My oldest just asked me why he should believe in God if I'm always stressed and complaining about work. Honestly it hit me hard because he's right. I'm not living what I'm preaching at all. How do you guys keep your faith real in front of your kids when life gets messy? What does that actually look ...
Thinking about taking my son on his first real fishing trip (not just the little pond by the house). We're planning a weekend in the Adirondacks with my buddy and his two kids (ages 8 and 9). My son is super excited about the idea but I'm not sure what to expect. Will he actually be able to sit stil...
Getting ready to buy a new grill and I keep going back and forth. Gas is convenient but there's something about charcoal that just feels right. Love the smell, love the ritual of it. But then I think about convenience and not having to deal with charcoal mess. What do you guys prefer? Any brands you...
Doing a 14-hour drive from Kansas City next month. Never attempted anything this long with all three. Our usual strategy is leaving early and just powering through, but I'm wondering if that's still feasible or if we should break it up into two days. The four-year-old will be the real wildcard. Does...
I don't even know what to do with this. They had a fight over something dumb (aren't they always?) and he went to his room. 20 minutes later he comes down with this letter. Said he was wrong and that he didn't mean to be mean. His handwriting was sloppy and he spelled 'sorry' as 'sory' but I'm keepi...
Downloaded it when my anxiety was getting out of control. Tried the sleep meditations for about 4 weeks. Pros: some of them genuinely helped me fall asleep faster, and the app has a "quick SOS" meditation for panic that I used a couple times. Cons: the voice sometimes felt cheesy, I felt like I was ...
Do you all do anything special about clothes when it's 50/50? My ex keeps sending expensive outfits but then the kids come back to me with stuff missing or damaged. I feel weird asking her to replace them but also... they're her purchases. How does this usually work?
She says the kids aren't her vibe and she'd rather do volleyball. I know I can't force her to go but man this is hard. We've been going to church as a family her whole life and she's pulling away. She's 16 so I get it but I'm worried about her spiritual foundation right now. Trying not to be control...
Wife took kids to her parents' house for the night. I had basically 24 hours alone. Slept, watched movies, went for a walk without rushing, ate whatever I wanted, sat in silence. Felt genuinely happy and relaxed. But then I felt guilty—like I should've missed them or wanted to be with them instead o...
So we got this fancy diaper pail that was supposed to seal in smells. It's garbage. Just smells like plastic and poop. We've been using regular trash bags in a regular garbage can instead. Save your money and skip the specialized diaper pails - honestly the smell was overstated anyway. What was your...
That's it. That's the post. Christmas came early. I'm going to spend every weekend grilling something. My neighbors are going to hate me but I don't care. Already made pulled pork, brisket, and ribs. The kids are refusing to eat "boring chicken" now so apparently I've ruined them for normal food. Th...
I used to be the guy checking email at bedtime, working weekends, always answering Slack messages no matter what. Last month I decided to stop. Email gets checked during work hours, phone goes off at 6pm, weekends are for my family. My boss adjusted fine and honestly I'm way more productive during a...
Small victory but wanted to share. Got my two kids (6 and 10) to agree to a gaming schedule where they can earn extra console time by reading. Been doing it for 2 weeks and it's actually working. They're reading more and not complaining about screen limits as much. Might be too early to celebrate bu...
Measured twice cut once didn't work out because I apparently can't math. Long story short the boards are slightly misaligned but nothing that's going to kill the garden. Currently filled it with soil and already got some seeds going. Pretty pumped actually, the wife thinks it looks decent even with ...
I'm thinking of doing some ribs on the smoker but honestly I'm burnt out on the same old thing. Got any recommendations? Family of 5 so something that scales up would be nice. Last thing I want is to mess it up and have to order pizza haha