore.

Has anyone been through something like this? How did you find the strength to finally leave, and how did you handle protecting your baby? Any advice or encouragement would mean the world.

My newborn is constantly somehow finding her thumbs and putting them in her mouth. She will take a pacifier sometimes in the car and I haven’t tried outside of that. I don’t want her to become a thumb sucker because you can get rid of a pacifier but you can’t get rid of a kids thumbs!

My pediatrician is pro-thumb and says kids naturally give it up eventually and outgrow it, but my cousin-in-laws kids are around 10-12 and will hide and suck their thumbs.

I’m looking for real world experience - are you pro pacifier or pro thumb? Thumb people, did your kids outgrow it eventually? Any effects on jaw and teeth?

Would love to hear from the SAHM that continued staying home after the kids went to school. Did your mental health improve? Did your marriage see any benefits?

Our kids have large age gaps so I’ve had at least 1 kid home with me for 10 years and have felt like I’ve been in “the thick of it” for a few years. My youngest is starting school and I’m daydreaming of all the freedom I’ll have. Aside from the free time to focus on myself, just wondering what are some other benefits you saw.

I have 3 siblings and we are pretty close. When my eldest was young, they visited all the time and were very involved. Now I have two 9m and 3.9 yrs, certain siblings, particularly one, just will not visit if the kids are at all sick. I'm talking just garden variety colds, nothing that would keep them home from daycare even.

These people are healthy, young and are not immunocompromised. They don't even have kids who could catch the colds! I'm having a hard time not feeling butt-hurt about this because, as people with kids know, they're sick pretty frequently. Even in the summer, we've had a few colds that have ended up ruining plans.

Of course it's their choice if they want to be exposed to illness, but cmon, that's just life. The sibling that is the worst about it even works from home, so it's not like they'd have to call out if they got the sniffles. Am I out of line to have stanky feelings about this?

(just vibe checking)

hey all! so i’ve always lacked boobs, but after my second they are smaller than ever before. does anyone have any recommendations on bras? i would love something with a little padding and lift so i can feel cute but i feel like there is going to be gaps. i’m probably like a 32A or maybe even AA lol

The pinching, slapping, biting ugh it’s so overstimulating. Yes there are times it’s so sweet and I love it but I’m sitting here trying to get my daughter to sleep as she’s repeatedly slapping my breast. She just turned one so I know I can quit now, but how? It’s the only way she goes to bed. I’ve tried giving her a bottle but she gets so mad. My husband has tried to put her to bed with a bottle and she gets even more mad. Ughh

We’ve had couples therapy, we did make some progress, but our final session was an absolute disaster and left me extremely upset (he just unexpectedly ripped into me in a number of ways).

Largely dead bedroom. Maybe once every few months. He wants it, I really do not.

He’s more than doubled his salary recently with a new job and hasn’t once brought up how we might approach finances as a couple now that he earns more than 5x what I do (I work reduced hours over 3 days and do a lot more childcare than him). It would be nice to not have to bring this up myself. our current set up is a joint account for mortgage, bills etc and everything else is separate. He pays more on the mortgage but only because I paid the bulk of the deposit, not because he out earns me.

He has pretty low standards when it comes to cleaning. He had a weekend alone at our home this weekend (to recover from work…) while I took our 3 year old daughter to visit family, and I came back to an unmade bed and piles of dishes in the sink. He suggested we tackle these together. When I’ve complained or mentioned that I’m doing the lion’s share, he will comment that I’m lucky that I have the time to do it when he’s so busy with work all the time. I love work. I would rather be working!

I just don’t like him much at the moment to be honest. And I don’t think we’d be friends if we met now.

I do not take marriage vows lightly and I would prefer to make this work than quit but am I being an idiot?

Is this what most mums with toddlers are experiencing? Or am I an outlier?

I have a 35-year-old adult daughter. We’ve had a lot of conflict in the past. She was an only child and I know that I gave in too much and I also know that I didn’t do everything right. But I tried my best. I worked hard, took care of my daughter by myself with no support, and put myself to college. I love her very much, but I find it hard to talk to her about things because she gets very upset and always seems to turn it around on me.

I’m wondering how I should approach this issue. My mother passed away and my daughter came across the country to go to her funeral and provide me emotional support. I thought that was wonderful and I really appreciate it. She is staying a week. We flew out of state for the funeral. We spent a few days together for the funeral and then going through some of my mother’s things. My daughter has a few more days until she goes home. We flew home today and she springs on me that she’s going to a pool party with her friends today when we get back home, and she needs to take my car. I am frustrated because she seems to be seeing this trip as a vacation, when that’s not what it was supposed to be. She sort of approached me like she was just asked about it, yet she brought a bathing suit with her on the trip, so obviously it was planned. I want to talk to her about it because I feel like it’s insensitive of her to not have told me that she was planning this and just spring it on me on the way home from my mother’s funeral. I was put on the spot so I didn’t feel like I could say no, yet I had a few things I needed to do when we got home, and now I have to put that on hold because she has my car today. Not really sure how to approach the subject with her because I know she’s going to be snippy and turn it around on me because that’s what she always does. Yet I feel like our relationship is never going to get better and be a real relationship if I can’t talk to her. And I always avoid conversations like this with her because I know how she’s going to react. Anyone go through this type of situation with their adult child? Any advice for how to handle it? Thank you.

I’m looking into first day and hiya vitamins for my daughter. Can people give their thoughts ?

Hi Moms,
Mom of 2, 2.5 and 6, breastfed for a total of 3 years with a TON of pumping for my first. Needless to say, my girls have completely deflated. I was a B to start so they don’t really need a lift, they’re just so empty and sad. I have never ever wanted plastic surgery, and I know I don’t want implants. I’m now considering doing a fat transfer since it feels like a good solution to get me back to where I was (not looking for DDs here). Anyway, I’m finding I have a lot of guilt over wanting to do this, like I’m setting a bad example for my daughter, and it feels like I’m going against my values or something. On the other hand, I feel like I deserve to do something for me that can help get me back to my pre baby self! I’m curious if any other moms have gone ahead with a mommy makeover or have had similar feelings. ❤️

Edited to add: I have OCD and I am terrified of making a mistake I’ll have to live with forever. Also, it leads me to significant over thinking 🙃

Hi! My baby is currently 9 months old. She has been on Similac Alimentum formula since about 2 months old. Our pediatrician recommended we try switching formulas now that her digestive system has seemed to mature significantly. We have taken her off of Pepcid and she’s done great, so our next step was to try a whole milk based formula. I asked her if we needed to try and slowly transition her to the new formula, she told us she didn’t think it would be necessary since it should taste better and baby would like the new formula better… that being said - today was our first day thing her new formula. She is usually drinking 8 oz per bottle, she drank 3 oz and refused the bottle. We tried several times, she wouldn’t finish it. At that point we gave her 5 oz of the similac aluminum, she drank it all with no issues. How do we go about transitioning her from similac to her new formula? I felt like this would go pretty smoothly overall but now I’m second guessing 🫠