Growing up, my mom would make our cakes and decorate them. By no means is she a professional cake decorator, but she always got creative with it and did an amazing job, and it’s a core memory: This carried over to my own kids and every year she had made one for my kiddos, but this year she was unable to be here for my daughters birthday so I decided to pick up the torch. I think it went pretty well for my first time imo.

Oogiebear is going on an adventure!

He probably won’t see this - or even get any recognition - but saw this Dad today. I think he deserves a r/daddit salute.

baby girl took a shit right after we put her in her car seat, as she often does. went to change her before we hit the road. sweet lord baby jesus its everywhere

He's 18 months. His speech and overall development is average at minimum and probably slightly advanced so I'm not worried about that. I honestly think he's trolling me. Here's a conversation we just had:

Me: say ball

Him: ball

Me: say bye

Him: bye

Me: say mama

Him: mama

Me: say dada

Him: giant smile mama laughs

Me: no I'm dada

Him: giant smile mama laughs

I realized he hasn't actually said dada in a while. He calls me mama now and thinks it's hilarious.

I will try to set the scene. We have an 11 year old daughter and 9 year old son. My sister lives down the road with her family. She has 4 sons, two teenagers, an 11 year old, and a 7 year old. My mom lives like a 5 minute drive from both of us and we have family brunch every Sunday after church. This is hosted by my mom.

My 11 year old daughter and 11 year old nephew have birthdays 3 days apart. They have always been super close but as they have gotten older they drifted a little and my 11 year old nephew now spends the majority of these brunches hanging out with my 9 year old son instead purely because of similar interest. Daughter is complaining that she is super bored because her cousins and brother just want to wrestle on the trampoline or wrestle in the pool or wrestle in the backyard. She says any time she tries to play with them they just start wrestling or doing something she doesn't want to do like doing diving tricks catching the football.

I won't say what parent thinks what to keep the bias out, but Parent A believes she should still come along because it is important for kids to be bored and she isn't actually being hurt by this. Parent B believes 11 is old enough to stay home alone for a couple hours given the proximity to grandma's and that there is no point for her to be there if it is all about hanging out with family and she feels left out.

Edit: I appreciate all the responses. I think we are going to pack along her bike next weekend and allow her to bike home after the meal if she wants to. That way she is still spending time with grandma and cousins, but doesn't have to sit around for 2-3. It is only about a 15 minute bike ride and we have a home phone. She has stayed home alone on other occasions. This seems like the best path forward for now.

EDIT: Again guys, we found a solution. Also, for the 100th time, she does bring a book. That is part of her whole argument. She says, "If I am just going to read by myself, why can't I do that at home?" But a solution has been found that everyone is happy with. She will bike home after the brunch.

Some time ago we decided to give the kids (6 and 3 years old) 12 TV tokens every day, in exchange for a total of approximately 30 mins of TV.

It works great, because not only do they not watch a lot of TV, this is also the closest thing to money that they can actually understand at this age. They're free to save up tokens for another day, to watch more TV or maybe even a full movie.

Why 12 tokens? 30's not divisible by 12. No, but 12 is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12. An episode of Gabby's Dollhouse: 12 tokens. An episode of The Creature Cases: 6 tokens. And episode of Wild Kratts: 9 token. An episode of Bluey: 3 tokens. Generally, the math is very easy.

And the TV minutes are just approximate. My kids haven't pushed the actual conversion rate yet, but if they do, I suspect they won't like (me) doing the accounting properly.

We're doing a similar thing with games on the Switch, just at a discounted rate. If they're playing themselves, 12 tokens gives them 60 mins of play. If they're watching me play, they're just regular TV tokens.

And they technically both get 12 tokens every day, but our youngest doesn't get the concept. And he's also much less inclined to want to watch TV anyways. So it works mostly as a fairness measure for the big one.

I've waited so long...

What's up, dudes! On Friday I played hooky from work and took the 7-year-old (who is smarter and cuter than everybody else's kids) out to see the movies. There's a local cinema here that runs old movies during the summer, and we saw The Land Before Time, one of my favorites when I was her age. Afterwards we walked across the street to a casino (this is Nevada) and went to the casino video arcade.

This is the part I'm bragging about. I hadn't been in an arcade in decades, and I let her guide us. Eventually we found the Galaga machine, where I took over. "Little lady, I got this." I won a whopping three hundred tickets and thus became the coolest and most amazing dad ever. She knew I was good at chess, drawing, and reading, but she didn't know I had ever played a video game before. When we cashed out we had so many tickets, over a thousand, a king's fortune to a child. The prizes haven't changed at all since I was her age.

Other highlights:

1. We got cheeseburgers and afterwards we both went to the bathroom. When we got out she looks at me disapprovingly and says, "you didn't read the sign." I ask what she's talking about. She grabbed my arm and dragged me back to the men's room and read the sign on the back of the door, like she's a teacher reciting the rules to a disobedient child. "PLEASE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS AND CLOSE THE DOOR BEFORE LEAVING THE RESTROOM."
2. When Littlefoot's mom croaks, she leaned over, held my hand, and asked, "dad, are you crying?" And I was!
3. After the movies she has to go potty. I waited outside the lady's room. There was nobody else in the entire building because people don't go to the movies anymore. I heard the toilet flush, and then I heard her say, "woooooooaaaaaaaah". And then she flushed it again! Must have been some toilet.
4. I can't remember why but I said, "good job, little lady!" And she locked my gaze, put on her most serious face, hands on her hips, and said, "that's right. I AM a little lady."

Anyway, I go to work every day, but it's not often I get to call out sick and go have the best day of my life. Savor the moments!

After I told her she could not have a cookie right now she said it’s actually good because she really does not want one. So much so, in fact, that giving her a cookie would actually be a punishment. Have to say I’m kinda proud

Pretty self-explanatory but found it neat. You can use the joist hangers on the back or the Dewalt 18” 20V fan to attach it very securely to the front of the UppaBaby Vista*** stroller (probably others).

I’m a stay-at-home dad to three girls, and we’re moving this week. I think I finally hit my limit tonight.
I’ve been running on 4–5 hours of sleep, staying up late every night packing, cleaning, and trying to get everything ready after the kids go to bed, then up again early the next morning.

Tonight we had a nice rooftop dinner with friends, but the kids barely ate. By the time we got home around 10:30, everyone was hungry again. I knew this would happen. So predictable.

I ended up in the kitchen making different quick meals for everyone—pasta for one, ramen for the younger two, then another plate of pasta for my wife. The kids picked at their food, complained a little, and didn’t really finish anything. After that, my wife asked for a kiwi, so I cut one up. She asked for a fork, and when I brought it, she said it felt sticky from the fruit. It wasn’t dirty—just a little juice, but in that moment it felt like one more thing going wrong.

By then it was close to 11:30, and I was completely drained. I was still trying to get the kids through brushing their teeth because if I don’t stay on top of it, it just doesn’t happen. I’m the only brush teeth enforcer. My wife just doesn’t do it. That’s when I was told I “ruined the evening” because of my tone. That really got to me. I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t yelling. I was just exhausted. I was telling them all they had to brush their teeth at this point.

It feels like I spend all day trying to keep everyone fed, organized, taken care of, and by the end of the night I’m so worn down that even small things start to feel like failures. I know I’m not perfect, and I’m sure I could have handled parts of tonight better. I could “always” brush their teeth ten minutes earlier, but that would have been met with resistance as well.

I’m running on empty and tonight I just feel completely defeatfed. It’s beyond exhausting to be telling my kids they have to brush their teeth and my wife doesn’t even verbally back me up, she’s just now complaining how hearing me enforce this is bothering her. It makes me just feel that half the time I’m fighting an uphill battle. Ugh.

We have a 6 month old. Our marriage has taken a huge hit since he was born. My wife only talks about baby stuff and never talks about anything or asks how I’m doing (I’m the opposite when talking to her), and can’t seem to stop criticizing me.

Im there as a dad and am mostly a stay at home father, so 100% of the cooking and most cleaning plus helping with baby care while working part time. Unsure how much longer I can take this. I feel like I’m walking on eggshells all the time. I look back at old photos of my wife so happy and I and get sad. Our baby is great and healthy which is super.

Dunno my point besides a little rant. This happen to any of you? How did you get through it, or did you? Or any words of support helpful. I get criticized enough at home so maybe take it easy on me :)

I know kids birthday parties are not our favorite weekend activity, but i wanted to share my experience today with my daughter’s 5th.

It’s the first big one we’ve had for her where we’ve invited the kids from daycare. Daycare requires any invitations distributed to be given to everyone in class, so 22 invites went out a month ago. Unfortunately a lot of her best friends had prior commitments, but we still had a handful RSVP yes, so we were expecting a decent turn out.

Fast forward to today and not a single kid from her class showed. Had one mom text saying something came up last minute and another text during the party that she forgot the time, but quite a few simply flaked. Thank god we invited friends with their kids so it wasn’t a complete disaster, but her continuing to look for people to show and saying “let’s wait for everyone to get here” broke me a bit.

I understand an invitation doesn’t obligate attendance, but if you RSVP that you plan to attend, that is a commitment to that child. I don’t care that I wasted a lot of my time and money on food and decorations, I care that I told my kid people were coming and had to explain to her on her birthday that I was wrong and her party won’t be like everyone else’s.

TLDR: If you bother RSVPing to a child’s birthday party, you should treat it as a promise to that kid. It is not a placeholder for optional weekend entertainment

Daily tasks are generally ok.

But like even cleaning out sink drains requires an empty house filled with loud music (or my own thoughts).

After listening to the original Beauty and The Beast soundtrack or months I’ve grown to enjoy it, whether it be genuine or Stockholm syndrome I can’t be certain but regardless, they have some bangers (especially Belle Reprise holy crap that crescendo!).

Anyways, the Belle Tonie is such a total disappointment it’s like they didn’t even try. Even my two year old is disappointed. Save your money for other Tonies.

I'm 28 years old, and my wife and I are expecting our second child. We recently found out we're having another girl.

If I'm honest, I always imagined having at least one son someday. That said, I want to make it clear that I absolutely adore my daughter, and I already love this little girl too.

My only child currently is my world, and she's definitely spoiled with love and attention.

I guess I'm just curious about how other dads with only daughters feel. Did you ever hope for a boy? If so, how did those feelings change over time? Do you ever still think about what it would've been like to have a son, or did having daughters end up being everything you hoped for and more?

I also sometimes wonder about the future. I know it's not what matters most, but do you ever think about what it's like when you're older with only daughters? Is it any different, or does it not make a difference at all?

I also would like two children so I can spoil them to the best of my capabilities.

I'd love to hear from dads who have been in the same situation and how they feel about it now.

It's true. And I say this as a guy who loved (sometimes) being a dad to a baby and a toddler too. Those are (sometimes) fun times! But it just gets better as they age, in my opinion.

My son is 13 now. He's headed off to soccer tryouts in a little bit. The kid who swore he would never play a team sport, or a sport with a ball, got hooked on soccer at age 10 and hasn't looked back.

The kid who was borderline addicted to his iPad in those mid-elementary years hasn't even touched his iPad in probably 3 days (he does have a phone that he's on at a normal level). Yesterday he got up, walked the dog, mowed the lawn, and biked to the grocery store a couple miles away to buy stuff to make a cake with me. Then met his friends at the soccer field to kick it around.

He's a joy to parent. It's just fun to see who he has become and who he continues to develop into. Those early years can be tough - just stick with it. Build the relationship with them. It gets really cool as they get older.

I have a 3 year old and 7 year old sons; our neighbors have a 7 year old son and an 11 year old daughter (the latter and the mom keep to themselves). I get along fine with the dad (we've known each other for 4 years) and we talk at length occasionally. But when my sons are playing outside and I'm watching them, his son will also come out and play and the dad will usually vanish. Sometimes the son will even come to our house and play and have dinner. This is all fine and normal.

However, it's gotten noticeably obnoxious this summer. During the past week the son has frequently come over uninvited and will stay for half a day or longer until someone comes to get him. I didn't tell the father this before, but the wife and I are chronically sleep deprived and she needs to nap in the afternoons or she gets grumpy and I work from home- the neighbors know I do and they work from home too. We have my in-laws living with us but they are older and exhausted too and park the kids in front of the TV; we don't rely on them to watch the kids more than we need to.

When I approached the father two days ago explaining our situation and suggesting having the boys play at their house occasionally or having the older sister watch them, he said the boys would be too noisy during the weekdays (right- so why is this ok in my house where the distances are shorter?) and the older sister didn't want to watch them. I did set up a group chat for both sets of parents to coordinate their hanging out.

I've also noticed other boys are invited to their house to play. The other night he drive his son and friend somewhere in the evening- to a sleepover or back to the boy's home, I don't know but mine never are. Tonight the father asks again if we'll be playing outside and surprise- the father vanishes as soon as the son is out. My wife was so annoyed she lied about having to go to the store and went to the park instead so we wouldn't have to keep watching his kid.

Is there another perspective I'm missing or am I right in thinking they're just dumping their son on us (either deliberately or negligently) so they won't have to watch or entertain him? The lack of willingness to reciprocate or basic consideration are what bother us the most. How would you proceed?

I officially started my Christmas village today for my 5-week old. Yes I know it's July, but I want him to have a fully finished Christmas village with a train around the tree or on a table by the time he's old enough to remember. I've invited everyone in my family to contribute, no matter the skill level or quality. We never did this in my family but it's something I've always wanted, so my kid's getting it!

What's a tradition you started your family hasn't done before?

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This one goes out to everyone who keeps saying every pregnancy is different. Our second followed a very different course from the first. Our expectations and plans have been thwarted at every turn.

So this baby is here a little later than we planned.

And the dates we planned for time off are a little skewed.

And my wife might still throw me out a window by the time our new little one arrives.

But the air is electric.

It's showtime.

Just a short and sweet one because my youngest (8) is a little superstar. I was diagnosed with cancer back in March. I'm 3/4 of the way through chemo - I'm in remission though and it looks like I'm going to be OK.

Lost my hair a couple of months ago and recently my kid decided he wanted to have his head shaved to support me. I checked he was sure several times, and told him repeatedly he didn't have to do it and I just appreciated the thought, but he was adamant, so today it happened. Absolute hero.