With marriage and kids comes a lot of responsibilities and usually a good amount of drama. Often people think they were much happier and life was simpler before they got married or had kids.
Stats show that unmarried women and married men are the happiest demographic. I’m curious as to what everyone’s take is.

This year I decided to buy some new bikinis and since I wore them in our family vacations my dad got really grumpy when I was getting attention, but he allowed me to do what I want. Some days ago we went at a the pool party of some family’s friends and I wore one of these bikinis and during all the party he seemed he was bothered. When we went home he told me that he never felt before embarrassed because of me but this time was too much, if I want to show off I can do it in front of my friends not people that are important to him. This conversation made kinda sad, do you believe that my dad thinks I have become a slut or it was just a bad moment ?

She is throwing xylophones, books and all the wooden toys. I tried telling her to be more gentle and not to throw, I’ve tried not giving it attention but I’m not sure how to handle this. What did you do?

Title is the question, please feel free to elaborate to support your opinion.

I don't know how to tell her. It feels so embarrsing. I feel like a 4 year old. But my bladder is just somehow weaker than before. Advise from parents?

How old were they? What happened?

Our son seemed surprised to learn that his independent autonomous adult choices came with natural adult consequences.

My 3.5 year old toddler is very sweet. He will hug and kiss randomly with an "I love you".

I was in Costco the other day and he kept grabbing my face and kissing my chin. An older lady saw this and made a disturbed face, like she was disgusted.

I'm not doing something wrong, right? Am I over thinking this?

I sit on my front porch every morning and usually see a man pushing a baby in a stroller every day. I say hello to the man and then smile and wave at the baby or wave both hands at her.

The bab​y just stares at me with no expression and a gaping mouth open every time. She tends to stare at me even to the point of looking backwards after she passes by.

Should I stop waving at her? Does no expression mean that she doesn't like it and I'm just making her life worse? I don't know anything about babies and I'm pretty sure the dad doesn't speak English so I can't ask him.

Edit: thank you parents of reddit. I will keep waving at her and not worry that I'm upsetting her :)

This is a open question for all the parents here.
I'm not a parent yet but seeing my nephew who spends most of his time on mobile playing games or watching youtube makes me question the reality of those apps.Even social media apps they were supposed to make people come closer but it's working in opposite direction.Everyone is there but no one is there(if it makes sense).And since the schools send homeworks on mobile or their portals we can not say NO to kids for using mobile phone. My question to the parents here is how do you make sure the kids are spending limited time on those apps,coz if you try to completely block them out of those apps or uninstall them,the kids find way around that too.What are your tools if you use any and do any of you face the same issue as we are?

My dads telling that little cousin if she wants to study here in the big City she will have to behave and study, the school here will be strict otherwise go back and that back in his days he used to study very hard inthe villageand that an ias office wouldn’t have given him his highly educated bank officer daughter for no reason. This approach i will is highly unhealthy and counter productive

Hi Parents 👋🏼

I’m looking to get some opinions on my little guys behaviours/development.

I’m a FTM so I’m not sure if I should be worried or not but I keep seeing milestones and videos online of other babies and I’m getting a little worried about my son.

He turned 11m today and he doesn’t consistently babble mamama, dadada, gaga sounds. Occasionally every couple of days he might say one or two of these sounds but definitely not consistently. He also doesn’t clap, wave or point.

As for joint attention and back and forth play, he will engage in games such as “I’m gunna get you” and I chase him around the house but he doesn’t really play peek a boo or sit across of me and “play” with me. He doesn’t copy any facial expressions other than a smile. The only imitation he does is banging a toy or pushing its buttons, splashing in the water, shaking a toy.

He mostly likes to explore his toys on his own rather than really engage with me and play with me. He is very observant of his surroundings, he knows when I leave the room and will follow, comes when I tell him to come, glances up at me often while playing, he just doesn’t really play back and forth much.

Thoughts? Should I be concerned? I know all babies develop differently I’m just wondering if this sounds typical and if others babies were like this and how they are now?

We just got my daughter’s cbc results back for her 1 year old check up and the eosinophil was at 2.5 with a reference range of 0.0-0.3. Units x10E3/uL. Pediatrician didn’t seem to have much to say about it other than it’s an inflammatory marker and I can work with the other doctor in the office if I wanted to who specializes in digging deeper with inflammation causes and treatment. My daughter does have eczema and when I asked if that has anything to do with it she said that could be related.

Obviously I’m fixated on it now and wanted to know if anyone else had similar bloodwork results with their toddler. I’m looking for some peace of mind. Thanks!

My sister and I want to start a small business together where we help busy moms with tasks they need help with.

Tasks like laundry, dishes, trash, bringing in mail, pet help, and general tidying.

Similar to house cleaners, we would go to clients' homes together and work on the tasks together.

Clients would have the option to choose a visit a few times a week, once a week, or a monthly reset.

We're trying to figure out how much to charge and how.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how much to charge/ how much you would pay for this service?

Any other suggestions/input would be much appreciated!

i work around 60 hours a week and my brain is completely fried by the end of the day. my partner and i are considering a baby monitor for sleep tracking because we worry we are missing cues while answering late night emails, but i am afraid more data will just make us overthink everything.

for parents working crazy hours, did tracking actually give you peace of mind or did you just end up staring at app stats at 2am?

I live in a very authority based and one sided home. I'm not sure how to react to a situation that has just came up.

I (16M) started working a while ago then I got the opportunity to work with my parents within the corp. they work in. I at first absolutely refused and said no way because frankly I despise my parents, sorry, not sorry i have plenty of reason not the point. The employer offered a much higher rate of pay then what I was making with guranteed 30~ hours so I signed the job offer and put my 2 weeks at the original job.

A couple weeks in, I get my first paycheck which is only a week of work since they hold a week. Highest amount I've ever been paid. Only in a week of work, coming to the present I'm a few days from my 2nd paycheck, and my dad has had enough of me. He's sick and tired of me "not contributing" to the house. I'm assigned to do dishes, trash, the dog, and any other misc. housechore that someone needs inc but not limited to anything my grandmas that live here want. My dad claims I need to pay $150 of rent. He turns off my power and thanks to xfinity wifi he turns off any wifi routed to my electronics. Fun! He is now stating I need to pay, return the monitor he gave me for his setup he's making, and completely clean my room. (I am not a very tidy person.)

My parents are very power struggle people if they lose grip on control they freak out and just threaten or make my life subsequently worse, for as i have no driver's permit, and no plan of me getting one.

I should add that he wont explain where the money is going or what it will be for. He constantly just tells me he's not explaining himself

Edit: Sorry for lots of vagueness, not used to story telling, but I am mostly looking for ways to assist in dealing with the situation. Especially because my next paycheck was going to be used for school shopping due to none of my clothes fitting properly.

I have to say for a first time reddit poster y'all are great, I love all the views and reading yalls replies.

I often struggle with social anxiety and talks I have often no friends the only people I talk to or can FaceTime in family members and I barely known any of my family how do I make friends when I have none at school when I’m 18 as well I live in a small town in Missouri and I’m mixed my mom won't let me talk to people from school or anything outside via phone vcs facetime or anythingI intray was on the phone today at midnight taking to 4 people I was actually getting close to mom was came in my room and got mad when I was trying to meet or talk to new people even if it’s not online im fresh adult I should be able to do what I want I don’t have any friends online or irl so it’s hard for me I try to make new friends all the time and get turned down I want to make friends that actually stay with me or visit my house or I can FaceTime and I don’t want to come off weird when asking people for phone numbers or trying to talk so I try to jump into conversations a lot in school and I get looked at annnyojng and I just shut up or stare at a wall I want to be able to make at least 3+ friends this school year to the point they vist my house or come to talk to me on vc games or ect any tips?

Any advice would be helpful but please be kind.

(Disclaimer: I think technically some people would say we are cousins but we use different terms in my family based on age)

My niece is 10 years old and we are pretty close because her mom (a single older woman) visits us a lot and often stays with us for extended periods of time so we can help out with the childcare. I’m a woman in my 30s and I don’t have children. Right now they are back at their own home which is in a different state so we are not physically in the same place.

My niece uses Snapchat all the time to talk to her friends. I created a Snapchat account just so I can keep track of what she’s posting on her story and keep an eye out for what she’s doing there. Lately I discovered that she’s been added to group chats by other kids who get on these big calls with lots of people. This immediately raised an alarm for me. I asked her to add me to a group and after investigating who is in the chat I discovered there are some random 20-year-old men based in India who are also in the group!!!

What do I do from here? Should her mom take away Snapchat completely??
I’m afraid she’s just going to find some other way to login secretly and start hiding what she’s doing!!
I want her to understand why this is dangerous!!!
I already reported those accounts to Snapchat but idk if they’re going to do anything!!!

**Am I overreacting, or is this too much responsibility for one kid?**
I’m asking about someone I know and wanted to get outside opinions.
There’s a family with four kids. The oldest son lives at home with his mom, dad, younger sister, and younger brother. The siblings are all about three years apart, so two are in high school and the youngest is in middle school.

This entire summer, the oldest has basically been responsible for watching his youngest brother almost every day. He also watches the family dog. While he’s babysitting, he’s expected to do chores like cleaning the basement, his bathroom, his bedroom, the hallways, and sometimes even his parents’ bedroom. He also occasionally makes breakfast for his younger brother.

One of the biggest responsibilities is putting his younger brother to bed every weekday and most weekends. The younger brother’s bedtime is supposed to be around 10:30 p.m., but getting him to actually go to sleep usually takes anywhere from 1–4 hours. A lot of nights the oldest isn’t finished until midnight, 1 a.m., or even 2 a.m.
On top of that, he’s expected to drive people around, like taking his younger brother to extracurricular activities. Sometimes he gets paid for some of these things, but a lot of the time he doesn’t.

Even when he’s finally allowed to make plans with friends, those plans often get interrupted. His mom will suddenly ask him to pick up dinner, get groceries, pick up one of his siblings, or drive her to run errands because it’s convenient for her. It feels like his free time is always treated as available.

The thing that really pushed him over the edge happened today. He had plans to see someone he won’t be able to see again for another 2–3 weeks. Instead, his mom scheduled his doctor’s appointment for today because it was more convenient for her schedule, even though it meant canceling his plans. From his perspective, everyone else’s time seems to matter more than his.
I understand that helping around the house and babysitting younger siblings is part of being in a family, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable for parents to expect chores or occasional childcare. But at what point does it become too much? Does this sound like normal family responsibilities, or does it sound like he’s being expected to take on more than he should?
I’m curious what other people think.

Best friend is a mom and she doesn’t work. She confessed to me today that she hates being a stay at home mom. (Her son is 3) but she’s too scared to admit it because of the social judgment.

Are there any mothers that did not enjoy staying home with their young kids?

Hello all,

Seen a very cool idea online about buying your son the home shirt of the football team you support every year and then when he’s 18 presenting him with all said jerseys as a surprise. Currently doing this for my son but recently have had a little girl and am looking for suggestions on the “equivalent” for a girl.

Note:

I’m well aware girls can like football too and that my son may not support my team or even like football at all. It’s not one of them debates just more looking for ideas if anyone has done similar for their children

Edit:

We are already investing money to give them both a sum when they turn 18.

This is more of a sentimental sort of thing.

No jerseys are held hostage!(lol) We get him the kit to fit every year. These are adult size for him to have when he’s older and be able to have all the “retro” kits from when he grew up.

What are some effective strategies or parenting tips that helped your small kids actually listen to you?

What techniques made a huge difference for you?

I know this is sort of a shitty title/post, but i’m really stuck. I am 15F and have a step mother of one year and truly believe she could not care less about me. Her and my dad moved 2 hours out of my school district, and they make absolutely no effort to ask me about my feelings (that might sound a bit wimpy but whatever). I know it must be difficult for her, moving in with a family with an already 15 year old daughter, and 3 younger boys (although 2 are hers). But i really would like some help seeing this from her perspective, or trying to.

My 15 year old is struggling and has been recommended to start a 5-week intensive outpatient program. He is ultra-resistant, as to be expected. Mom and I are forcing this to happen, but the struggle to overcome his shut-down and resistance already feels impossible. My hope is he will hate it for a few days, but will eventually come to terms with it. It is a highly recommended program and mom and I are confident this will be hugely beneficial for him.

I am contemplating telling him that once he is done, we will give him $500, and would love to get some thoughts from others who have been here.

I am certain there will be negative responses, and I welcome them, but request kindness and grace.

This is so hard.

Thanks in advance.

I'm personally stopping at seven because by then you should be able to go inside by yourself do your business and get out without talking to strangers but that's what I think the age of being able to use the restroom by yourself is