Everyone at school pickup talks about how bad screens are but tbh during the winter in Minnesota? My kids are inside anyway. They do their iPad time in the morning before school, do their homework, play outside after. It's not an all-or-nothing thing for us and they're turning out fine. Maybe I'm ju...
Bought one on a whim during a Walmart trip with the kids (4 and 7) and honestly it's been a game-changer for those hot summer afternoons. You just freeze juice or smoothies in the containers and it makes actual sorbet/slushi texture. Costs like $35-40 but it's kept my kids entertained on the porch w...
Not even because the coach said to. She ASKED. We did drills in the driveway for 30 mins and she was so focused. Totally different energy than when I suggest stuff. Now she's asking if we can do it again tomorrow. Might finally understand what people mean when they say 'intrinsic motivation' lol. Al...
Quick question - is Discord okay for like a 12yo? My son wants to join a server for his Minecraft stuff and I'm trying to figure out if I'm being paranoid or if there are legit concerns. Can you actually monitor what he's doing on there or is it pretty private? Not trying to spy on him but want to k...
My wife and I are at like year 4 of having kids and we're kind of ships passing in the night lately. We're both exhausted, we don't talk about anything real anymore, it's all logistics and stress. Nobody tells you that having kids might wreck your relationship. We're trying to get a sitter once a mo...
Ok so this might sound dumb but I'm genuinely proud of this. My ex and I have been doing 50/50 with our 6yo for about 4 months and last week we managed to communicate about a schedule change, swap days for a birthday party, AND handle a minor discipline issue (Jackson got in trouble at school) witho...
Like, I'm literally texting my ex about our kids through an app because we can't text each other normally anymore. It feels dystopian. Everything is documented, formal, logged. I miss just being able to text like "hey my bad, can you grab diapers" without it feeling like a court proceeding. Obvious...
Did it. Ages 4, 6, and 9. By myself. For 5 hours. And nobody got lost, nobody melted down (okay one small thing with the 4yo and cotton candy but we recovered), and we all had a great time. My wife was skeptical when I suggested it but I was like "I got this." Spoiler alert: I got this. The 6yo was ...
Started this project thinking it'd be a disaster but my son is obsessed with woodworking lately so I figured why not. Spent 3 weekends with him helping me measure, saw, and nail planks into the oak tree in our backyard. Used a bunch of 2x8s, some rope, and honestly way too many nails because he insi...
If you have a kid aged 6-10 who likes tech stuff, get this thing. Costs like $80 on sale sometimes. My son got it for his birthday and he's been playing with it for 3 weeks straight. It's not just a screen - it's actually interactive, builds problem-solving, and he's not just mindlessly scrolling. H...
He FINALLY took off the training wheels last month and I wasn't sure it was gonna happen honestly. We spent like 8 weekends in the parking lot behind our elementary school just going in circles. Yesterday he rode a full two blocks without falling and I felt like he just won the Olympics lol. Small w...
So I posted like a month ago about being terrified to leave our 4-month-old with my parents overnight for the first time. We did it last weekend and honestly? It was fine. Not boring fine, but like... my wife and I actually had a real conversation without interruptions. We went to dinner, slept 8 ho...
My 10yo won't stop asking for the LEGO Mindstorms EV3. It's like $350 which feels insane for LEGOs. He's pretty into building stuff and coding (started Scratch last year) so it seems like a fit but I'm worried he'll play with it for a week and move on. Anyone have experience with this? Is there a ch...
Spent last weekend building a workbench from 2x4s and plywood. Cost about $80 total and it's not fancy but it's MINE and the kids can't destroy my tools anymore. Currently working on a birdhouse for my daughter's school project. Honestly might prefer garage time to family game night at this point lo...
Leaving my current place after 6 years. New role pays better, smaller company (50 people), and during interviews I was very explicit about needing flexibility for school stuff. Their response: "We're flexible, people work when they want as long as the work gets done." I've heard this song before bu...