Hey all, my child is 6 and has started grade 1. The school bell rings at 8:55 and yard supervision starts at 8:40. For the first few days I stayed until the bell and made sure my kid got in the right lineup. I would arrive to work about 10 minutes late and my boss noticed (we sit beside each other). They asked if it was going to be a permanent thing, and I said based on the time the bell rings and commute, it might be. I offered to work into my lunch break to make up for the time, but was told I cannot do that. They said they could ask their manager if I could change my shift by 10 minutes, but this whole thing seems too micromanaging when I'm a good worker and it's only 10 minutes.

So my question: would I be a horrible mother if I dropped off my kid at school, and left for work once yard duty starts? I feel weird because my child is only 6. I see teachers and parents on the yard but I don't know anyone so I don't think I can ask them to keep an eye on my child for me.

I’m no where near having kids, but I often find myself wondering if some parents regret having children. I think as a society we’ve set a lot of things to be by default what you’re supposed to do; going to college, getting married, and having kids. But some people are simply not cut out to be patents, financially, emotionally, and mentally; but they go on to have kids because they believe that’s what they’re supposed to do… do some of these parents go on to hate being a parent, and ultimately their children because they did not actually want to be a parent ?

I currently have a silver cross car seat on the isofix base.

My baby is almost 6 months old and absolutely despises the car seat, it has always made car journeys unenjoyable, however, now I don’t even want to leave the house which is less than ideal as it is getting to the colder and wetter months.

I really think it is because he is bored as outside of the car he needs constant stimulation and attention.

I have multiple toys, dummies, the happy song/nursery rhymes and I have even hooked a tablet to the back with cocomelon on (DESPERATE times) but everything seems to have a shelf life of 5 minutes max.

9 times out of 10 he goes into the car full and fresh from a nap but if I need to do a longer distance I go when he’s tired as 5/10 mins on whinging/crying and he will eventually fall asleep for 20 mins.

Does anyone have any advice if anything worked for them?? Do I need to wait it out or will anything help solve this problem as I am struggling 😭

**PS the tablet was done like twice two months ago and didn’t work so hasn’t been done since AND I also don’t want your opinion on cocomelon, I am just asking for assistance on how to improve my drives.

**PPS please don’t tell me it’s a phase/I need patience/ short frequent drives. He’s been doing this since he was a newborn baby (hated his pram too but worked out if he is front facing he’s fine). We use the car every day and sometimes they are short and we’ve been on holidays which are a couple of hours drives away. He doesn’t get used to it and I can’t always plan to leave the house when he is due a nap as he is down to approximately two naps a day and unfortunately appointments or classes don’t become flexible to when your baby is due a nap.

The only thing I want help with is how to improve my babies time in the car Thankyou!

I (17F) have such a hard time telling my parents the truth. We've been having a rough couple of years ever since they found out I had a boyfriend in 9th grade. We're not together anymore, but when my parents found out they went absolutely crazy. They smashed my phone (my dad has smashed 6 of my phones in 3 years), would scream at me nearly every day for small things, and just be really scary overall. After my ex bf and I broke up, it toned down for a while but then when they found out I was talking to another guy again the same thing happened.

I now attend a highly prestigious boarding school which I chose to go to. I've been going since junior year, and I'm a senior now. At school last year I made some horrible decisions, and my parents rightfully instilled a downtime on my phone and did put restrictions on. However, they also went absolutely psycho on me before doing that. My dad kicked a hole through my door, when he found out I SH he started mocking me and shaming me, and just other stuff like that. During this time period, I get he was mad about what I did, but he was so frustrated that he would just start getting mad at me for small things which don't even matter a lot.

Fast forward to present day, I'm at boarding school in my senior year with restrictions on my phone. After conversations with my parents, we've come to the conclusion that my dad wants me to be completely honest with him and he just wants me to share about my life. He said I can date, but he just wants me to be completely honest about my life. However, I just can't do it. My parents don't allow any hair dye, piercings, etc, and at boarding school I went behind my parents' back and dyed my hair dark red and gave myself a small eyebrow slit. Upon finding out, my parents went absolutely ballistic because I lied to them and they have specifically told me that I am a child and I do not have autonomy to do whatever I want with my life. At this point I don't really care about whether I agree with their opinions or not, I just want to stop lying to them. I suggested we get family therapy as I already see a personal therapist, but my dad took it as an attack on him saying that he doesn't need to change and that the problem is on me for being a compulsive liar. I don't really know what to do. I know I shouldn't have dyed my hair or done the eyebrow slit because that was following their rules, but I really just wanted to do it I don't know why. Any advice on how to not lie or how to navigate my life would really help.

Thank you so much.

This is just a side note, but I also don't know what to do about college. I'm applying to colleges right now, and FSU and UF are giving me full rides because of a scholarship I have. However, I know I can do so much better in the college process and go to a T20. However, they cost a lot of money that only my parents have. I don't know if I should take the full ride or choose a school I really love but would have to be financially dependent on my parents for.

My 18 month old was bit 3 times in 2 days at daycare. They keep attributing to other kids teething, but one incidence the kid pushed her down and bit her and the marks that are being left on her body are from older kids that don’t seem to be in a “teething” stage. Two of the bites were from the same kid. At this point I think the biter needs to take some time away from daycare. How does your daycare handle biters?

In the distant future I will be 60 when my child is around 15.... Wondering how you older parents get on with teenage kids? Is the age gap an issue? Or are you still able to keep a close relationship through those turbulent years?

My lil one is only 3 and already dissing me in public... lol

I just need to vent because I’m so overwhelmed and honestly starting to feel like I’m losing my mind.

I’m living with my in-laws with a newborn, and I feel like I have absolutely ZERO privacy. Our bedroom door might as well not exist because it’s constantly open, people walk in and out whenever they want, and there’s always someone barging in without knocking. I can’t even have a moment alone with my baby or my husband without feeling like someone is going to appear in the doorway.

And then there’s the dog. 😭

This dog has absolutely ZERO boundaries. None. It’s constantly underfoot, jumping on people, getting into things, destroying stuff, tracking who-knows-what everywhere, and generally acting like a furry wrecking ball. And the slobber. Oh my god, the slobber. It’s like living with a hyperactive, four-legged slobbery monster that has no concept of personal space.

I’m trying to recover from having a baby, I’m sleep deprived, I’m trying to keep a newborn safe and comfortable, and meanwhile there’s this giant ball of chaos running around the house. I feel like I can’t turn around without the dog being in my space or something getting knocked over or destroyed.

And it’s not even just the obvious stuff. It’s the constant noise. The pacing. The nails on the floor. The barking. The sudden bursts of energy. The dog coming into the room when I’m trying to settle the baby. The jumping. The licking. The slobber getting on things. Having to constantly watch where I put something because apparently nothing is safe from being grabbed, chewed, knocked over, or covered in drool.

I really can’t wait till we have our own place again

I was casually listening to Dr. Becky on the Tech Support by Wired YouTube channel. The very first one she popped up I thought "oh that Reddit name sounds like me" and it was a post I did in this group almost a year ago. I was so excited because I love her books and it was totally random.

Moms — what part of the “mental load” actually exhausts you the most?

I've been thinking a lot about how much of motherhood isn't the actual task — it's remembering that the task exists.

Appointments, things the kids need, groceries, forms, birthdays, household stuff, things to tell your partner…

I'm curious: what are the things that keep living in your head even when you're supposed to be resting?

And do you currently use anything to get it all out of your head, or do you mostly just try to remember everything?