So my wife's been pushing hard for us to get a dog. She grew up with dogs and thinks it'd be great for our family. Problem is, our 6-year-old is absolutely petrified of them. Even small dogs freak her out. I'm trying to find a middle ground here but every suggestion I make gets shot down. Has anyon...
"Dad, can you get me a snack?" "Dad, he's looking at me!" "Dad, what are you typing?" "Dad can we go outside?" I'm on back-to-back Zoom calls with a 6 and 8 year old essentially demolishing the house behind me. Somehow my boss thinks I'm "just not as engaged in meetings lately." No joke, I'd rather ...
Quick update for anyone who read my post last year about starting freelance writing on nights/weekends. I'm now pulling in $800-1200/month consistently, which doesn't sound like much but it's covering all our groceries plus some savings for emergencies. More importantly, it's something that's MINE, ...
Tried to do Van Gogh's Starry Night recreation with my twins (4yo) yesterday afternoon. I bought these cheap acrylic paints from Amazon and basically gave them paintbrushes and let them go to town on a big canvas. It looks NOTHING like the original (blue and yellow mixed into brown mud tbh) but they...
Asking for a friend who may or may not be looking in the mirror right now and confused about when his abs became singular and horizontal. Also is it too late to start going to the gym in 2025 or should I just lean into this lifestyle completely
We've been using Khan Academy Kids with my 5yo for morning math and it's genuinely been helpful. She actually loves it (or at least asks for it more than I'd expect). Most parents I know are like 'yeah right, my kid would never' when I mention it. Am I lucky or is there something about how we set it...
That hit different. She was drawing at the kitchen table and just casually goes "Dad, why do you look sad?" I didn't even know what to say. I'm not even depressed necessarily, I think I'm just... tired? Burnt out? Running on fumes? How do you explain to a kid that sometimes adults are just strugglin...
So Christmas is on a Wednesday this year and our CO has a strict alternating holiday schedule. She gets Thanksgiving (which is Thursday) and that means Christmas morning falls on my non-custodial day. I got the kids New Year's last year so she's claiming Christmas is only fair. I'm not trying to be ...
Reading a bunch of posts here about people being really strict about consistency. But honestly? My kids have different bedtimes, different chore expectations, different screen time limits at each house and they seem... fine? Their mom is more structured, I'm more relaxed. Kids adapt. They know what...
Sitting in a 4pm meeting today that could've been a Slack message. Everyone's just chilling, no rush. Meanwhile I'm watching the clock because I'm supposed to get the kids and my manager is acting like this is a normal time for a "quick sync." Then afterward someone's like "Oh hey, you gotta go pic...
Has anyone taken a very young kid kayaking? My wife wants to try it this summer but I'm not sure what to expect. Should I be looking into tandem kayaks or is there a specific kid boat? We'd be on calm lakes only. Is this actually doable or are we setting ourselves up for frustration?
I made an offhand comment about visiting the beach "someday in the summer" back in February. Last week she randomly asked "Daddy when is someday? I want the beach." This kid has the memory of a golden retriever and I'm suddenly very aware that literally everything I say gets filed away. Time to wa...
Been seeing a therapist for 5 weeks now and I'm noticing real changes. I'm not snapping at my kids over small stuff as much. Dr. Morrison (great therapist in Portland if anyone's in the area) helped me realize a lot of my anger issues are rooted in feeling like I'm failing as a provider. We're worki...
I'm terrible at follow through. I'll set a consequence and then not actually enforce it because I feel bad or I'm tired. My 9yo has figured this out and now does whatever because he knows I'll cave. My wife is actually the consistent one which makes me look bad. How do you guys stay firm when your k...
Our custody agreement says we "alternate major holidays" but doesn't specify what counts as major. Christmas was mine, she wants Thanksgiving. Fair enough. But then she's also claiming New Year's Eve/Day as separate holidays that should be hers too?? And wanting to do Christmas morning with the kids...