Took the family camping for the first time last weekend at a state park about an hour away. Thought it would be fun and relaxing. It was neither. Forgot half the stuff we needed, kids were freaked out by the dark, spent most of the night listening to coyotes howl. No one slept. BUT we made it happen...
My wife and I decided no smartphones until high school. Seemed reasonable until our 12 year old went to a sleepover and was literally the only kid without one. Other kids had group chats, were sharing photos, the whole thing. Now he feels left out at school. We still think we're making the right cal...
Been at my company 8 years and was on track for promotion. Then I had kids and honestly I just don't want to work like that anymore. I do my job well in 40-45 hours but apparently that's not enough to move up. My boss basically said I need to show more commitment. What's really eating me is I feel l...
Our son is 5 weeks old and literally only sleeps when I'm holding him or my wife is. The second we try to put him down in the bassinet he wakes up and screams. I'm exhausted. Is this normal? How long does this phase last? My back is killing me from being hunched over all day.
My daughter came home upset because her friends were making fun of her for not having the latest phone. She's 10 and doesn't understand why we're teaching her to be content with what she has instead of chasing material stuff like everyone else. My wife and I believe we're doing the right thing but m...
Done! After half a year of early mornings and my wife yelling at me to stop before I hurt myself, the deck is actually finished. It's not perfect, the railing isn't exactly level and I may have used screws that are too long in some spots, but man does it look good. Kids actually want to hang out bac...
She stood on the stool next to me while I made tacos and wanted to do everything herself. Shells everywhere, cheese all over the counter, took 3x longer than normal. But she was so proud when we sat down and she announced to her mom that SHE made dinner. That's a win in my book. Mess cleaned up in 1...
He wants to play basically all the time. I've set limits but he sneaks gaming in, gets angry when I shut it down, and doesn't want to do anything else. Tried playing with him to understand it better but now he just gets mad when I'm not as good. This isn't just about screen time anymore, it's affect...
Had to have a serious conversation with my 9 year old about not giving out personal info online. He got invited to a private Discord server by someone he met gaming and had no idea it could be dangerous. Turns out my talk about stranger danger only applied to real life in his mind. Feeling pretty sh...
To get his celery! Get it... celery... salary? Told this one to my kids at breakfast and got the groans I deserved. Worth it though.
My 6yo daughter was upset about something and this lady asked her why she was crying. She said, "My dad keeps telling me about how expensive cereal is." I literally never complained about cereal prices but apparently she was just being dramatic. The lady looked at me like I was a monster.
Got the custody papers back and I'm getting the kids 40% of the time but it's structured in a way that makes it really hard. I get them Thursday night to Friday after school, then every other weekend. So basically if she has plans on a weekend I don't have them, or I do, I'm the one picking up the s...
Our neighbor made a sarcastic comment about my wife's gardening in front of everyone at the block party. It wasn't a huge deal but it was dismissive and rude. I told him to knock it off and walked away. My buddy said I should have gone harder on him, but I didn't want to make it worse. I feel like a...
They're getting older and I see so much stuff that goes against what we're trying to teach them about values and character. School is pushing certain agendas, their friends' parents don't care what their kids watch or do, and the internet is basically unfiltered access to everything. I pray about it...
Been remote for 3 years now and I don't know how I could go back to an office. Yeah it's sometimes hard to focus when my kids are home sick or whatever but I get to see them at lunch. I do school pickup most days. My career hasn't suffered and honestly I feel like I'm actually present in their lives...