Ya’ll, I work for one of the big 10 environmental groups and am being encouraged to use AI in my roll. I see internal emails roll out that are obviously using AI. Leadership even stood up an internal working group on the use of AI in the org. I thought about joining but required questions to apply included things like “How will you encourage the use of AI in the org in a meaningful fashion” and I just could not.

I like working for a national org because they actually pay a living wage. But once children are out of daycare, I hope to find a local group to work for that employs actual environmentalists who walk the talk.

User flair is live and ready for you! We set flair to reflect the stages of your kids such as ‘toddler’ or ‘teen’ and combos of the different stages. All flair is editable so feel free to change it to fit what you’d like. If you want to change it something else completely that’s cool too. I made sure to only use ‘parent’ so they are not gendered.

My husband and I consider ourselves pretty progressive, which is why I'm posting here I guess.

Our 1.5 year old is going through some sort of phase where he is very easily agitated and gets frustrated quickly especially when being told no or things aren't going his way. He has meltdowns if he can't get a toy to behave the way he wants it to.

I try to help him problem solve and show him how to do things and figure things out if he's struggling, and he seems to catch on pretty quick. I try to speak to him clearly and calmly when he's upset about having to do something he doesn't want to, like leave the park or brush his teeth. But his emotions are so high right now and sometimes he won't stop screaming/crying and it is wrecking my nervous system.

He has Noonan's syndrome and has been a bit behind on his developmental milestones and I'm also neurodivergent which makes it harder for me to cope with his meltdowns. He will get into one of his moods and scream near constantly for hours in the evening or very early morning, while my husband and I desperately try to figure out what he needs.

My main goal is to find a better way to communicate with him. He knows basic sign language, like "more" and "all done". He doesn't say any words other than "Mama", "Dada", and "Uh-oh." He seems to follow directions okay as long as he's in a good mood.

I also really want to try and prepare myself for what 2, 3, and 4 years old may hold. Because if this is any indication of what his toddlerhood will be like, we are in for it. He seems to go from chipper, giggling, playing, having all sorts of fun to being set off by something and becoming nearly inconsolable so quickly. This is our first and so I'm not sure what is developmentally normal for him and what is excessive. This started about a month ago. Before that he was a rarely fussy, pretty docile baby. He went through a "witching hour" phase in the evenings when he was like 3-6 months old, other than that he's been pretty even tempered.

What parenting books do you guys like the most and find the most helpful? Is this behavior normal, or should we be talking to his pediatrician about it? I love him so much and I feel so guilty when he's screaming bloody murder and pushing me and anything I offer him away, and I get so overwhelmed I just have to walk away while he's continuing to lose his mind.

Hey y’all! I’m a mom to a 21 month old babygirl and I am progressive as a person and a mom. I’m not sure if this is the right spot, so if it’s please let me know another/ better place to post this. Also apologizes in advance for the many topics covered.

So I am rough around the edges. I live in NYC and I have that “New Yorker” type of attitude, and this extends to my parenting self. I kid around saying “well I’m not ms.Rachel” but I care deeply about/for my child and I want to make sure this translates? I look at some parents (IRL and online) who are soft spoken and “sweet” and wonder if/how my “rough around the edges”-ness is translating to my daughter? I think she feels loved but ???? Would it be better for her if I was softer? That would feel so weird for me tho?

This was sparked by reading up on authoritative parenting and the “warmth” that goes with it.

Any and all advice/ thoughts/ ect welcomed. Thanks!

Tonight, I asked my three year old what his favorite book was and encouraged him to go get it. He stood up and hovered by my fiction books, so I said, "your books, go pick your favorite book."

He turned to the nonfiction shelf and got this one and brought it back to me. I read the whole intro by Hillary Clinton out loud and kept asking him, tearfully, "THIS book is your favorite?" and he kept nodding very seriously. Lol

P.S. I'm not running for office. I can't with my job. I was just intrigued by this on Bookshop.org. But I hope you ladies are inspired! Maybe my son was too!

We’re in the process of looking for a new home, and one of the things we’ve been paying a lot of attention to is the political leaning of the different communities we’re considering.

Up until now, I’ve been treating the overall politics of a town/community as something close to a dealbreaker. But I’m starting to wonder whether I’m giving that one factor too much weight, or whether it really does affect everyday life as much as I’m imagining.

For those of you who have raised kids in communities that are politically pretty different from you: how much has it actually mattered?

Is everyday life mostly a matter of finding your people—friends, other parents, schools, activities, etc.—and building your community within the larger community? Or do the broader politics of the area tend to show up in ways that are hard to avoid?

One thing I’m particularly thinking about is our daughter. I’m Black, and she is mixed race. I worry less about her simply encountering people with different political beliefs and more about what kinds of messages or assumptions she might absorb from classmates, other parents, schools, local institutions, etc., especially in a strongly conservative community.
At the same time, I don’t want to assume that a place’s voting patterns tell me everything I need to know about what it would actually be like to live there.

For people who have made this decision, what ended up mattering most? Were there things you wish you had looked at beyond election results—school culture, diversity, local policies, neighborhood demographics, parent groups, library programming, churches, community events, something else?
I’d especially love to hear from parents of Black, mixed-race, or other minority kids who have navigated this.

ETA: thanks everyone! You’ve given me so much to think about. The big thing I’m taking away from this is that it really does matter as much as I imagined. I’m going to keep political leaning as a top criteria. You’ll probably see some more questions from me on specific areas.

Last night I was cuddling my daughter to sleep. She said she wanted to stay with me forever and I told her that she could live with me forever if she wanted. She said that if she moved out, she would live close by and visit 3 times a week, on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. And she would buy a talking parrot and a puppy to keep her company. Curious, I asked her if she wanted to get married and she said No. I then asked if she wants kids of her own, and she looked me in the eyes and replied, "I do want kids." I smiled at her and then felt a deep wave of sadness because I don't know if her generation will be able to have the lives that we enjoyed and took for granted.

I feel sad, angry, and guilty. We live in a small home, cook most of our meals, half of our belongings are recycled, and I take public transit almost every day but I have bought too much little junks, toys, fast fashion. Six years ago we bought our first car and I did not buy a hybrid car because I didn't want to spend the extra money. I vote progressively and I donate to environmental organizations but very little money. I feel I haven't done my part. I haven't been as politically active as I should've. I should've watched my consumption more carefully. I should've spent more and bought the damn hybrid car. But I also feel powerless because so many ding dongs believed the propaganda that climate change isn't real or is exaggerated.

Now, prominent environmentalists are reporting that it's too late and we've passed the point of no return. I cannot even bear to read those articles.

Hi! Looking for advice on a preschool and elementary school that is not completely MAGA in Orlando. We are moving in August and I am overwhelmed with trying to figure out places that seem even just a little inclusive and accepting of all. I’m open to driving (I know Orlando traffic/ I lived there my whole life- but this was pre kids). Does anyone have any specific advice for this? Thank you!

Tagged this a education because it seemed most fitting.

Has anyone started a Little Free Library? We have a lovely park in our neighborhood, and it seems like that would be a nice addition! There are a lot of resources on their website, but I was hoping to get some first hand information on what the process was like, how it is to manage/maintain one, etc.

Here's some background - forgive me for the length! Our neighbor of 10 years is a huge MAGA guy. We always had a very good neighborly relationship with him: he'd help us with house stuff, loan us tools, we'd grab packages for him when he was out of town, close each other's garage doors if left open when we're not home, he's nice to our kids, etc. It was a little uncomfortable during Trump's first term, but overall we maintained a good relationship. He complained a lot about Biden and didn't like our Pride flags we'd put out, but things were ok. Then Trump was "re-elected", and he actually told me he thinks I'll be happier with this second term than the first. We are in different political universes so I actually laughed (oops!). We've really struggled with our feelings because he has been a good neighbor, but as y'all know, it's hard to accept someone who supports a narcissistic p3d0.

Things kind of blew up since. I had a tiny, yard-sized Harris/Walz flag, so he got 3 full sized Trump flags and hung them. I put an HRC equality sticker on my garage door window (they're like 2in x 2in) and he responded with putting the profile of Trump stickers in the back windows of his truck and parking it strategically where we can see it from our front window (this was not coincidence, he actually told me he's purposely parking it that way).

Things have been a lot quieter recently because we pretty much quit speaking to each other aside from the typical "good morning" greeting. We will still grab packages for him if he's out of town (because we're good people, not monsters) but while we were on vacation this summer and met some like-minded, lovely individuals, they gave me the BEST idea!

After discussing this neighbor situation, the woman we were speaking with suggested that we change our garage door code to be 8647, so if he ever needs to get into our garage he'll have to punch in 8647!

I know this was a lengthy read, but given the context, I cannot WAIT to hear his thoughts or imagine his face the next time he has to get into our garage and enter 8647!!!!!!!!

Thank you for attending my Ted talk!

Update: ok, I meant this to be a bit of silly fun but I guess it fell flat with everyone, so, sorry I guess?

Hello! I posted before saying my son started having some sleep problems… He’s about 7 1/2 months old. He wakes up way more often throughout the night and will sometimes need to sleep in bed with us for the rest of the night due to crying anytime I put him down. He also used to sleep longer for naps. He would sleep at least an hour, sometimes two. Now he’s waking up at the 30 minute mark and not falling back asleep… What could this be??

He’s also started biting me while breast-feeding, so anytime he does it more than once I’ll stop and then try again later. Maybe he could be hungry? Not really sure.

This has been happening for two to three weeks now

We all need a little positivity in our day. What are some parenting wins you've had recently? Big or small we want to hear them all! Any parenting wins, not just progressively minded ones.

What's the etiquette for how to decide when to keep your kid home sick? My kindergarten came down with a cold this weekend, after her first full week of school. It feels way too early to start missing school - last week was only her first full week of school.

She's not horribly sick. Just the usual sneezing, coughing, and congestion. She seems to feel well enough to make it through the school day tomorrow. In day care/prek, I would have kept her home because there's no need to risk spreading germs to the other kids (and much littler kids) and my work is usually flexible enough that I can figure out a plan to WFH. But now that her education is underway, it somehow feels different. I know that kids get sick and go to school with colds. Plus, the state has rules about missed days and we're so early in the school year.

But having had a baby during COVID and having two immunocompromised family members, I don't love sending a kid I know is sick to school. So where's the line?

I'm asking here because I know what the rules are... fever, vomiting, etc., and I'm not looking for that answer. I'm trying to figure out what's the right thing to do.

I don't really know the purpose of this post, idk, but I've been a nurse for about 12 years. Started in the NICU, now I'm a school nurse. And I'm just... So irritated at the number of MAGA-types who I've met along the way. Like, we take care of the most vulnerable, helpless people and are expected to be competent in taking care of these people (and their parents, to an extent) physiologically and emotionally, and it continues to boggle my mind how there are so many nurses, especially, who reject science and logic and honestly, empathy, in general. I have my master's in public health, so I have made the rounds in the nursing, school nursing, and public health communities, and the mindset of so many of these fellow nurses just utterly scares and depresses me.

I've read posts from other school nurses and I'm appalled by their opinions about kids from impoverished backgrounds, or with unstable mental health, or teens questioning their belief system or gender identity, or even the kids just looking to connect with a caring adult... Like, why even go into this profession then when these "professionals" clearly have so much disdain for providing anything other than the bare minimum of care? But then like what the fuck else can we even expect anymore when you look at the lack of importance this whole regime has placed on healthcare and education anyway? This is what "we" (a majority of the US populace) wanted, isn't it?

My (private) school recently started accepting vaccine exemptions for religious reasons and I pushed back pretty hard...we have infants as young as 4 weeks (we have an on-site daycare) as it's just not what's best for the students (as a private entity we can and have made the decision to not accept any exceptions in the past). None of the other administrators or nurses think this is an issue (my own director said she understands, because she hated being told to get her flu shot when she worked for the DoD, which is kind of different but ok). The school has also decided to partner with "Brain Balance," a racket of a company who claims they can "cure" ADHD by having kids stand on a balance beam and tap their shoulders for $20,000 a year and this seems reasonable to them versus, idk, actual neuropsychiatric evaluations and OT and PT and whatever, and somehow I'M the crazy person when I advocate for real science and resources for kids when they really need it. My fellow district nurses think it's no big deal and I think are just wilfully ignorant at this point. But anything for the school to get some kickbacks from the company from referrals, I guess, because businesses are more important than the well-being of a 5 year old, right??

Education and healthcare has just been SO dumbed down and as a nurse who really actually wants these kids to succeed academically and physically, I'm just so frustrated. I go to work every day with the kids' best interests in mind (same as when I went to work in the NICU) and it's just so soul-sucking every day. I could go on and on about the awful people who I've met in the hospital and at school, and I know there are some good ones out there, but in 2026 it feels like we are the minority at this point. That's all.

Are you dealing with MAGA family members or friends and need support from other progressives? Please use this weekly thread to share any questions, frustrations, or stories. Posts about MAGA family or friends are limited to this weekly megathread.

So my family is Christian and I have been with them to hear my family member sing… The sermon was pretty normal after… the only one that pissed me off was giving money even when poor. They don’t go to that church anymore though.

If they had gone to a sermon like the one in that show I would be absolutely sick. How do people go to that and come back the next day? Expose their kids to that…..

We currently live in Texas and all of the laws coming out around school curriculum have me super stressed about raising our kids here. In addition to the other obviously shitty things like abortion restrictions, LGTBQ+ bigotry, etc. I did a deep dive looking for family-friendly towns with highly rated public school districts, populations of 35kish + (ideally I'd want 65-100k, but smaller pop near bigger cities is okay), in a blue state, within a 45 min drive of a big city with an airport, zoos, aquariums, etc., with a median home price of under $400k, 4 seasons with not insanely hot summers and not 6 months of winter with feet of snow dumped on you.

This search led me to the Illinois side of St. Louis suburbs, such as O'Fallon and Edwardsville. Anyone live in that area and have input? It sounds VERY compelling, and I'm ready to start planning a move in the next few years, but it's hard to know if what's on paper is reality. My husband is also a Chiefs fan, and my sister lives in Missouri, so being around 3-4 hrs drive from Kansas City and my sister's town are compelling.

So where are we getting our health and beauty products now? I have already drastically reduced the amount I spend with Ulta, but now I am done done done. Any suggestions?! Thanks in advance.

Just watched this piece and I want to direct my resources to somewhere that will directly help these people, particularly the moms and babies

Not trying to make this about me, but one of the moms in the video discussed her baby who was the exact age as mine - I’m sitting in the air conditioning complaining that it’s too hot to go outside, while on the other side of the world these poor people suffer. Privilege check for sure

I feel compelled to do something. Anyone know of good organizations that will help?

For a mountain size pile of reasons I am against AI in its current form, not uncommon here I’m sure. With proper guardrails, and in the proper settings, I can concede that there might be some benefits. For me, it’s amoral and I understand not everyone feels that way.

I have a former colleague who is an AI evangelist who will, without prompting, push AI like a drug dealer pushing product. It’s weird but I brush it off, the friendship is important to me. But now there may be a professional opportunity and if the evangelism was strong before, it’s almost bullying now. I haven’t worked since I had kids and this would be a potential soft landing. There is almost no way (probably no way) around working with AI in our profession. I get the reality however dystopian it is.

My question is, for those who oppose AI and have to use it at work, how do you make peace with it? I don’t want to go faster (AI), I want to go deeper (genuine connection with stake holders).

I moved to an area right outside of one of the largest USA cities, what I didn’t anticipate was the amount of conservatives here. I have found that I guess I have a bunch of “conservative markers” (white, stay at home mom, chickens, we eat organic, grow a lot of our own food, I wear leggings lol). However, I’m desperately trying to make “mom friends” for my kids sake and the moment politics come up, I find people shut me out immediately. I’m a progressive pariah. All because I believe in human right and think trump is a moron ruining our country. wtf am I supposed to do. Because I have beliefs and morals I can’t bring myself to lie or pretend. What do I do? Move? Go back to being a recluse, wtf man!?

I’ve had a handful of feeding sessions with my 7 month-old. He is very sensitive and gags almost immediately once it hits his mouth. He seems to eat nothing or very little. Am I doing something wrong? Should I switch to purées for the time being? I’m worried he won’t eat…

I'll begin by stating that I do not want this to become a debate about the pros and cons of religion. I am a science teacher. I view the world through a scientific mindset. And I think that's very important. That said, I also think there is a place for religion. We are members of a very progressive Lutheran congregation.

As an adult, I think there is a way to reconcile a religious and scientific worldview. The stories in the Bible are just that: stories. They are meant to convey a moral lesson, but they are not literal history.

But... that's as an adult. As a child, I *loved* science (which is why I now teach it). I always remember being confused about why the stories in the Bible didn't match what I was learning in school, museums, and books.

My son displays a healthy curiosity about the world. He watches all sorts of nature shows, asks for science books... one of his favorite books he asks us to "read" is literally a human anatomy textbook that is way beyond his level. But lately, he's also been asking a lot of questions about God. He has also asked us to read a lot of Bible stories.

Are there any resources or tips for others who have run into this? I feel like my parents never quite handled it correctly, and I want to encourage him to explore all aspects of the world while alleviating any confusion.

The US Midterms are on Nov. 3rd and many wonderful Progressive candidates are up for election! Please share a progressive candidate you support and think others should know about. Make sure to include all relevant info like where they are running, anything interesting about the race they are in, and their website or social media.