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What do you pack for a preschool lunch?

No way to heat it No fridge (have ice packs) No nuts Staying away from cold cuts for a while

We also have to pack two snacks which we fill with berries and other fruit etc.

Somewhat picky eater.

My 3.5 year old is new to preschool and both days she has gone has gone absolutely feral when it’s time to leave. Screaming at the top of her lungs, running away, hitting me, etc. it’s very embarrassing. None of the other kids are doing this at pickup. Is this normal? I’m afraid I’m gonna have to pull her out of preschool because she’s so psychotic when it’s time to go home.

Warning: this has worked exactly once for me and I have no clue if it will work again or if it was a one time thing, but I thought I’d share my win.

We started kindergarten earlier than most, it seems, about one month ago. It’s the first time our 5yo boy has gone to school/daycare of any kind. He enjoys it, which is great, but mornings are really hard.

Elementary school here starts at 7:30am. We have to leave our house at 6:45 to get in car line at 7, and he’s leaving my car around 7:15 so I can head to work. All this to say, I have to wake him up at 6am to get ready, which has been really draining. I’ll rub/scratch his back, pick him up, encourage waking up, sit with him on my lap on the couch, and it takes like 20 minutes to get him to start moving and getting through the morning routine. He hates it, and it’s emotionally exhausting for me to try and be happy and bubbly and encouraging to this little tyrant who wants nothing more than for me to go away and let him sleep.

We always have him shower at night, but today I decided to try and shower him in the morning, even though he’d showered the night before. I spent 5 minutes showering him, making sure to wash his face extra good to try and wake him up, and it worked! He still acted groggy when he got out and was drying off, but was significantly more chipper and happy and awake. Everything went way smoother, and I loved it. We both left the house way happier.

Again, ymmv, but it was a huge success for me. Today. I’m sure tomorrow will be a repeat of the cranky 😂😂

So, got a 11 mo old we managed the ferber method successfully two weeks ago, three days in she was sleeping through the night and going to bed pretty easy.

This week things got a bit tougher, putting her down has been rougher l, she has been crying a lot, though still going down in relatively short time the crying is pretty intensem Night wakings are coming back a bit too (but still not as bad as before where my wife would breast feed to get her back down)

My wife and I are feeling a bit uneasy about this, it feels difficult to discern what might just be some separation anxiety and when our baby needs real attention

I have the Dr. Ferber book but I couldn't find much info about this situation, most advice seems to deal with much older children, wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience

My son was born 2 weeks ago which means, for 2 weeks, I've eaten like absolute dog shit. We're talking a diet of Monster Energy, hot Cheetos, and Kraft Mac and Cheese. I've gained 7 pounds in 2 weeks (I'm sure the lack of sleep doesn't help.)

Do y'all have any suggestions to help shock my system back into eating right? I don't think I've had this much sweets and processed foods since a decade ago. I usually cook all my meals but now time is scarce and most premade foods are pasteurized or useless nutritionally.

We don't really have a steady sitter but the wife set up an initial meeting with a sitter tonight. Any suggestions on what to ask? I was thinking the typical first aid cpr qualifications, work history, pay rate. Anything else?

LO just turned one and is starting to have bad separation anxiety when his mom or I drop him off at daycare. He used to be great, I would set him on the floor and he would scurry off to play with a toy. Now he starts crying when I’m about to set him down and he clings onto my shirt for dear life. Any tips for easing the drop off process? TIA.

Do you and your family regret it at all? I'm currently in a bit of an odd situation and trying to figure out what's best. Albeit - I'm planning on talking to my therapist about this a bit as well as it's weighing on me quite a bit.

Short Story Time:

Back in early 2023, we found out we were having a little girl and lived in the PNW and loved it there. However, we were convinced that we'd have the right support group for us back in the Midwest with my partners parents being so close by and 'willing' to help. They even offered to watch her daily while we worked. It truly seemed like a win-win. Given my job was already remote for the most part, we packed our bags and sold our house and moved back to the Midwest.

After the birth of our little girl, it became very obvious that it was all a story, a fable, if you will, that her parents would be willing to help. They constantly made excuses daily about how hard it was to watch her based on our rules early on. They don't cook for themselves, so they wouldn't cook for us when we needed help, they only eat take-out (every single night). They barely clean for themselves, so they wouldn't clean for us if we needed it. Their physical shape doesn't allow for them to safely carry our daughter around, so they immediately were crossed off from being able to watch her alone. It became very clear that even after our pleas for help, their willingness was nothing more than all-talk, which has been very typical for them always. We were in a sense, bamboozled. Given all of this, my partner and I decided it was best for her to become a SAHM officially a few months ago to be the primary caregiver. We still see them often, but now it's more/less a bad taste in our mouths because they were so willing to get us to move back without really telling us that they wouldn't be able to do it. It's been painful to say the least.

So now we're here, but we actually really like our house, our neighborhood, our area, after some initial shock from moving away from the PNW, but have an offer-in-hand to dramatically increase our income and move back to the PNW, which is even more important than ever given single-income. But we're also starting to get emotionally tied to the place we live and the idea of moving AGAIN sounds dreadful, especially with a baby now, even with the Company paying for it.

So to my fellow dads, do you feel your support group is enough for you to stay where you live, even if they aren't actually supporting you? Is a significant (+25-50%) increase worth moving away completely and only seeing maybe on the Holidays? I'm leaning yes, considering our actual support group foundation cratered on us.

Hello! First time posting here. Just now my 5m old daughter had quite the large poop, harder and larger than her normal poops. When I wiped her clean the 2nd wipe had a pin drop of blood on it a very tiny pindrop, there was no blood on the actual poop. I assume this is because the poop was harder and bigger than normal and she seems fine so was just wondering if this is cause for a doctor's visit? I'm assuming it's okay and she just had a big ol poop but will call a doctor if it keeps happening or seems to get worse

My soon to be 17 year old son is already failing 3 classes 4 week into his junior year and it’s killing me.

He’s struggled with school his whole life due to his formative years of being with his mom and her boyfriend until he came to live with me. Years of not knowing how to read, tie a shoelace, PTSD from DV and being ignored due to younger step siblings being in the home.

4 weeks in and I’m dying inside about this. I feel like a failure because my words fall on deaf ears. “We’re here to help..” “I want to help you..” yet, test scores of failings and missed homework. I feel like a god damn helicopter dad which is something I’ve never wanted to be. My wife and I constantly talk and talk and nothing happens.

My oldest son.. the boy who made me a man. It hurts my damn heart to see this but idk what else to do. We’ve done counseling, he’s on ADD meds, he’s in front of the classroom, there’s no phones in school policy..

I guess I’m just ranting and trying to voice this to someone. My wife holds a masters and I graduated cus sports kept me clean. He had no interest except video games and a shitty job that he also hates.

Thanks for listening. Feel free to chime in. I won’t quit on him. I can’t. I just need to speak.

Hello all! About 8 months ago or toddler had a hitting problem with our baby. We read some books with him about it and did time outs and things got better very quickly. Now our almost 3 yo boy is back to pushing and bopping our 1 yo boy. The old stuff isn't working and right now 3yo just laughs and hits us parents when we stop him. I know laughter can be a sign of nervousness but I really don't think we're making this feel like a game. Any advice?

Edit: we have been doing positive framing. Giving replacement behaviors like bugs and gentle touch.

I programmed a system over the weekend to reward my kids with points for getting ready for school on time. Here's how it works:

1. Each of my kids has a project in Todoist. That project contains ~8 things they need to do every school morning ( e.g. brush teeth, make a lunch, etc).

2. I connected their Todoist project to Google Sheets using IFTTT. So now, when they check off a task, it creates a timestamped row in a Google spreadsheet.

3. I wrote some formulas to check for the latest timestamp on each day of the week. If the timestamp is before 745am, they get 10 points. If it's after 745am, they get 0 points.

4. I reused much of the same approach their evening lists and a chores list.

5. I created a lookup table of prizes and their "points cost". Then I used some other filters to make an auto-updating "menu" of all the things they can "buy" with their current total points.

6. I created an interest rate (1% / day) to help them understand how compound interest works, and to reward them for saving their points instead of spending time.

Next, I'm hoping to figure out a way to use this system (or a similar one) to teach them about debt.

LMK if y'all want more nitty gritty of the setup. Overall it's costing me about $5 / month for the various software setups.

Daddit, I need your help! Our wonderful 17 year old just had all four wisdom teeth removed last Wednesday and school starts tomorrow. Any advice for school lunches we can pack him? He's kind of a picky eater and doesn't eat soup when we've packed it in the past. He can eat soft foods, so we were thinking hummus and pita but any suggestions are welcome! No dietary restrictions.

As per title. We were on a walking trail and 2 younger kids (10-12ish) popped wheelies as they passed us walking our child in his stroller.

Wife took offense that I yelled at them to not do that near a baby, I maintain that if they lost control their wheel goes straight on baby.

Was I overreacting?

EDIT - There were two groups and I think I was most upset because the first two kids put down wheels and intentionally looked over at the stroller, the other two were not paying any attention at all and lifted wheels a few feet ahead before passing by within arms reach of me (pushing the stroller). I waited til they put wheels down to yell back at them but definitely point taken - yelling at pre-teens probably didn't accomplish anything there. I was just more upset I saw the situation happening and couldn't really do anything other than off-road baby/stroller to try to avoid it.

1. I can smell when somebody is shiting and can distinguish my kids shit from others.

2. I can recall where my kids favourit toy is, has and will be.

3. I can forecast pee 10min.

Woke up to some lovely rainy weather today. It being my day off I thought I’d take the kiddo (f 22month old) outside with a rain coat and some rain boots. It’s her first time playing in the rain and she’s having a blast. I snap some pictures for the grandparents and my wife and then bring the kid inside so she doesn’t catch a cold from the cool breeze and wet hair.

BIG EFFING MISTAKE.

As soon as the door closes she loses her ever loving mind. Worst meltdown she’s had to date. Apparently we have to live outside in the rain now.

I had my first kid in January this year, a little daughter. It’s honestly going really well, with no real issues, which obviously makes me very happy. I’m very happy in general, she’s perfect! I feel like I already have a really strong relationship with her, because I spend most of the day with her. I’m haven’t been working since March (which in itself is stressful), but all this time I spend with her is something I will cherish forever. My wife and daughter sleep in a separate room at night, as they are cosleeping on a floor bed, and I’m in the main room. I do get woken up when help is needed so this isn’t an issue.

What’s been weighing on my mind and bothering me is that when I sleep, I wake up several times a night convinced that my daughter is in the bed with me and that she’s in danger - either going to fall off the bed (this happened once when I was looking after her during the day), or that she’s under the covers, or any number of things. She’s obviously never there, and always safe and sound sleeping in the other room, I’m always just terrified that I’ve put her in danger. I also have dreams that she’s dropped or she’s in danger. Etc. you get the picture.

It’s starting to affect me, because I’m getting less sleep, and the anxiety creeps in during the day sometimes but goes away with techniques I’ve learned. The advice I guess I’m looking for is any dads out there who suffered from similar anxieties and if you dealt with that in any specific way? I know it’s normal obviously, the mystery isn’t why, it’s how I can stop the stressful awakenings!

Thanks

S/O to the wifey for watching a 3.5 yr old and a 2 month old while I screwed 102948 bolts and screws to 1204 planks of wood. She also mowed the lawn.

My daughter (2 & 1/2) looks forward to the garbage truck every Tuesday morning. Like any time she hears a the garbage truck she gets so excited. You make my kids day! Also, they typically think for her now which makes her even happier! Thank you for everything you guys do with keeping our society functioning!

I am not sure what kind of subreddit I’d post this in but just thought daddit would be a good place to share some love.

Dad movies generally fall into the genres of history, war, crime, or sports and prominently feature middle aged men. My list:

1. Master and Commander

2. The Great Escape

3. Oceans 11

4. Top Gun Maverick

5. Remember the Titans

I can’t find a hardware kit for this. I just need a couple screws. What can I do?

Hi everyone, had a question about age cutoffs for school. These may be very naive questions because neither myself nor my wife grew up in the US so we have very little idea how the school system works. Our daughter was born on Aug 25th, actually a month premature. My understanding is that children born between September 1st (approx) until August 30th of the following year go to the same class in school. By that logic she would be by far the youngest child in the class, I understand this comes with a lot of challenges, plus she’s already physically so small on account of being born a month early. Does anyone know if exceptions can be made for a child to join the following years class, or is that not an option at all? In contrast my son is turning 3 by end of September so he’ll be by far the oldest in his class plus he’s already quite tall for his age. So I can’t stop thinking about how small she is and how will she fend for herself in a class full of bigger older kids lol. Any insights appreciated and please tell me if all this is irrational!

We put our daughter in Catholic school, and there’s a heavy emphasis on service hours for parents. I think we have to log something like 15 hours per semester per family.

One of the things I’ve been tasked with (as a newcomer, mind you!) is heading up the Dad’s Club. And one of the responsibilities of Dad’s Club is organizing our own fundraising event.

What kind of event would be fun, raise money and be memorable? Car show? Wiffle ball tourney?

Give me your best ideas, dads!

Because every day my 2 year old shrieks at the top of his lungs. Happy, upset, playing, he shrieks and it’s painful, especially when I’m holding him because it’s directly into my ear.

I’m losing my hearing and I can’t get him to fucking stop.

Just get the regular ones that screw onto the garden hose. Kids had these popped faster than I could fill em, and half of them tore open before I could detach. Thumbs 👎

Hi!

So my kid is starting a tumbling class at the end of the week. This will be her first "Organized sport" type of thing and i guess im just a little nervous. We've taken her to a few open gym type events, and shes always had a blast but im worried that shes going to want to just run around and jump on the mats and not actually learn what the instructors are trying to teach. I played youth baseball and football (i have never been very athletic though) so I have no clue what tumbling actually is, I assume it will be learning handstands and cartwheels and stuff?

Idk any advice about being a dad to a new tumbler would be helpful :)

But it's because my 2-year-old daughter and I played from sunrise to bedtime every day of the long weekend. Hikes and playground time and horsey rides and wrestling... and no matter how much I want to rest, I wish I'd taken today off to play even more.

Divorce is hard y'all, but boy do I love when my 50% includes a holiday weekend. I just need to figure out how I'm going to survive once her brother is old enough to join in!

Anyone have a good travel stroller recommendation?