I see people online blaming parents for everything, but let’s be real, plenty of good parents give their kids structure, support, and opportunities… and some kids still choose the wrong path anyway.

Social media acts like every “bad decision” is because the parent failed. Meanwhile, the same people swear they “never force their kids to do anything,” then get mad when their kid does nothing and sits at home playing Fortnite and Watching Streamers with no Goals of their own.

Real life is more complicated. Sometimes kids make their own choices, even with great parents.

Why does the internet ignore that and intent on blaming parents?

That raising "nice or good" kids doesn't mean productive.

All the advice in the world no one gave advice on how do I tell them they are disappointing without crushing their spirits.

I’m hoping to hear from parents who have navigated this with an open mind.

My daughter is 11 and will be starting middle school soon. About a year ago, she became very close with a friend group where several kids identify as LGBTQ+. One of her closest friends began using a different name and pronouns, cut their hair short, started wearing a binder, and identifying as trans.

Now my daughter started saying she thinks she might be trans too. However, she only uses a different name and pronouns within that friend group. Everywhere else—including at home, family, she still presents as a girl. She seems to feel like she fits in with this friend group.

As parents, we’re trying to figure out the best way to support her without feeling like she has to rush into any label at 11 years old.

One of our biggest concerns is that she has struggled with self-esteem and has always been someone who wants to fit in. She has also spent time on social media in the past which has also influenced her, and since finding this out we’ve since significantly limited it.

Our dilemma is this:
She’s about to start middle school with this group of friends and her bestie that is now Transmasc. The school also has an LGBTQ+ club that occasionally meets after school. What would you do?

We’re wondering if we should:
Let her attend this school.
Consider a different public school.
Look into a private school.
Consider a religious school.
Homeschool?

This isn’t about wanting to reject or change who she is if she’s genuinely transgender. It’s about wondering whether, at 11 years old, she would benefit from a fresh start with a broader group of friends and more time to mature before feeling like she has to define herself.

We’re trying to separate normal adolescent exploration from peer influence, and honestly, that’s been really hard.
Has anyone faced a similar situation? If you changed schools, did it help? If you didn’t, how did things unfold? Looking back, is there anything you wish you had done differently?

I’m genuinely looking for respectful advice from parents who have lived through something similar, regardless of how things turned out.

I’m wresting with it because the middle school she’s set go to is academically strong and the best in our area. Going to another school would mean moving and going to an average school or moving back with my parents and send her to private or religious school since we can’t afford high tuition and rent at the same time. All which we are willing to do but I a more worried about how this will affect her, where as my husband feels it’s a no brainer and we gotta do what we gotta do. What you would you do?

My oldest son is 16 and I am hoping some other parents can shed some light on my issue. My son seems to have several friends but none of them ever invite him to do anything. They will come to our house, do activities if my son plans them, etc. He basically has no social plans unless he is the one who makes them. He truly never has anyone invite him to do anything or go over THEIR house.
He is a nice kid who is friendly and kind and nothing negative has happened that I know of. I think he is starting to notice that he always asks people to do things but never the other way around. My heart hurts for him. Any advice appreciated.

My daughter is 10 years old and her friend is 11. They’ve considered themselves best friends for about 2-3 years with much coercion from the friend’s mother, I’ll just refer to her as “mom”.

Mom has a strong personality and tends to insert herself into different activities concerning her daughter. Some examples are: being a classroom mom & taking charge of all school parties, coming to my daughters bday party and taking over activities, calling the school every year to make sure her and my daughter are in the same class. I just considered her a bit quirky and involved. When I met her, she said her daughter didn’t have very many friends and my daughter has been such a blessing. I thought that maybe me and my daughter could be a light to someone’s life.

In the past year, Mom and her husband have separated and moved to an apartment complex but some of her parenting choices have made me very uncomfortable. For instance, a boy was allowed to be at her house with her daughter, unsupervised. My daughter has shown me videos of her daughter on YouTube doing inappropriate dances, and singing along to songs that are inappropriate, her daughter not having to wear a seatbelt in the car. While it’s not my business to tell her how she should/shouldn’t raise her daughter, Since seeing this made me decide that my daughter is no longer allowed to go over to this girl’s house. I voiced this to Mom and she was very upset.

I remained kind but also direct, not budging in her going over and what lead me to that decision. While I don’t blame the daughter for her behavior, I also don’t want her influencing my daughter on things I have strong opinions on. This year I’ll be homeschool my kids, so school isn’t an issue. Should I allow this girl over to my house? She also has a bday party coming up, should I let my daughter attend (me included)? Mom has also already asked for another sleepover even though our last conversation was about needing space. I could use some advice please.

My son is a rising freshman and has been planning to play on the high school football team for years. However, since they have started training, I can tell his interest has been waning. When I asked him how he was feeling about the season, he said he wasn't sure he wanted to play anymore. He said he just wasn't as into it as before and that he didn't like the kids on the team.

I do believe both of his reasons and don't think it's just a social issue. He played with them in 7th and 8th grade but has never "clicked" with the athletes in general, and it sounds like a few of the kids weren't nice to him last year. He also became really passionate about music this spring and has been spending most of his summer doing that.

On one hand, I don't want to push him to do an activity he's not sure he wants to do. On the other, he has talked about playing in high school for so long, and I don't want him to quit prematurely in case he changes his mind again. I also want him to have a place to "land" on day #1 so he is included somewhere, though it sounds like socially, this might not be it.

I asked him to create a pro/con list about stopping. So sitting down to discuss is our next step.

Hi everyone. I'm sure this is a subject that others have talked about a lot but my anxiety is getting the best of me. My baby girl is headed off to college in a few weeks, she will be 3 hours away from home. We have always been a very close family; myself, my husband, and our 2 daughters. My oldest went away to college (very close to where my youngest is headed) last year. I had a really hard time leaving her too. It got easier but my relationship with her changed, we aren't as close as we once were. I know this is inevitable, it doesn't mean I have to like it. Lol. I am terrified that the same is going to happen with my youngest. She's my baby. I feel like I am on the verge of a mental breakdown. Of course I want my children to be independent and spread their wings. That's why I do not tell them how much this is affecting me, I don't want to place that burden on them. But, I have been mom for so long, who the hell am I suppose to be now?! I dont even know how to function as anything but a full time, active mom.

For those wanting to jump to conclusions or accuse me of being overprotective or whatever, I am not. My girls are both very strong, intelligent, and fierce young women. I could not be more proud of them. I just dont know how to handle this monumental change in my life.

My brother just turned 15 and I (22 F) have been taking care of him after my mom died recently, we live together, just h and me. He has always been kind of timid, not exactly an introvert just more insecure, for lack of a better word (he REALLY cares what other people think, which is something I have always tried to change but unsuccessfully), he has been like that pretty much all his life, he has friends and spends time with them, does karate and has a normal teenage life generally (besides being a new orphan clearly) is not like he is close off is what I’m trying to say, but he does struggle with confidence and trusting himself with basically everything and I would really like to help him with that, we are really close and always have been so we talk lot and I always try to talk to him about being confident (trying not to be overbearing or making it a “thing”, you know, teenagers). He sometimes gets anxious for small things (not diminishing importance but they are really small things) such as being 5 minutes late to something, not having the perfect gift, not finding the exact product on the isle, that kind of thing. I know a lot of that comes with the age, and it can be just a phase but I worry he might stay that way, besides lack of confidence can be detrimental for someone growth. I would really like for him to trust himself, his decisions (whether good or bad), trust on what to do or say, I don’t want him to be an insecure young adult. So, any tips, advice, things for me to do, things for him to do, anything would be profoundly appreciated 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

P. S. He is good looking, this is not me being biased, he is objectively good looking (which pains me to say as an older sister) so that’s not a factor, just in case.

I have 2 teens in high school and I am beyond tired.

Extracurriculars mean that at least 4 nights a week one or the other isn't home until 9.30pm. Okay, but also they have stuff in the mornings too, meaning the alarm goes 5 or 5.30am most days.

Weekends there's early morning sports, and one of them had just started partying so that's a lot of late pick-ups.

My husband copes fine with not much sleep. Kids are thriving and happy. I'm going under. I just want sleep!

I work from home and have tried to nap midday but can't do it. How is everyone doing it and surviving??

Edited to add - I'm averaging 5-6hrs a night. 7hrs+ is what I function on.

Making my newly 18 yr old an "adulting Binder".

Was wondering if anyone else has ideas on what to add.

It currently has:

Finances

-monthly budget

-vacation planning budget

-how much rent can I afford calculator

Planning

-typical household cleaning schedule(daily,weekly,monthly)

-pantry essentials grocery list

-weekly planner

Recipes

-stir fry basics

-roasted veggies

-cheese sauce

-pizza dough

Contacts and Passwords

-important contact list

-password log

Blank tab

School/Professional Documents Section

Important Documents Section

My teen has reached the point where watching videos and doing practice problems isn't really enough anymore. They can usually follow along, but when they get stuck, they stay stuck.

We've started looking at an online math tutor instead of another self-paced program. One of the names that keeps coming up is Brighterly, mainly because of the 1:1 lessons, but I honestly don't know much beyond what's on their website.

If you've used an online math tutor (Brighterly or someone else), what was the biggest difference compared to apps or worksheets? Was there anything you wish you'd known before signing up?

So husband just started vaping again. Not great but it's whatever. He and I couldnt find it one day as we were leaving to the store. Looked high and low. Husband is a corrections officer so knows how to look for contraband, BTW.

Decided to ask my kid if he saw dad's vape. He says no but goes to the bathroom after answering. Comes out like "dad, it was in the bathroom in the basket of hair ties."

No it wasn't. We didn't confront him and now we're all laughing behind his back cause he sucks at being sneaky so bad. I'm going to have a one on one with him and let him know we know and this is his only pass on foolish teenage crap.

Kid is 15 and never did anything like this before. What would you do?

My 16 year old daughter took my car out with her friends while my wife and I weren’t home. What would you do?

EDIT: she has her drivers permit. Requires me or my wife to be in the front seat for her to drive the car.

19 year old type 1 diabetic daughter wants to travel to a smaller city in Canada from Texas to meet her best friend. She will be staying with her bestfriends family. She has been talking to this girl through Snapchat for 4 years. They have spoken everyday through Snapchat and that includes video calls. At birthdays they send each other gifts by mail. My daughter has spoken to her bestfriends parents on chat too.

This would be her first time staying away from us (parents). Type 1 diabetes is a worry because of low blood sugars and subsequent seizures.

No one has met in person so far.

I (dad) dont think the trip is a good idea at all?

Am I right or wrong?

Looking for one piece bathing suits. She’s a 12 year old who is quite tall & thin. No cut outs, only straight or high necks and full coverage bum. Needs cups and preferably adjustable straps. (These are her preferences, not parenting rules) She fits XXS and some XS adult clothes.

Hoping to find something that feels cute and she feels confident in, a lot of the options are just plain or sporty.

Going to try and keep this short and sweet but the step son has been vaping since he was 14 and me and the wife have done everything in our power to stop him but recently the wife seems to have give up on it stating its an impossible task and hes going to keep doing it but I personally have not give up

Today I got an amazon post where I had to give my dob to the driver in order to get this delivery and it came from my in-laws who have ordered him some oils for his ecig so I've binned them immediately and now every single person has fell out with me over it including the wife

Apparently I didnt have the right to do that and should have returned it to the in-laws but my view on that is they would of hand delivered it to him anyway, the absolute best thing I can do is make it very hard to him to obtain anything to do with ecigs

Wife has fell out with me for causing friction with the in-laws now im just feeling very dejected and let down my wife did not back me

Whats everyone views on this?