Took the family camping for the first time in years. Got there Friday, rain started Saturday morning and never stopped. Tent held up fine but morale was shot. Ended up playing cards in the tent for 8 hours and eating hot dogs. Kids actually had fun but I felt like I failed somehow? Should I have pac...
My son is 3 weeks old and he was looking at my face the other day and I swear we made eye contact and something shifted in my chest. Like suddenly all the memes about 'would die for them' made actual sense. But also I'm petrified constantly. Is he breathing? Why is his poop that color? Did I support...
Is this normal? My son will sleep for maybe 2 hours and then he's up screaming. My wife is breastfeeding so I can't really do much except maybe bottle feed expressed milk so she can sleep, but then I'm up with him and everyone's tired all the time. Does this get better? I love him so much but I'm ru...
I got married and became a dad within like 18 months of each other. Looking back I miss the spontaneity. Want to grab beers at 9pm on a Thursday? Could just do it. Sleep till noon on Sunday? Go for it. Now everything requires planning and someone to watch the kids. Don't get me wrong, I love my fami...
Took 3 months off when my twins were born and man, being back in the office feels weird. I'm happy to be working again but I'm missing so much. My 18 month old son said a new word yesterday and I was stuck in meetings. My coworkers don't get it. They're like "oh you must be happy to get a break" but...
Kid: Dad why did you marry mom? Me: Because I love her. Kid: No dad, you married her because grandma said you had to. Wife is still laughing at me. I've been owned by a first grader.
Company is letting me work from home 3 days a week but I keep thinking about what people will say. Know it's dumb but feel like I'll look like I'm not committed or not a team player. My wife is pushing me to take it since I could pick the kids up from school sometimes. Financially makes sense, famil...
Been noticing my 8 year old has gotten real timid about greeting adults. Found him looking at his shoes when my boss came over last week. Sat him down and we practiced proper handshakes and eye contact. Told him a man's word and his presence mean everything. He's getting better but man, feels like I...
Took 8 weeks after my second kid was born and it was incredible. Now I'm back and feel like I've been completely replaced. My projects got reassigned, my team barely acknowledges me, and my boss has this weird vibe like I abandoned them. Trying to rebuild but it's rough. Anyone regret taking parenta...
Storm took down half his fence two weeks ago. Saw him out there struggling with it solo on Saturday morning so I grabbed my tools and went over. Didn't say much, just worked alongside him for 4 hours. He brought us cold tea mid morning. No big deal really but my wife said that's exactly what her gra...
I'm not usually the guy to post personal stuff but I need to say this somewhere. Two years ago I was drinking most nights, missing my kids's soccer games, and my marriage was hanging by a thread. My wife gave me an ultimatum that I actually believed. Started AA, got a sponsor, did the work. Now I ac...
Spent all day Saturday hammering away in the backyard. My older boy helped me plan it out and we used mostly reclaimed wood from a job site. Nothing fancy but it's sturdy and the kids absolutely lost it when they climbed up for the first time. My daughter immediately made a "no adults allowed" sign ...
This might sound dumb but I'm genuinely excited about this. We started a little garden in the backyard and let them pick what we grew. They chose carrots and tomatoes mostly. Seeing them pull the vegetables out of the ground and then actually eat them at dinner without complaining is wild. My oldest...
Planning to take the family out for a long weekend in the mountains. Got a new Coleman stove I want to test out and was thinking about trying to cook some actual meals instead of just hot dogs and beans. Has anyone done cast iron camping before? Seems like it could be pretty good but I'm worried abo...
Seeing some old photos from 2014 yesterday and wow. I was barely holding it together. Drinking too much, always angry, my kids barely knew me even though I lived with them. Got divorced, went to therapy, actually dealt with my stuff instead of just numbing it. Now my relationship with my kids is inc...