Wanted to share a win! My wife found this template for a family tech agreement online and we actually sat down and made one with our three kids (8, 11, 14). Sounds cheesy but having actual rules written down instead of me just yelling "get off the Switch!" has been game-changing. No screens during d...
My 15yo has been gaming 5-6 hours a day after school and on weekends. It's affecting his sleep, his grades dropped, and he gets ANGRY when we try to limit it. I've tried everything—negotiating, taking away the console, consequences. Nothing works. He just sneaks it in other ways. I'm genuinely worri...
Got my son a Switch for Christmas thinking he'd play a reasonable amount. Now it's like pulling teeth to get him off Minecraft. I've tried timers, warnings, taking it away—nothing works. He just melts down for 30 mins every time. Anyone dealt with this? How'd you actually get your kids to listen abo...
Starting a new tradition with my 4yo and 6yo: we hit up the farmer's market early Saturday, let them each pick one thing to take home, then we make breakfast with it. Last week they picked strawberries, week before was peaches. It's cheap, gets us out of the house, teaches them about food, and they'...
My 4yo's favorite shirt got a hole in the armpit after like 3 washes. THREE. It was a $28 shirt. I've seen my jeans last 5+ years and my kids' stuff falls apart in weeks. Is this just how it is or am I washing things wrong? Also why do all these "durable" brands still look destroyed after one season...
Been thinking about joining a dads support group. There's one that meets on Thursday nights in the basement of the library which sounds both very helpful and very depressing lol. Has anyone done one of these? Is it just a bunch of guys sitting around being sad or is there actually value? Nervous abo...
Got permission from the wife (barely) to let my 9yo and 11yo help build a treehouse in our oak tree. We spent last Saturday gathering supplies and planning it out - honestly spent more time on safety planning than actual building, which I'm sure is boring but whatever. Used a kit from Backyard Adven...
My son is really into helping me make bread lately and I want to keep the momentum going. Problem is he loses interest when he has to wait 4+ hours for proofing. Should I try a different recipe or just embrace the fact that he'll be doing other stuff while we wait? Also anyone have good kid-friendly...
Quick question: we're trying to get our daughter to sleep through without coming to our room 47 times a night. Some nights are better than others. It's exhausting. Are you guys doing any particular method? Ferber? Something else? How long did it take before you saw real improvement? ngl we're at our...
**Update from my last post:** So I was stressed about our 9-week-old's erratic sleep and someone in here suggested paying attention to wake windows instead of just trying to feed/soothe on demand. Looked it up, apparently newborns at that age should only be up like 45min-1hr max. We were letting our...
I don't mean that in a depressing way because I love my kids more than anything. But man, I miss just sitting in my car with nobody talking to me for like 20 minutes. Or being able to watch a movie without pausing it 47 times. Used to take 2 hour runs on Sundays with my headphones. Now I'm lucky if ...
They helped knead the dough, added their own toppings, the whole thing. Pizza was lopsided and one side burned but they ate four slices each and asked when we're doing it again. Small win but I'll take it. Gonna do this monthly now I think.
Not even a heads up text. Just dropped him off and I'm combing nits out of his hair that night. I had to treat the whole house, his stuffed animals, everything. When I texted her about it (trying to stay calm), she said "I didn't notice." How do I bring up hygiene/health stuff without sounding accus...
Got 8 weeks with my daughter and it's been incredible. I know that's privileged as hell compared to what most guys get. But going back to the office Monday feels like abandoning her. My wife will be home another 4 months and logically I know she's in good hands. But emotionally? This sucks. Anyone e...
Okay so we went from 8, 5, and newborn is now 2 weeks old. I thought the second kid would be harder than the third but honestly? Third kid hits different. The older two are more independent so I'm not juggling three different needs at once. Plus we know what we're doing now so we're not panicking ab...