He's 13 and ever since the divorce (3 years ago) he just shuts down during our weeks. Won't tell me about school stuff, his friends, nothing. Answers in one-word responses. His mom says he's fine and talkative with her. I know he's a teenager but this stings. I'm not trying to force it but feel like...
Learned this the hard way. Yeah stuff is cheap but the quality is... not great. Tried buying "store brand" cereal there and it tastes like cardboard. Their bread goes moldy in like 2 days. I know money's tight for a lot of us but mixing DT with regular grocery stores is the move. Just needed to say...
Remember when I posted about building a zip line last spring? Finally actually did it this weekend lol. Got the kit from Home Depot, took about 4 hours with my 12yo helping. It's not fancy - goes from the deck to a landing platform on the other side - but it WORKS. Kids have been outside non-stop. M...
Picked him up from kindergarten and his teacher pulled me aside saying he gets stressed about small things - like where to sit at lunch, what if he gets the art project wrong, etc. Made me realize he probably picked that up from watching me stress about everything. Now I'm anxious about HIM being an...
Thinking about getting one of those fancy espresso machines. My mornings are impossible without coffee and I'm tired of instant stuff. Anyone have recommendations? Don't want to spend like 500 bucks but also don't want total junk. Mid-range options?
After a year of renovation my basement man cave is officially done. New TV, pool table, mini fridge, and I even ran ethernet for gaming. My buddies came over last weekend and we played pool and watched the game. One of them said it was nicer than his living room. Spent way too much money but absolut...
I told my kids no phones until high school. That lasted until my 10 year old needed to coordinate with friends for soccer. Now he has a basic iphone and I'm paranoid constantly. Monitoring everything, bought parental controls, the whole thing. Anyone successfully navigate giving phones without losin...
We're trying to be reasonable about this but honestly some days I just need the kids to be occupied so I can get stuff done. My 5 year old gets maybe 90 minutes of tablet time on school days and more on weekends. We do mostly educational apps and shows but I see other parents judging. Am I failing h...
My 6 year old told her mom that my pancakes are better than hers. I am probably way more proud of this than I should be. Been making my secret recipe with a little vanilla extract and extra butter and apparently it's paid off. Also got a drawing taped to the fridge that says "best dad pancakes." Fra...
Been working on this for 2 years. Just installed new shelving, got a proper workbench, better lighting. Nothing crazy but it's mine and I can actually work on projects without stepping over kids toys. Already built a set of plant stands this weekend. Feel like a real craftsman for once.
My son is 6 weeks old and so far I feel like a diaper changing robot. He doesn't do anything except eat, sleep, and poop. My wife keeps talking about how special the bond is but honestly I'm not feeling it yet. I love him but there's no interaction. When does he actually smile or react to me? Is it ...
This is random but I was looking through old pics last night. Pre-kids me was always out, always organizing trips, always the center of attention at parties. Had a different girl every few months. Now I'm married with two kids, I own a minivan (shocking myself daily), and the most exciting thing in ...
Used to run marathons, played in a competitive basketball league, spent hours at the gym. That was my thing, you know? After my first son was born I told myself I'd get back to it. Now he's 5 and I'm just starting to get back to running but only 20 minutes here and there at 5:30 AM. I'll never be th...
My 12 year old son said he'd rather stay at his mom's place on his weeks with me. It absolutely crushed me. I asked why and he said I'm always stressed and yelling about work stuff. He's right, I have been a mess lately dealing with my own stuff, but now I feel like I'm losing him. I don't want to b...
We got an iPad for learning apps and educational stuff but my 6 year old figured out how to get to YouTube Kids within like 2 days. He'd rather watch those weird unboxing videos than do his learning apps. It's become a screen battle every single day. Anyone have good educational apps that actually h...