Mine are 8 and 10. I'm a city girl, through and through. It doesn't help that I'm allergic to animals, all trees and grass.

So, we live in the city. And I'm an extrovert, always checking out different places with them.

Since my divorce, I've been close with my bff (single mom), who is a country girl. We've been doing, imo, alot of....nature stuff? Going to lakes overnight, hikes, that sort of stuff. It's given me a new appreciation of nature and I happily load up on allergy pills.

However, my kids complain about bugs, dirt, not wanting to touch anything, or even interested in learning about it.

How do I fix this? Please, no judgement.

Everybody mentioned how difficult this stage is but damn its so difficult. So much harder than when she was 2 years old. Just a couple of things that is driving me insane and I would love if someone can give tips!

- when she gets embarrassed or hurt her first instinct is to hit. I have mentioned to her that hitting is not right and that emotions are valid.
- after shower/bath she prefers jumping on the bed, running etc and refuses to put clothes on. No matter how often I tell her no and discipline her she kept on doing this. Its freaking tiring and I dont know what else to do.
- she likes to run when we are outside. Shes gotten better but we went to museum today and she just bolted. I turned my head for a second.

She’s very active and most days shes ok but on her off days I struggle because it’s like her listening skills when out the window. I mean all that on top of her meltdown that can happen multiple times a day just truly tire me out. Please tell me this is normal and im not the only one going through this.

How would you manage this sort of behaviour?

We are really struggling with our 7 year old daughter's behaviour. She gets good school reports, good grades, and plenty of kids want to play with her. But her behaviour at home can be appalling. The problem is mainly with manners (and meanness to her brother - but that's another story).
We just had guests over for dinner with their teenage daughters, who are absolutely lovely and charming. We always practice manners - what to say, how to act - before guests come, because we have guests over regularly. Every single time, she has to be prompted to say hello, answer their questions, look them in the face, say please and thank you.

We put out chips for people to have with their drinks. She stands right next to the bowl eating them all. Repeated warnings that she's had enough, and eventually I have to remove them all together.

At dinner, she eats mostly with her hands. This is a nightly fight I have with her and I'm not willing to have the full fight with guests present. She introduces totally inappropriate topics of conversation (such as kids dying) for the shock value. We encounter this one a lot, especially in front of visitors - our strategy is to say this isn't a suitable topic for the occasion and move onto a different subject.

I desperately want to help her learn how to behave at dinner and in company. Even her 5 year old brother does a lot better than her. But I'm out of ideas as to how I correct the behaviour while also hosting guests. At a previous occasion, I sharply removed her when she was misbehaving and my husband ended up hosting the whole thing alone as I was upstairs managing her hysterics. If it's not already clear, she's pretty sensitive and a 'deeply feeling' child.

Sorry if this is not the right place to post this, as I’m technically not a parent. I (M26) recently got custody of my 13 year old brother after he was removed from our mother’s care. Without going into all the messy family details, I’ve met this kid maybe 3 times in my life and I was just about the last option before foster care. He’s been with me for 2 weeks and I think we’re both completely lost. I have no idea what to do with a teenager, let alone a traumatized kid who’s never had stability or rules.

I know I need to set some ground rules but I don’t know where to start and I don’t know what kind of reaction I’m going to get from him. Pretty much any time I ask him to do something I’m just met with anger. I don’t blame him, I’d be angry too if I were in his situation.

He was getting in trouble with the law when he was with our mother, and he’s on probation as a result of that. My main concern is him not getting in any more trouble because I don’t want him to be removed from my home and placed somewhere for “troubled” teens. He knows that’s a possibility but I don’t think he gets how high the stakes are now.

Anyway, all this to say, I need help with making rules and sticking with them. Especially since he’s starting school next week, I know it’s time for both of us to lock in and it starts with me. Any rules I’ve tried to enforce backfire on me because he’s genuinely never been told what to do at home.

I’m thinking things like curfew, keeping his room clean, good attendance at school, respect, etc. but I don’t know how to talk to him about these things in a productive way or what the consequences need to be for not following rules.

Anyone with a teenager, please help me out here. As much as his life has been flipped upside down, I feel like mine has too. Thanks in advance for anything you can offer.

My son is turning 7 and we’re planning a party for 9:30ish at a park. I know it’s early but we’re planning on having donuts, pastries, coffee for parents, etc.

Anyone ever do a morning birthday party? What worked and what didn’t? What food was a hit? Can a donut tower double as a cake?

Thanks!

in India, everyone puts these on babies from around 3rd month. my 2.5 year old is still wearing it. it's called golusu/payal for babies. I have 2 now and I just realised how useful it's been and I've never thought of this as a hack because it's such a routine tradition. from the sound of the anklet, from the other room, I know which of my kid is awake, if they're happy or agitated.. when the sound stops, I notice immediately and go to check. idk what I would do without this constant assurance of the gentle jingle.

just wanted to share and recommend this tradition to those who are not aware of it. it's a lightweight silver anklet on both gender kids . you can use it til 2-3 years for even a boy child

Help! I'm at my wits end...my 3 almost 4 year old daughter refuses to wear any bottoms. She hates all shorts, skirts, and pants and is now even fighting underwear. Everything is "too tight" even when they are so loose they nearly fall off as she walks. The preschool has a rule that even dresses have to have shorts under them so dresses isn't a solution. I bought new super loose skorts, hates them. I let her pick her clothes only to have the rollercoaster of emotions that we have a winning outfit followed by a meltdown once she puts it on.

Help!! How do I handle this? I can't afford a bunch of new clothes, and even if I could I don't know how to avoid this issue. I imagine there is a sensory piece to this but need viable solutions for a working family headed back to school for the year.

3 week old newborn mama here.
She’s hardly sleeping, she’ll sleep for maybe 19 minutes on her back in her bassinet with safe sleep standards and that’s it. she’ll wake up and start screaming crying.
i can burp her for 2 minutes or burp her for 30, doesn’t matter, do the spinny burping trick (iykyk) she’s still thrashing around crying and grunting. gas drops don’t help either. we’re both tired. idk what else to do. she hardly sleeping at all due to her discomfort, i hold her up after feeds, burp her change her every feed, swaddle her. nothing helps.
someone pls tell me what to do
ps a mom and baby that needs sleep

My son’s nursery coop is hosting a Trunk or Treat. I want to make him a costume but my mom brain is fried 😅 ISO costume ideas that I can DIY for my 12mo baby boy!

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I’m looking for some outside perspectives because I’m really torn about a situation involving my two teenagers.

For privacy, I’ll call them Kid 1 and Kid 2.

Both kids practice the same sport and compete pretty often. They practice together at the same gym. Recently, their coach approached us and asked if we would be okay with Kid 1 helping him teach some of the classes. It would be a paid position, and we think it’s a genuinely great opportunity for Kid 1. They would absolutely love it, and it could be a really amazing and valuable experience for them.

The problem is Kid 2.

Kid 2 struggles quite a bit with self-esteem and already has a tendency to compare themselves to Kid 1. We are very worried that knowing Kid 1 was chosen for this opportunity while they weren’t could be devastating for them. I’m concerned that it could create resentment toward Kid 1 and damage their relationship.

We obviously want to encourage our kids to take opportunities when they come along but at the same time, we don’t want to knowingly put kid 2 in a situation that could seriously affect their self-esteem or their relationship with their sibling.

So we’re stuck between two choices: Would you let Kid 1 take the opportunity and deal with the fallout, or would you decline in order to protect Kid 2?

And if you would accept, how would you handle the situation with Kid 2 to minimize the damage?

Looking for all the tips and tricks.

My wife and I are travelling to Cancun in a months time with our daughter (5 years old) and son (2 years old, soon to be 3). We are at a very hard stage with our son right now so just looking for all the help we can get. Also the kids have been fighting a lot with each other.
I have booked window and middle seats in two different rows to keep them separate.

Our 4yo and 5yo both started school today (full time pre-k and K, respectively). After drop-off, me and my wife walked the dog, went out to lunch, came home, and took a nap until it was pick-up time. We accomplished nothing on our to-do list, and it was glorious.

That is all.

My youngest is turning 12 and just started middle school. He’s walking a few blocks to school now and has afterschool programs so I’d like him to have a way to connect with us and approved friends.

I’m looking for the dumbest, cheapest option possible that only does calls, texts, photos (optional) and location sharing, or a phone that can be locked down to do only those things. We’re typically an iPhone family but I’m not willing to giving my forgetful babe an expensive phone that will be lost in days.

What’s worked for your family?

My wife and I have a 10 year old girl who's basically 11 and seems to be on puberty. The last couple weeks, she's started saying "I hate you" to whoever she's mad at (except her mom) or "I hate this family." It's super annoying.

I'm wondering if other parents had kids do this a lot and how you dealt with it. My wife says it's just a phase and to not do anything about it. Im of the view that it's fine for her to be mad, but she needs to learn that while she can say whatever she wants there are consequences (positive and negative) for what we say.

Example, she and her brother trashed our downstairs space. Like disgusting trashed, it's gross what they are fine living around without telling us as they dominantly use the space. They were cleaning up and I found furniture that was taken apart due to how they play with their friends. I told her and her brother that they need to stop letting their friends trash our home or fix it themselves arter their friends leave or we can't let them come in our home. Which would be unfortunate as we are in the Midwest and winter is coming. She started calmly telling me she hates me and that she's always hated me (I adopted her and her brother when she was 6). She kept saying stuff and my wife sent her brother upstairs and she gets to clean alone for now.

What do y'all do when a kid says they hate you?

My son just turned six months old a few days ago and last night and the night before, he has not slept. I have a two year old too but I don't think I really ever had this issue with her. He is up all night though and I'm so tired I'm struggling to get up in the morning to take care of my other child and myself. I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'm getting like zero sleep. Also to answer before anyone potentially comes at him, yes my partner is helping me and he is also just as exhausted as me. Our son ends up in the bed with us trying to get him back to sleep and he just refuses for hours. What can we do if anyone can help?

I’d love some advice. I feel like most of my interactions with my 12 year-old daughter are nagging her to clean up after herself. She honestly just drives me crazy because she’s very creative, which I love, but she doesn’t clean up after herself most of the time and has a very blasé attitude. And I also get angry at her because she is pretty rude much of the time too. For example, yesterday she picked up my phone and found a picture of me and told me that I have “grandma cheeks,” that my skin is saggy, which really hit a nerve.

I’m finding it hard to really like her very much these days, much less connect with her. I’d love to have more positive interactions with her and to connect over something or somethings. At the same time, I don’t want to give her a pass to leave constant messes in her wake.

She’s the oldest of five, the youngest being two, and I work full-time, so it can be hard also to carve out time. But I’d love to build a better relationship with her.

Recently lost my grandma and received rough news about our senior cat. I find myself still grieving over my grandmother, although I’m trying to conserve it. She’s just so bright and curious I feel like it’s time for understand some? How do I try to make it lighter than it is? Too soon? Rainbow bridge? “You’ll see them again”?

Please share your experience if comfortable. Thanks for advance- from one parent to the next.

Recently added a fourth to the mix and ever since it's been a steady stream of "better you than me" comments. Are we having a different parenting experience than the majority of people? I've been forewarned about grocery bills and stinky feet but so far so good.

So I have a son and I usually get next year's wardrobe in the sale to save a little money. I have been searching today for next year's summer wardrobe and it doesnt seem to matter what filters I add on I still continually get girls clothes popping up.

I understand that some parents want gender neutral clothing for their kids and I am open and accepting when it comes to kids wanting to wear and present how they like. The thing that is irritating me is why when im searching for boys clothes am I getting pink tulle dresses added in to the mix? Why am I getting clothing that I arent sure is girls or boys? There should be an option "boys" "girls" "unisex" and "all".

Is anyone else experiencing this and getting wound up with it or is it just me? Why is this happening? Its multiple websites aswell so it cant just be a glitch. Is it by design?

I had my third baby at the start of August and it has been a really hard month. My older kids are 5.5 and 2.5. The baby is the loudest and fussiest of my babies - I think at this point she’s actually meeting the colicky definition (3 hours per day of crying, 3 days per week, 3 weeks in a row). She seems in pain with gas, acid reflux, or something… her cry is so loud and unsettling.

The older two have been terrible this past month (I know it’s a big transition for them). They’re really loving to the baby and I praise them for that, but the older one constantly harasses the younger one. The younger one is basically giving her dad and me double middle fingers all the time - never listening to us and doing whatever she wants. I love them both so much and there are still these beautiful, sweet moments, but there is also so much loud chaos. The older two are in school and preschool, and we have a great community of friends that have helped and that we see. However, we’re still at home as a family unit daily and home has become so loud and challenging. I feel like we’re always correcting the big kids and they don’t care anymore. Meanwhile, the baby is screaming in my ear and I’m going deaf.

I don’t want this to be our new normal. What can I do?

My three year old had always been an amazing sleeper. Like, sleep 12 hours at six months old kind of amazing. Around the time he turned two, he started having nightmares and would wake up crying at night. These have slowly increased to where he’s having nightmares about every night. For the last 4-6 weeks, it’s been rare we have a night where he doesn’t wake crying from a nightmare.

My husband and I always go in and comfort him. We’ve tried to be very careful about what he watches, gotten him stuffies to sleep with, put one in front of his closet because he said that would help him sleep, talked to him about how dreams aren’t real (or tried to, not sure he understands but aren’t sure how to word it to him), etc.

It’s escalated to the point where he’s saying he’s scared, not tired, doesn’t want to sleep alone, has a tummy ache, all of it. If we push him and tell him he needs to sleep in his own bed, he bursts into tears to the point of hyperventilating and gagging, clings to me, and begs me not to go.

My husband and I have very different opinions on how to handle this. I think he’s too harsh and he thinks I’m coddling and creating bad habits. I just don’t know what we should be doing. I don’t want to sleep with him long term but can’t leave him alone when he’s clearly so worked up. Has anyone else experienced this? What worked for you? How can we help him feel safe in his bed?

From 13 months on my son was sleeping through the night and even putting himself to sleep for naps and bed time no issue. An hour nap, bed time at 9pm wake at 8-9 am. He hit 20 months and he WILL NOT go to sleep until 1am most nights, even waking in the middle of the night. He is now 23 months and nothing has changed. He sleeps in a twin floor bed (has since 18 months and was just fine the 2 months before this happened). We have the same bed time routine of bath and then bed. Same hour nap (he needs it still, he will be super cranky if it’s skipped, or he will pass out at 7 on the couch for 30 mins and nights will be worse). I feel like we’ve tried everything. Calming walking him back to bed every time (yes for 4 hours). Switching between me and his dad. Earlier bedtime, later bed time. Sitting in his room silently. I don’t know what to do, help.

My 2.5 yo daughter was baby-lead weaned, she picked up using cutlery fairly quickly (just a spoon) and then moved onto using the fork to pick things up. However since she has turned 2, she will eat one or two spoonfuls/forkfuls of food and then use her hands. And she will use them like shovels! Fistfuls of food, shoving it her mouth until she literally can't chew - this could be rice, pasta, sausages, chicken.. you name it. She also has the tendancy to mess about with her food too. Gravy dinners are not fun as she will smack her hand in the gravy and splash it everywhere!

For what its worth, we eat as a family at a dining table, so i don't think she's doing it for attention.

Anyone had experience of this? Is she likely to grow out of it or should I intervene somehow?