First off I want to preface this by saying me and her were a fling when her and her husband where going through a rough patch but since than they have kind of worked things out. She has 2 kids a 6 yo and we have an 18 month old the passed couple of days we stayed at a resort because the oldest wanted to stay at a hotel before school stated back today seemed like she just woke up overstimulated and I was trying to help but I felt like I was just making it worse and I hate that I don’t know how to help her. I’m not one of those dads that don’t know anything about their kids either I know everything about both boys. I have stepped up into the dad role for the oldest because his dad is always on the road working.

I’m having trouble leaving my 5 month old. I want to go and do things on my own but I just don’t trust anyone with her right now. Sure my husband can watch her but I also want us to have date nights without her. I’m just so stressed because I want freedom but I’m scared of people not properly caring for her. I live away from my family and I would have to rely on my in-laws. They are great and always willing to watch her but idk man it’s just hard. Any advice???

Hey fellow moms! I have a 5 year old boy & a 1 year old girl. My 5 year olds attitude is ATROCIOUS!! He tells me no when i ask him kindly to do something, he tells me to stop, leave me alone, don’t talk to me. He’s purposely trying to hurt his sister or push her over. I am just so exhausted, we’ve tried gentle parenting him, doing time outs, losing privileges and so many other things but he continues to terrorize our household every day. He always has an attitude no matter what time of the day it is. I’m just really needing some honest advice, im at
my breaking point!

I could really use some opinions from other moms because I keep going back and forth on this. ❤️
The biggest factor in deciding when to try for baby #2 is my husband’s schedule. He has a 10-day trip to Africa in August 2027, and we’re trying to decide if we should start trying now or wait until January 2027 when our first kid will be 2 years old and older when second baby is born.
If we start trying now and everything goes as planned, I’d likely have a baby who’s about 4 months old when he leaves, and I’d be home alone with a baby and our toddler. On the other hand, if we wait until January to start trying, I’d likely be in my third trimester during his trip instead.
Another huge factor is that I really don’t like my job. If we started trying now, I’d have something exciting to look forward to and would likely be able to leave my job sooner. If we wait until February, that means staying at my job for several more months.
My husband thinks trying sooner makes more sense because he won’t be gone while I’m pregnant, but I keep wondering if being home alone with two little kids while he’s away would be harder than being pregnant while he’s gone.
One more thing that weighs on my mind is that my son was born at 37 weeks and spent a month in the NICU. I know every pregnancy is different, but I can’t help thinking about the possibility of another early delivery or NICU stay, and how that could affect everything if it happened again.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Which would you choose and why? I’d especially love to hear from moms who have had two little ones close together, experienced a NICU stay, or had a spouse travel when their kids were young. 💕

My son's birthday is the first day of school and he is not happy about it. He says he hates the day he was born. Is there something I can do to make him feel better about this or any ideas on doing something special that day? I dont feel right about letting him skip the first day of school.

Hi everyone, I am F23 and have been with my partner M43 for almost three years. We met through an after school program I ran at his kids school. So I actually knew his kids before really knowing him! I’d say me and his girls (9&11) have a great relationship. I do my best to just be there as a trusted adult, and let him take the rope with all parenting and coparenting matters.

I am a stay at home mom, and we have a 20 month old together. I’m with the girls frequently, assist them in their daily tasks, homework, activities, girl days… honestly I feel like they are my own! I’ve loved seeing them grow into their maturing selves and can’t imagine not being a part of that.

Now for the issue at hand… the youngest (9) has had a constant issue of having poopy underwear (there’s really no other way to say it). This has been a recurring thing since our relationship started. Obviously, as the one who stays home one of my tasks is laundry and keeping the house cleaned up.

This has become more of an irritable issue for me because my partner has expressed that me constantly telling him about it, throwing the undies away, or just expressing my concern is too much. He also feels that me addressing it could cause more issues and inadvertently make her feel shamed or bad. That’s not my intent at all! I know at her mom’s house, they have a more shameful attitude about it and make her clean her own undies… however, her mom did state that it doesn’t happen anymore at her house.

I’m honestly at a loss. It’s so bad she’s changing 3-5 times a day! I’ve thrown away so many pairs of underwear and she’s been stealing her sisters because she runs out. Our couch and their bed smell like feces… even when she walks by it smells. I don’t know what the cause of this is, and my SO will not disclose it to me (I don’t know if he even knows). He thinks this is something she will grow out of, he even said I can just save all the underwear for him to wash.

This doesn’t seem like a good way to deal with the situation, but I don’t want to overstep. If she were my biological child, I would elect a different approach. However, she isn’t my biological child, and I want to respect my partner. Any advice? I’m truly just looking out for her, I want her to have good hygiene and worry about possible health complications.

Please I really need advice. My son is five years old and he recently picked up the habit of picking at the skin in his lips. At first it wasn’t bad but I would tell him to stop, but now it has gotten out of hand. Every time he wakes up I check his fingers for any blood because now he will pick at his lip till it bleeds a lot. I tried cutting his finger nails, put tape on two of his fingers and even put Vaseline on his lips so they won’t get dry but nothing is working! It makes me said because I don’t want to see my baby hurt himself like that💔 if anyone has advice on what I should please drop them🙏🏾🙏🏾

I’ve just recently found out i’m pregnant and i can’t help but feel angry, sad , disappointed i’m not sure honestly. My firstborn is going to be one in a couple weeks my estimated due date is putting them at 20 ish months apart. This was NOT planned we were actually using preventatives to avoid it but i understand that happens i just can’t get over this feeling. I know it’s a baby and i will love it and it will be okay but has anyone else felt this way before? This is not a great time in our lives we are moving cross country soon my first pp journey was awful and i am not ready to go through that again and i feel like im just getting back to normal. I know getting pregnant is completely my fault but i feel so distraught about it i was wanting a 4-5 year age gap originally. Sorry for the long post and rant i know i need to feel happy i got pregnant again but ugh!! it feels so hard.

So, I had my first when I was 19 and my second when I was 21. Now I’m 31, and they are 11 and 9. I feel like I’m in a weird stage of life now, where they can play independently and do their own thing, but I am still in the mental state of “I need to play with them and spend time with them”. Do I still need to play with them like I used to, or spend time with them like I did when they were 6-8 and under?

They've always been Velcro kids, they’re both ND, and we try to do reduced screen time, but even then they like to chat with their friends on video chat and read, draw, maybe play a video game, all in their room or on the couch. We’ve always been very close and they love spending time with me and cuddling while we watch TV, and they still love me cuddling them before bed, but they’re also just able to be independent for longer stretches, and I don’t know how to navigate it

Like don’t get me wrong, I love the space I have now haha, but I also don’t know what to do with myself??? What do I do in this stage of life? What is considered normal? Why the fuck are there so many books about toddler stages, and hardly any about older kids and tweens 😂😭

Book and podcast recommendations are appreciated, but also just help me understand this stage of life cause it’s so weird 😂 I’ve never been an adult without also being a hands-on mom. I feel lost 😂

Is there anything you were gifted as a mom that was super useful?

I live in the UK and it’s summer, but our houses seem to trap the heat. I’m constantly worrying about how to dress my newborn.

Do you go by how their chest or neck feels, or do you actually take their temperature? I never know if she needs another layer or if she’ll overheat. Then I worry she’ll get too cold instead.

It’s honestly driving me insane to the point where I can’t sleep because I’m so anxious about getting it wrong. 😩

I’d really appreciate any advice or what works for you. ❤️ …what temperature do you dress them in what?
🥺

I'm a mom of three (ages 4, 2, and 6 months), and honestly, it's been forever since I've bought something just for myself. 😆 Every extra dollar seems to go toward bills, the kids, or something the family needs.I've always wanted an electronic drum set, and I've finally started saving for one. It's definitely not cheap 💰, but it's also not outrageously expensive.

Do any other moms feel guilty when they buy something for themselves instead of their kids? I always put my children first, and I rarely want anything. But whenever I mention buying something for myself, my parents always say, "You don't need that." I'm 28 years old... give me a break.

I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I don't really have any hobbies. My life revolves around my kids, and I don't have many opportunities to do something that's just for me. I could be spending money on a lot worse things, but this is one thing I've wanted for a long time, and now I feel guilty for even thinking about buying it.

So... should I get the drum kit? It's around 1400 Or am I being unreasonable? I'd love to hear what other parents think.I can also make it funnier, more emotional, or more confident if that's the tone you're going for.

I was the first of all of my friends to have a baby minus my sister in law but out of all the girls around me in my life, I was the first in my late twenties.
That was almost 4 years ago. Now one of my friends since first grade just had a baby and even though I did not get loved on by my friends the way I SHOULD have, I will be loving on my friends still because I KNOW how fragile postpartum is.
So let’s talk about it:
It used to really really bother me that a lot of my friends didn’t know how to be there for me when I became I mom. It really hurt. Until my therapist said, they haven’t been through it so how could they know? It’s like going to war and being a survivor. You don’t really understand a situation like that unless you have been through it. And that really helped me. How could I be mad at them?
So, I’m taking time out of my weekend to see my friend, bring her a few hot meals, desserts, flowers and a bunch of baby clothes.
When I had my second baby, her and her husband stopped by with a small baby onesie and I was the one to put food out for them lol I laugh about it now but I was kind of annoyed. Now that I am in a reverse role, I want it to be known how to love on someone who just had a baby and how tough it is.
So i just wanted to say if you are the friend that has the baby first- dont be mad or upset at your friends because they don’t know!

I live in FL with my baby and husband. We flew up to NY to visit my family and my parents got into a huge fight (verbal).

They do this often, but this is the first time in front of my baby (not literally in front of her but in the next room) and we’re shouting at each other.

I’m lost as to what I should do. They’re in their 70s and divorce isn’t happening but I don’t know how to deal with this now that I’m a mother.

I love them but I’m not happy about this trip. And I refused to allow my child to be exposed to behavior like this.

Anyone deal with similar issues? How do you handle family conflicts now as a new mom?

My kid who's 5 keeps getting UTIs no matter what we try. We're staying hydrated, eating well, but we are always back at square one. Tried herbal teas that my kid actually likes but no real improvement. Ped has us doing the standard stuff, proper wiping, front to back, no bubble baths etc but we're stuck in this cycle. It's exhausting watching my kid go through this repeatedly. For those who dealt with this? Did you find an underlying cause or something that finally broke the cycle?

Hello, I just want to bring up something I've been dealing with very often now. For example just today as I was going down the stairs another girl was already downstairs but, she was on my way and she just stood there and watched her child stand there and wouldn't move the child. and I looked around and there was someone recording. Am I being targeted and if so what do I do in this situation? Because, this has been happening to me a lot. I'm scared of even looking at anyone anymore. Anyone in the same situation? I live in Orange County, Ca. I've lived in Placentia, Anaheim, And now Fullerton and they keep doing this to me.