So my mom has legal custody of Pumkin, she’s a long haired chihuahua, & for years has not liked children

She’s grown more patient however, & as long as someone is around, doesn’t typically bite

With that being said, a little over two years ago, my cousin had a baby, & my mom & aunt are close. We go over there a lot

My cousin is a young mother, so she still lives with my aunt & gets support from her

Mom always brings Pumkin because she doesn’t want Pumkin to be home alone. Pumkin gets sad when left alone

So then you have an environment where there’s a two yr walking around who obviously wants to pet a dog who doesn’t like kids

My family has a “fuck around & find out” mindset, so basically, if the kid gets bit, he’ll learn to leave the dog alone

He’s surprisingly really gentle though, & with supervision was allowed to pet Pumpkin so that way he learns how to be gentle with animals. He’s also gentle with the cats. Pumpkin is just nervous because she has had bad experiences with kids who weren’t gentle. We most certainly never let kids we don’t know near her.

A couple of times however when my mom & aunt were in the bathroom or kitchen, & Pumpkin wasn’t in the safety of someone’s lap, she’s been chased around. It stresses her out.

She usually just tries to run away, she doesn’t immediately go on the defense and bite, but she’s old, and I don’t think that she deserves to be chased like that

I get the whole “well if she bites he’ll learn” thing, that’s a natural consequence, but it still affects Pumkin

A couple of times I’ve picked Pumkin up so he can’t reach her & comforted her. Every time her heartbeat is fast from stress.

I get told to put her down by my aunt. Like a demand, she’s very authoritative like that, & when I explain that the kid was chasing her around, I’m met with “if she bites him, he’ll learn” & my mom backs her up on this. Being like “meh. He’ll learn”

They do get onto him to leave her alone, but he’s TWO, he doesn’t listen well.

I don’t understand why they feel like I have to put her down JUST to be chased around when it obviously stresses her out, there’s gotta he other ways to teach kids how to be gentle with animals aside from just waiting for the kid to be bit

How can I help Pumkin without overstepping boundaries? What do I do here?

58F, parent to a grown lady. I am hosting Christmas and sent the text to family regarding when to be here and the details.. One young family with a 3yr old and newborn will be 1.5 hours late because I said 1 pm and that is during the toddlers nap time. We are a small family so it’s not like the house would be full and they would barely be missed . This happens with every get together, we try and plan around one nap. I have to work the day after Christmas and didn’t want it to go real late. I know I’ll be exhausted. We will do dinner and gifts. I’m trying to be understanding of this with new parents. When my daughter was young, I adjusted her naps all the time. I was a single mom and we were on the go. And may I say she turned out perfect. 🤩 I know things have changed. Are you a stickler for nap times? Would you ever change it for a special holiday being with family? How old are you children? I’m trying to figure out if I’m just old and out of touch. Please advise.

I've been having suicidal thoughts since I was 11. I want to tell my parents but I don't know how they'd react. I'm also not sure how to actually do it. Any advice?

Hey parents. This is my first time making a post on Reddit. I need advice. I’m happily married with three kids. My girls are well behaved, smart, and kind. My son, age 9, is a smart and kind kid, too. As far as behavior, outside of our home he is absolutely wonderful. I’ve never had a single complaint from any adult in our lives or even strangers. His teachers always adore him. However, that is not how he behaves at home. He has so much anger. A day doesn’t go by that he doesn’t have some kind of epic meltdown. This has been going on since probably age 3. He does see a therapist regularly. I know that he feels safest at home so he doesn’t have to hide his feelings. My husband and I are always looking for new ways to help him cope with his big emotions. We are mostly doing okay without any more intervention than his therapist. But that’s not what this post is about…

Last week my son got in real trouble for the first time. A neighbor who I had never met knocked on my door and showed me ring camera video of my son and his two friends ringing his doorbell and running away. He said it was the third time he had done it that week. I retrieved my son from his room and he apologized to the man and said it won’t happen again.

We felt like him apologizing to the neighbor and being sufficiently embarrassed plus a long talk about how we respect others’ property was enough. He had never done anything like this before so we assumed it was a lapse in judgement and/or peer pressure.

Well, apparently it wasn’t enough. If I go into every single detail of what unfolded today this will get way too long so I’ll try to stick to the most crucial details.

My son and his friend, also 9, took mail out of 5 of our neighbors’ mailboxes and a few packages at their doors and opened them and buried them in the guy’s bushes that came to the door last week. By buried I mean they put the stuff on the ground and covered it with mulch and leaves. Some things were ruined and will need to be replaced. My son also took one of his Christmas gifts from under our tree, opened it, and hid it with the rest of the loot.

We live in a culdesac so I can see all the houses where the crimes were committed. We are horrified and embarrassed. We also have reason to believe this was our son’s idea and he convinced his friends to participate.

So far we have walked to each of the houses and rang the doorbell. Only the original ding, dong, ditch guy and one other lady were home. My son and his friend apologized to them and then we went home, my son wrote apology letters to the other 4 that didn’t answer. I put my phone number at the bottom with a request to contact me regarding damages. We delivered those. When we returned home I told him to go to his room. That was about 5 hours ago.

Wtf do we do?

I recently went to a dance recital for my niece (3.5) and noticed how her paternal grandfather was interacting with her seemed off. I wasn’t going to say anything and thought maybe I was just being paranoid, but then my SIL vented to me about how she was weirded out by how the grandpa is constantly holding my niece and told her she smelled pretty. What I noticed was just how close he was to her when talking to her and something about the way he was looking at her just did not sit right with me at all. I get that this all could be innocent, oblivious grandpa behavior and I am misconstruing things, but when two adults (myself and my SIL) feel the behavior is off I am wont to believe something is off.

Posting somewhat on behalf of my SIL because she does not know what or how to approach this situation or what to say the grandfather. From my understanding nothing outright “wrong” has been done. She said she will mention it to her fiancé, but when she brought up similar issues in the past he didn’t say anything to his dad.

I was helping my piano teacher at a lesson for a duet concert my little sister has coming up. One of the kids in the group was a little boy around 10 years old, and he literally would NOT stop saying sorry. Every time we commented on the piece at all or said the group as a whole should slow down/speed up/etc the boy would be like “Sorry!” “I’m sorry.” In a squeaky little voice. Even when we would say he did a good job, he’d be like “Thank you, I’m sorry.”

Is this concerning? Could he have Tourette’s or something like that? I don’t think so, but I almost find this a bit alarming, and I feel bad for him. Thoughts?

Here is the story: My fiancé has a younger sibling (we will refer to him as BIL) who is an 18 year old with a 2 year old. They are both (fiancé and BIL) from a small town that has problems due to socioeconomic issues (drug abuse, no access to higher education, barely any job opportunities that offer good money, etc.). My fiancé and I live with my parents both of us are in our mid to late twenties and live about 2 hours away from this small town. My BIL and SIL came up to our town to visit and stayed with SIL friends, after SIL left, BIL and his daughter didn't and has ended up staying with us. We formulated a plan that BIL will get his license, get a job, save up, and move into an apartment in town with his daughter.

BIL does not have a drivers license, it seems impossible to get, because we have no proof of residency for him because he is an 18 year old who does not receive mail. (We've opened up a bank account for him and hopefully that'll be one proof of residency, but I don't even know how we'll get the second) Sooo, he cannot get a job yet. When he is able to get a license and a job, it will still be an uphill battle for him to save money with a two year old who will most likely need to be put in daycare as everyone in the house has work/school obligations, and from what I hear, daycare is very expensive. My main concern is the 2 year old. I'm the youngest in my family and have never really had any experience taking care of a baby. I didn't even know how to change a diaper until they moved in. I'm trying to hone in on the fact that I feel both helpless and clueless. Does anyone know of any government assistance for my BIL once he does get a job or even before he's able to get one that'll help with his daughter? Does anyone have any resources to share that could help my BIL and his daughter in any way? I don't know if this post is all over the place or if this is the right sub to post in - but I'm stressing out, bad. My parents are awesome and has been helping out but I feel like a huge burden and insanely guilty. They have bought the 2 year old diapers and toys and stuff, but that's where I want it to end. I don't want to have to lean on them in any way, because they were kind of reluctant on letting them stay with us in the first place.

For added context: my fiancé doesn't have a job, he got fired and we were on unemployment but then that stopped even though it said it was good for a year until he got a job. He's been applying and applying, but hasn't gotten any interviews or anything. I'm in school full-time and uber on the side to make some money, but it just isn't enough most of the time.

This includes the front yard of the house, but also places like friends' houses, stores, library, gym, park, etc.

At what age did you allow them to walk places on their own? Or were they always driven places?

I would use the anonymous feature for this but I can’t figure out how to activate it. I’m 13, 14 in 11 days. I just don’t know what to do, I don’t know how to get her to like me like she likes/loves my sister. I’ve tried nearly everything, telling her “i love you” multiple times a day (which she rarely says it back), smiling at her and giving her hugs/kisses (which she doesn’t do back either), giving her alone time, making her coffee (which im not good at, but i tried), spending time with her, doing anything she asks, but nothing.

She seems so happy and energetic to my sister but so ?negative? around me, like im making her angry/upset. She’s not happy around me like she used to be. Especially because my sister treats my mom like dirt, i dont understand, just this morning she destroyed the bathroom because the shower didn’t heat up and my mom is still treating her like an angel.

I just want her to like or even love me like she used to. She says she does and that im not the reason why she is stressed out/like this/unhappy, but i can tell it is by her expression and emotion around me vs. my sister and the fact she lets how she truly feels about me out whenever she’s a bit upset.

I tried to confront her about it earlier after three weeks, and ever since shes just been giving me the silent treatment and glares.. did I do something wrong? I don’t understand, any moms willing to let me know/give me some ideas on what I did and how to fix it, please? I just want her to love me how she loves anyone else

I'm home for winter break from uni for about a month or so, and was hoping I could sleep over with my bf considering we're long distance and I'm only seeing him for a month, too. I forget I have to ask my mom for permission now that I'm home, and it sucks. I texted my mom if I could sleep over with him since we had gone to a concert with some friends and wouldn't be home until 1 am. She instantly said "of course not, don't get crazy on me, don't ever ask me that again put some respect on your name." (translation since she only speaks Spanish, we're mexican.) I felt so offended !! She's not even here!! she'll only be here for 2 of those weeks since she's been traveling back and forth since retirement (older parent). I know I'm being housed by my family for the next month, but I've been on my own since I started uni. I work and handle some of my expenses (I'll admit she does help me out with a good chunk including splitting my car cost). Is this just something I'll have to deal with while I'm here? Can I even have a proper conversation about this?

Both my little sisters got phones about 3-4 weeks ago. My 10 year old little sister would talk to strangers on Roblox before she even got a phone. I think her messages should be read and my mother does too. I went through my 10 year olds sisters messages and saw that she is sending 10+ messages to people and they aren’t responding. These are to two girls in her school. Neither of them are answering her or sending her barely anything but she keeps sending them more and more messages. For example, telling the girl to call her or pick up. Also sending her a bunch of gifs and sometimes the same one multiple times.

Then she kept saying hi to both of them over and over again but getting no response. Then I read the messages again today and she kept asking them if they hated a certain person and the other little girl said she wished he would die like wtf. Then my little sister said she told the boy to shut up and the other girl said good job. My sister also sent her a hi and then a “hey beautiful” gif and never got a response.

My little sister is mad that I went through it but at her age, I was addicted to porn due to unlimited access to the internet. At 13 I started sending pictures of myself to boys. I don’t think they should have the phones to begin with. Both of their screen time is 35-40 hours a week just on their phones, not even counting the TV they watch all the time.

I’ve(22f) helped take care of them since they were born and even more now because my stepdad died in 2023. I want to leave it all up to my mom but it seems like if I don’t do it or tell my mom to do it, she won’t. She knows her screen time is high and needs to be lowered but keeps giving her more screen time.

Howdy fellow reddit parents with teenagers.

I’m in a bit of a dilemma and would love to hear your thoughts. My son just turned 18, and suddenly he’s asking for a lot more independence and autonomy. To be honest, he’s had a pretty sheltered life so far. He hasn’t really had the chance to go out or experience much of what some might consider the typical “teenage years” — things like to go partying, going to clubs, staying out all night with friends, and in general a sense of independence and autonomy to do those desires that fall into those lines, and he is in a state of upset that he missed out much.

He turned 18 two days ago, and he feels it’s time to live out the “teenage dream” and have the autonomy and independence, before he finishes school and gets into the world of work where he will “need to use the independence and self autonomy extensively”. He also says this is something he has been pondering on since the age of 15, The thing is, some of the things he’s asking, the autonomy his asking for makes me question myself and seems like utter crappy nonsense, and I’m struggling to decide what to do. Here’s what he’s asking for:

• Going to night clubs and random house parties
• Sleeping out and even possibly over at a hookup’s place such as some goth chick he meets, even if he’s just met them that day
• Using ride-sharing services like Uber late at night.
• Basically go anywhere he wants, even if I am uncomfortable with said thing or place as a person

That said, he’s come forward and agreed to certain safety measures and other measures to ease my mind, and while I’m glad he’s willing to take precautions, I’m still unsure. He also says furthermore that even he himself will “NEVER GO OUT” or “ALLOW” himself out if he does not follow these key rules he made himself:

• Share his location with me at all times through his phone so I can track him in case of emergency (not to control him, but for if ever needed in emergencies).
• Keep his phone on and always answer when I call or text, no matter what. Even if he is asleep while out.
• Have a backup contact (someone he’s with) who I can reach out to if needed.
• Use a panic button app (in our case GuardMe 2.0 in South Africa, functions similarily to Noonlight for those in the US)
• Call me, or authorities for help immediately at his first instincts of something feeling off, uncomfortable or imminently dangerous, trusting his instincts fully and not brushing any of them off lightly to avoid making the said situation escalate beyond too late.
• To not make noise if he returns home early in the AMs (I am very sensitive to noise and have been woken several times by him when he was a kid and still in 5th grade from him watching TV in the middle of the night or grabbing snacks)

I told him that I’m sorry that I’m not sorry it’s not the same as what others might be doing, but unfortunately, it’s just the way it is. I basically told him he can “suck it up” if he feels bad about it and that it “sucks to be him” I don’t think he should be handed everything on a silver platter like his friends might get. I don’t care how mature or ready he is, or how open he is willing to be. If I simply don’t agree or feel comfortable with what he wants to do even the slightest bit, he can just suck it up, and that if he ever sneaks out to do these things, I am either calling the police on him or that he can get his crap out from from under my roof and never return. Not to mention I do not want him making us as part of the small Asian community in South Africa be in an embarrassing position potentially from something he might do while out.

I honestly do not know at this point, any input would be appreciated.

I preface this question that I’m a gay man but still pretends to be straight for my own safety.

Hi everyone,

My god daughter/niece is 9 years old and has shown interest in music, she started learning the guitar, and I play the guitar, too, so when I babysit we play music.

She has asked if I can take her to a concert; her birthday is coming up and I want to take her to see Soccer Mommy, I think it would be cool for her to see a female musician. The concert is not in a big arena, it will be in a small venue, and the music is slow indie rock. Nothing crazy nor inappropriate music.

I am not a parent, my niece lives with my mom, so I am not sure if it would be okay or if she is too young. I was thinking of bringing my mom with us for my niece, and for mom can experience the concert, too.

My brother has been dating a woman for just over 3 years at this point. Both of them have 2 children from previous marriages. I can count on my hands how many times I’ve met her kids. Most of which is due to the kids’ custody time with their father and my work schedule/me being a recuse.

I don’t know if my brother plans on marry her at this point as he hasn’t had a conversation with me about it but at this point I feel like I should have some kind of relationship with his GF and her kids and a should give the kids a present.

I’ve asked my brother and our mom for ideas about what to get them but they haven’t been very helpful. Girl is 10-12ish. boy is around 7-8.

I am the legal guardian of my sister and work alongside my disabled mother and grandmother and I recently had some problems with my younger eleven year old sister. On a school bus about a week ago, my eleven year old sister thought it would be a wonderful idea to talk to eleven year old girl about sex and how Santa, Easter bunny, etc isn’t real and is just a myth. The girl she told this to is one of my mates sisters and this girl is six years old, still in kindergarten. My mother didn’t care and neither did my grandma so I couldn’t really do anything either as they’d be angry at me even though I’m one of the legal guardians of my sister. Just a few minutes ago, she was bragging to me and my mates (including victims brother) that she’d done the same to a younger autistic boy at school and made him break down and thought it was great and decided to do it again to see what would happen. We were all at a complete lost for words and I had to drive into town with one of my mates (young girls brother) to escape the situation as I was way to pissed off to deal with that. My sister has always been a spoilt brat and a fairly violent person (swearing, name calling, pinching and kicking, etc) but I’d never thought she would do something like that to a girl who was still in kindergarten for god sake. Do you have any advice? I’m still new to this parenting thing even though it’s been six months and any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance

In the Pixar short Riley's First Date, 12-year-old Riley plans to go skating with Jordan and some of their friends. However, she is embarrassed to tell her parents about Jordan, so she mentions the friends, but leaves out the part about Jordan. They don't find out she's going with him until he shows up at their door to pick Riley up.

If your daughter (or son) had done this -- told you she (or he) was going out with friends but left out the part about a boy (or girl) until he (or she) showed up at your home -- how would you have reacted? How would you have regarded the boy (or girl), and would you have let your daughter (or son) go on the outing? Also, how would you have handled this in a large city like downtown San Francisco compared with the kind of environment you live in?

I once read a blog post (I can't remember where) by a mother who let her 16-year-old daughter buy a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey and read it. One of the mother's friends disagreed, saying the mother's daughter would get "messed up." The mother mentioned this to her daughter, who said she already knew the relationship was screwed up. This started a conversation about dating and relationships between her and her daughter. The mother thinks letting your kid read books like that, then talking to them about those books, is a great way to teach about relationships, consent, and boundaries.

Hearing this perspective, would you allow your kid to read Fifty Shades? Would you restrict them from reading it until a certain age? Would you let them read it as long as you read it with them and talked about it? Would you let them read whatever they wanted, using what they read to teach them about life?

Starting with noting that my husband and I are childfree. Our nephews have a very specific gift list for Xmas and we're only allowed to purchase from there. They make their list by cutting out pics from their favorite store catelogue. Knowing the boys (ages 5 & 8), I feel my husband and I could choose some fun gifts for them. I know they may not all be a hit, but it kinda takes the holiday spirit and fun out of gift giving for me (selfish, I know). I grew up with a Santa list myself, but only my parents bought from it. My other relatives gave me random stuff and I got my favorite stuffed animal that way actually. I've given my friends' kids random birthdy gifts before if I'm around and they're always a hit. I know my SIL and BIL have personalities where they only want specific things so I think this is more a reflection of them and how they raised the kids, but it just made me curious how other people do it.

So Reddit parents, do you share your kids' Santa list with the family and is it a requirement?

(BTW We already got this year's gifts and stuck to the list. Last year we got a couple of surprise stuffies in addition to requested gifts and one nephew actually responded with "I didn't order this" which still has me laughing)

A kid in my daughter year was recently removed from their home by CPS. We had a discussion about giving it a shot but we have questions. Was it tough to become a fosterer? We know they're most likely coming from a difficult background so is it that much different? Etc etc.

Curious to hear advice around how to better enforce rules and get little kids to listen better when out in public? My 5-year-old daughter is phenomenal in every other aspect of her personality, including academically, but struggles when we are out somewhere at a social function - in terms of listening or taking orders. She seems to have a keen sense whenever her parents are busy, tired, or engaged with other activity, and takes full advantage right away. I see other kids are much more mellow and tend to stay low maintenance. My daughter has a very magnetic and bubbly personality so I’m trying not to dull her shine but it’s getting to the point where it’s exhausting taking them out to social events and I dread it. Some examples are her talking during speeches, wandering off at times when we tell her to stay in an area, refusing to take ‘proper’ pictures and instead acting silly to try and get a laugh, trying to repeatedly stand up in the grocery cart, etc. Wondering what everyone else experiences or suggests? Also should note that yes - she is very spoiled at home and showered with a lot of love, Im sure this plays a part but not sure what to do. Thanks kindly in advance

honest answers pls

Hi everyone! I’m (18f) going to my boyfriend’s (18m) house for Christmas. My boyfriend’s older sister just gave birth less than a month ago to her first baby and I was wanting tips on basically anything. How to treat her, things I should/ shouldn’t say, presents that would be helpful, anything at all. I have a hard time with understanding boundaries because I have autism so I’m very nervous about saying something wrong or messing up. Thank you in advance!

My sister in law had her second kid yesterday, and she's nursing! They have a new little girl, and a five year old girl who has just started primary school. I thought it would be nice to get her something comfortable for nursing / motherly activities that she can wear without worrying about getting messy.

Problem is, she has a lot of nice things. All her clothes, accessories, etc, are usually more on the luxurious side. My budget is incredibly low (highest I can go is probably around £40 / $50), and I want to make sure I get something thats actually useful. I don't want to get her something that ends up being uncomfortable, either. Are there materials to avoid?

Is there anything I should avoid getting them? (any sorts of food or drink she should avoid)

And lastly, Fathers!! The dad works full time from home! Is there anything you found yourself needing as a dad? Something to help keep you sane while juggling responsibilities? Any self care items that a father might need?

Firstly, it's paternal grandmother of my 8yr old child, who's father bailed on my child years ago. She tries to be involved which I'm not entirely opposed to but I do set limits and restrictions for contact (for reasons I won't get into here, but it's warranted)

But some things, as in this case, it's just too much. I told her last year we WON'T be doing this advent/gift every day thing this year, and explained the reasons why. And then without discussion she gets all these gifts anyways for this year. These are not tiny presents like rings or matchbox cars. They are stocking stuffer size or larger. It's obnoxious, it's annoying, and frankly it's TOO MUCH. All these artsy crafty things, new hairbrush, more slime to destroy my carpet/sofa/whatever. Little projects and even a gingerbread house kit, which is cheap as sh!t and barely edible. All things I didn't choose to have in my home or (in the case of the gingerbread house) would rather do on my own with my child. It's not fun, i'm not grateful. I want my own traditions with my child, such as making a gingerbread house from scratch. And to me, someone gifting something like that is purposely taking away my decisions as a parent and insisting THEIRS is somehow better or must be done.

Also note I'm 100% solo parenting. I have zero support day to day, and admittedly little toys are starting to drive me batshit. No one can possibly KEEP all of these things. It is clutter, unwanted clutter. It also effects discipline in my home. Expecting to gwt a present every day, fighting over whether or not she should open one because of her behavior. It's expected, and seriously undermines my authority and makes small issues even bigger with tantrums/meltdowns over these gifts.

Am I wrong to feel so overwhelmed by this?? Anyone else have a similar situation? How did you or would you handle it?

My best friend, 30F, has a 1.5 year old - she has moved to a new state with her husband, no family or local support - the move happened before she got pregnant and it was a surprise pregnancy. Needless to say, she is not doing well. She is struggling - currently a SAHM because her salary wouldn’t even cover the cost of daycare. She does remote work when her toddler is napping or after they go to bed - but it’s not a lot of pay as it’s more of a work when you can type of remote work - and her husband is working full time to cover the bills and he is not an equal parent during the week because of his long hours.

I don’t know how to help her. We FaceTime twice a week - just hang out and chat - but I can’t be there for her physically just to help her and it’s breaking my heart to see this amazing, rad, vibrant woman so lost. She loves her baby, but she’s tired. They also have two cats and a dog - and it’s hard.

I was trying to think of something I could get her for Christmas - a massage, gift certificate to her nail / hair salon - but it would involve having to get a sitter and she just can’t do that right now. I’m planning to go visit her after the holidays , and will definitely be bullying her husband into parenting his kid so we can go out , and will also be babysitting so she can take some time & so her and her husband can go out - but that plan is so far away and not even finalized.

I will probably just straight up ask her (gently) to get to the truth of it but thought I'd see if there's an obvious answer here first, from people who are parents and might share her perspective.

TLDR - is there any obvious reason why a parent of a toddler would prefer to always meet up with other (childless) adults in a park, rather than at their (very child friendly) actual home?

So in January, my good friend returned from 4 years abroad, where she gave birth. Her son is now approaching age 4 and by all accounts sounds like he is developing on track as a toddler. They live in a neighbouring state but she visits mine every 2 or 3 months to see her family and catch up with her hometown friends (including me).

Unfortunately we have only had an opportunity to meet in person once since she moved back, and that was when she came to town solo. Her partner and son stayed home. She came over to my place and we had a nice time. But I still haven't met her son.

There were two other opportunities this year that I missed seeing him, due to the stars not aligning last minute. But both times, she insisted on meeting at a park near my place - despite my offer to host them (and I have no reason to think that my house is of concern - there is space, a garden, and even a kids playhouse in the backyard that the previous owners left!).

She's now reached out to schedule another catchup, and again with her toddler in tow. It goes without saying that I would be happy to have them over. But, once again, she has straight up suggested that we meet up in a park.

Could anyone please enlighten me why she might be allergic to the prospect of bringing the two of them to mine - when she has brought herself over before - or maybe the question is, why a child might be only fit to be accompanied to a park rather than an unfamiliar home?

Thanks!

What do parents appreciate more? Toys/games that will be used for a couple years or useful things like clothes,socks, etc?

Im 20, dropped out of school at 16 and ive been unemployed since, living under my parents house and feeling useless while they have provided everything i could ever need despite me getting horrible grades and never being able to pay them back.

Anyway, i recently got my first job and im thinking of spending my first paycheck on something nice i could give them christmas. I dont have a big budget but is there anything i could buy as a thank you to give to my parents who have really raised me perfectly despite their bad financial state.

Full disclosure I'm about to lose my GD mind. My son is about 18 months old and has only slept through the night like 2 times in his whole life. He has a routine. Every night he wakes up between 10-11:30 then again at like 2-3am But it's been getting worse where he'll wake up at10, 12,1,2, 4, and finally 7 and it's every. Single. Night. My gf made the fatal mistake of letting him cosleep so she could feed him but she never put him back in his crib. Now he can't co sleep because he'll fall off the bed so she brings him to me on the couch (we sleep separately because I wake up early, and I try to not to wake everyone up). So my question is HOW DO I GET HIS LITTLE ASS TO SLEEP. He's to young for melatonin. And if I start him in his crib she'll just bring him down to me. I'm at a loss on wtf to do.