Passed it on to my oldest and he got it. Watched his face when he realized he could do something practical and real with his own hands. That's a feeling you can't get from a video game or a TikTok. Building confidence one skill at a time.
Trade off nobody warns you about. My wife and I are a real team now, like actually solving problems together. But my best friends? Haven't hung out with them in 18 months. We text occasionally but it's not the same. It's like becoming a dad forced me to choose and I chose the family thing. Anyone fi...
My ex is way more strict than I am. Like, she has a 7pm bedtime on school nights and I do 8pm. She doesn't let them have screens on weekdays and I let them wind down with 30 min of youtube. My kids have started asking me why I'm "more fun" and my ex is "mean." I want to validate that different house...
I've seen ads for both and wondering if they're actually worth the subscription. I need something I can do for 10 mins in the morning before the chaos starts. Budget is tight right now so I don't want to waste money on something I'll use twice and abandon. What's your experience?
Yeah I'm probably that dad but hear me out - my son was getting constant notifications, checking his phone every 30 seconds, couldn't focus on homework, the whole thing. So I got him a basic flip phone. He can text and call. That's it. First week was brutal (he was legitimately angry) but now? He's ...
Looking for something more specific than general therapy. Would be nice to talk to other dads who get it - the pressure to provide, the worry about messing up your kids, all of it. Anyone know of anything like this? Happy to drive a bit for it.
My 4yo has decided he only wants to read books about *heavy machinery*. Not like, transformers or action stuff. Actual excavators, bulldozers, cement mixers. We've checked out every construction equipment book at the library twice. He can identify different types of dump trucks. This is his entire p...
We picked parts for like a month, watching videos and reading reviews. Then spent all day last Saturday putting it together. He was so nervous about breaking something but we took our time and it powered right up. Now he won't stop playing Fortnite but at least I know he understands how it all works...
My oldest asked me yesterday why God lets bad things happen if he loves us. I froze. I gave some answer about free will but honestly I don't think it landed. How do you guys handle these conversations with your kids? I want to give them real answers not just the Sunday school stuff.
The first month was survival mode, month 2-3 was anxiety mode, but my daughter is 5 months old and honestly? I'm starting to enjoy this. She's giving me real smiles, she recognizes me, she's sleeping better, and I've finally got at least 30 minutes a day where I'm not actively stressed. I think I ca...
My 11yo is asking constantly. He's in 6th grade and apparently like 70% of his class has one already. We're in Portland and I feel like we're being weird about it, but I'm genuinely not sure when the right age is. He's responsible with his iPad for homework but that feels different somehow. What age...
Honest question. Today I found my 4yo in the backyard at 8am in full Spider-Man costume (in 75 degree weather) trying to "web" the fence with our garden hose. He was soaked. There was mud. I'm pretty sure he thought this was the best morning ever. Meanwhile I'm over here trying to figure out if wet ...
My son's on the 10U team and honestly the parents have gotten way too competitive. There's this one dad who's literally yelling at 10 year olds about their swing mechanics. Like buddy, they're still learning to tie their shoes half the time. Just let them have fun. Anyway, my kid's actually pretty g...
My brother offered to take the kids for a few hours last weekend so I could rest and I literally almost said no because I felt guilty. GUILTY. Like, my brother OFFERED. He was happy to do it. But my brain was like "you should be able to handle everything, asking for help means you're weak." So stupi...
My custody modification just got approved but holy shit, the lawyer bills. $6k later and we basically just formalized what we've been doing anyway. I know people say "don't go to court" but sometimes there's no choice. Wondering if I should've done more DIY stuff or if that would've been messier. Al...