Hi friends, I have this door. I need to child proof* it. I’ve tried one of those safety 1st latch baby proofing devices, but it doesn’t work because it needs a large, flat area to stick to, and there isn’t one because of the panels.

How do I baby proof this door? The kid is obsessed with going in here, and we really would prefer he not.

Thank you!

*or at least make it highly child resistant. Nothing is truly child proof.

It was actually a few weeks ago now. Me (33M) and my wife (33F) were not expecting or planning it, we have been off contraception for a couple of years and with that, was not expecting this to happen hah!

However, were both in a bit of shock but getting used to the idea now. We've got our 12 week scan next week, and still haven't told our families, just literally one very close friend each - using the scan as the reality point!

Just writing here to kind of get it off my chest, I actually am getting excited amongst the terror... Any advice for the man in the next 7 months?

Hi parents,

I am 18M and I will be attending college abroad next year.

My mom has been incredibly supportive in helping me achieve this dream, but I can’t ignore the fact that leaving her behind worries me. She’ll be alone with my younger sibling, who’ll be a sophomore next year. While my father isn’t absent, he works far from home and only comes back like once or twice a month.

Right now I help my mom with household chores and other responsibilities, and I’m not sure how she’ll manage them all without me. I also feel like, as my younger sibling grows, she’ll still need my support. Leaving her when she might need me the most feels wrong.

We haven’t had a deep conversation about this yet to the degree where I can understand what's exactly her thought about this, but when I casually brought it up once, her response was: “No worry, son. I’m gonna miss you, but I’ll be fine here.” To me it really sounded like she was hiding her true feelings. I genuinely think she’d be relieved if I stayed and went to a local college so I could help her and spend more time with the family.

Respected parentd, what do you think I should do? Should I go abroad and pursue my degree (will be fully funded by the govt.), or stay and attend a local college considering these circumstances? Education and family are equally important to me and those things cannot be placed above each other. And I really need to decide soon.

Thanks for your advice.

The TL;DR bit is: 2 of my 3 kids seem to be showing the early signs of puberty & I'm feeling emotional about it, quite unexpectedly. Also: if anyone has recommendations on resources for them or me, I'd love to get some!!

I have 3 kids: son(9.5), Older Daughter (8), youngest (4). My son's pediatrician recently said that he was becoming prepubescent (changes in foreskin area were the sign) and last night my older daughter wanted to talk to me in private as she was about to get in the shower, because she'd been noticing discharge in her underwear and thought something was wrong. I also saw- only 1- dark & more coarse hair in her public area.

We've been over the basics of how bodies will change & periods and I'll be looking into some books and such for them & me to prepare....

but I am unexpectedly feeling emotional about this!! I am not ready! Right now I wish I could just keep them as they are & not have to worry about all the emotional turmoil & changes and all of the junk that comes with getting older. We're all Neuro-diverse, too, and I know from my personal life that it can make things harder- especially as you begin to get older- which is hard enough on its own. I just want to be able to shield them from the bad parts as long as I can.

And I also feel like I haven't had enough time with them... even though they're still going to be with me for years, I know they're going to soon be at the age where they want to be out with friends or whatever more than they want to be with me & things will change a lot. Logically, I know that it's part of life. I know there's not all bad experiences & that there's still likely to be closeness between us & that often (IME anyway) making it through a lot of the hard parts helps us grow as a person & that can lead to a lot of good parts.

But right now, I'm going to feel a bit sad that all of my babies aren't quite so little anymore. And I'm going to look into more resources to help us prepare for all the stuff to come.

If anyone has recommendations on anything- books, websites, whatever- for the kids or for parents I'd love if you shared the info!!

We are going on a trip for TG and have to drive to an airport 2 hr away. My husband is on another trip and won’t be back until 10pm the night prior to leaving. Would you as a parent rather drive separate to airport and get a hotel nearby so your morning is more smooth with the kids? (Hotel .5 mile from airport with shuttle). Or leave from your place 2hr away at 4am and pray you don’t need to stop for anything?

We have decided, after the passing of our beautiful girl last May, we are ready for another dog. The new puppy will be coming home December 14 and we plan to tell our 3 kids (17, 13, 6) that dad had to work that day so he can sneak out of the house to go get her and will say he was given a family gift while he was out.

What are some unique or fun ways to do the big reveal that worked well for others? Thought about a box with a lid that lifts off like the stereotypical commercials (she would only be in it garage > house) or maybe a jingle bell collar? Open a wrapped leash or doggie name tag?

Obligatory note that we are responsible pet owners and know what we are getting into! We have spent years fostering dogs, navigating some really difficult days with past pups, always invest in training, etc. She might be a Christmas puppy but she is family from day 1!

Hey, I’m looking for some advice, my daughter behaviour has seem to become absolutely terrible recently I’m trying everything I can to stop it, it seems she has no sense of awareness about people and their feelings, you can’t talk to her because she just screams and shouts and never listens; I’ve been trying to get a doctors appointment but can’t seem to get one, the school is trying to help but getting her referrals for other places to see if that will help. I’m really struggling which is embarrassing to say to, I really feel like im in a never ending battle with her.

I'm almost desperate for advice at this point. My son is a week shy of 8 months and since he's been born he's been fussy lol my 1st wasn't like this AT ALL!! my son was born with a severe tongue tie that was corrected and then had pretty bad reflux and had his formula changed and was out on a medication he takes daily in the morning! Thankfully his spitting up is under control but he is miserable more than he's not. I've told his doctors, he just cries very aggressively out of the blue, we could be sitting playing with toys and randomly start screaming turning red and it's so hard to calm him. This goes on All day and has never slept more than 4 hours at a time. I don't know what to do. I'm a stay at home mom and love both of my kids more than anything but I don't know what I'm doing wrong, my mother doesn't like taking him because all he does is cry. I don't know If I should go to a different doctor or is my baby really just this fussy? I try to start each day positive but at 8 months the positivity is thinning. I actually stay home a lot because going in public is hard because he cries. I feel like a terrible mother that I'm not able to make him happy

Hi everyone this is a bit of an awkward situation and I’m not sure how to feel about this all. My daughter has a friend across the street so close they can wave at each other at the windows. My daughter often hangs out at her friends house and I am also friends with her mum know their family I trust my child around them 100%.

So the situation is that… My daughters friend recently went into school and told the class/teacher “my daddy beats my mummy up” this has been reported and another teacher took her aside and questioned her more and she proceeded to say “my daddy also beat me and my friend up (my daughter)” so this is 100% not true, this ‘beating up’ she’s referring to is play fighting and I’ve seen it myself. It’s a game that my daughter’s friend plays with her parents they don’t like to say anything like ‘ohh my G…” so when her mum says it she goes to her dad and says “daddy let’s go beat mummy’s bum!” And same when her dad doesn’t do something in the house that he was asked to do. As for the accusation including my daughter the both of them ‘fight the monster’ these two girls may as well be a pair of boys when it comes this they jump all over him and ‘attack’ him and he plays back by chasing them or throwing them up in the air. I am there when it happens it is 100% innocent they are just kids that want someone to chase them and play.

Now that this happened it was reported and the school and CPS called my friend to clear things up, she explained herself on the phone that it’s not domestic violence or anything like that or violence against children it’s a game no one gets hurt, the cps worker was happy enough with the phone call and the child’s teacher even said she has no concerns as the child looks well looked after, no physical injuries and well fed and no emotional issues that she can see.

Now this has scared my friend and her husband after they questioned their daughter about all this she became defensive and they have concluded that she simply just thrived on the attention of a teacher wanting a one on one talk with her. My friends husband is very hurt he doesn’t understand why his daughter said this and can’t get his head around it all. Well my friend said she told him now that’s all to stop he cannot physically play with or touch my daughter no more and cannot be ‘the monster’ unfortunately she said this all in bad timing and now he won’t let my daughter over to play or their daughter over to play because they are afraid that their child will do this again if teachers follow up and keep asking her questions. I did text my friend to try and ask for the girls to play together but she was waiting until really late to text me back and making excuses. I have met with her once and that’s only because I ran into her on the street she hasn’t asked to see me or anything in the 2 weeks that this has happened.

Now my daughter is crying everyday because she misses her friend and I’m not sure how to handle this. I know these were very serious accusations and it’s good that my friend has taken it seriously, but it seems like now they don’t want the girls to be friends or to even be friends with me anymore? I am respectfully keeping my distance as they requested but I feel like they are trying to cut ties over this. At the end of the day I am not mad at my daughter’s friend she is only a child and her parents have dealt with the situation. I am sad to lose a friend and I am heartbroken watching my daughter cry everyday and asking me why she can’t see her friend.

How would you feel about/handle this all?

Just before anyone says that it could be happening, I seen my friend nearly everyday before this and I am 100% no psychical violence is happening whatsoever!

Please help, I'm absolutely devastated and shaking. I just found out that my 13 yr old son has been bullying an old friend online and told him to kill himself. He even went so far as to set up a fake account. I'm absolutely devastated and can't believe I missed it. I'm so angry at myself. I have permanently removed all devices immediately - laptop and PlayStation. He has absolutely no online presence anymore. He has also never had a phone. My husband is on a deployment and away for another month and I can't get a hold of him. I'm absolutely beside myself and I'm really hoping for some advice. I really want to take him to the police station tomorrow, he needs to know the absolute seriousness off the situation. He has been hysterically crying and apologising for over an hour now. He's devastated himself and when I said the word police, he visibly started shaking with fear. I'm not sure what to do or say, I'm so frantic. I have been in contact with the victim and his Mum and apologises profusely. He is ok but I'll keep checking in on him. Please help, I'm just beside myself 😭 (I'm in Australia)

Edit: I'm so deeply thankful for your comments, I truly am. I feel so alone at the moment, I don't have anyone I can really lean on right now. Thank you so much random strangers, I can't tell you enough how appreciative I am for your advice.

Well the title pretty much sums it up. He would usually go to sleep around 6:30 and wake up at 6. I know some people think 6:30 is early but we have a 30 minute drive to get to school by 7:45. The first few days after the time change he woke up at 5:30 which made sense but now he keeps waking up at 4:30 all chipper and ready to bounce. We have already begun pushing his bed time back but he still woke up at 4:30 this morning. My fear is that he will get even less sleep if we push it back even further as he seems to have an insane internal clock. Do you guys have any advice?

This is something that's been annoying me for a few months now so I want to vent a little.

I'm a dad and my oldest daughter started playing sports this year. And where I live, that's not connected to school, but rather to separate sports clubs so we have to take her there. Now she's 6, so she, and several other kids still need some help changing, tying shoe laces, and showering if they want take a shower afterwards.

It's that showering part that annoys me. I took my kid to the girls changing room one time, but when I was helping her after practise, I noticed that some other girls were nervously sitting around, and when we were done and leaving, it became clear that they were waiting for me to leave so they could take a shower. And I kinda understand that. So now I take her into the boys changing room, but I've gotten weird looks there too for bringing a girl.

However. Nobody bats an eye at the several moms hanging around their sons in the boys changing room. I've even seen some older sisters hanging around after practice when their younger siblings and teammates were running around naked towards the shower. But my daughter changing in the boys changing room gets me comments?

I can't take her to the girls changing room because you can't have a grown man in the same room as some showering 6-7 year olds, and I'm not supposed to take her to the boys changing room because she's a girl.

Why is this so complicated for a dad/daughter combo when it's clearly no big deal for a mom/son duo? I just feel really judged whatever I do and I don't think it's fair or reasonable.

He's 14 months and has 8 teeth. I was encouraging him to chew his toothbrush to get used to it for months but only really started focusing on it from the beginning of September - probably very late.

Since then we've been strict with "brushing" twice a day, and he's happy to chew his toothbrush himself but hates us trying to brush his teeth, and we do try!

He had really stale-smelling breath the other day but he had a cold and things so I thought it was just that, but he had stale breath again last night and now I'm worried I've already caused issues with his teeth because I've been too lax with getting him used to having his teeth brushed. Today I had to hold him down and he still managed to resist much brushing by clamping his mouth shut.

Any reassurance, tips, or toothbrush recommendations would be massively appreciated because I feel like the worst mother in the world.

For the past few years my daughter has been constantly lying and stealing. It started out with her taking things from classmates at school and then telling us an excuse that wasn't a logical excuse (one time she said her friend gave her some Pokémon cards and turns out the teacher caught her going through someone's bag in the back of their chair).she would lie about her little sister hitting her. for example I would be paying attention to them without them knowing and my little one never touched her. The lying is everyday and it's come to a point I can't believe a thing she says. She just recently lied about her friend hitting her on the bus she later admitted that no one hit her. She also said this person drew on her back pack. She later admitted to this as well. And most recently as is yesterday we got an email from her school saying she was caught taking a staff members phone off her bench, wrapping it in her sweatshirt, and then put the sweat shirt in her bag. The staff member found out by using find my iPhone. She didn't lie about this because she was confronted the moment she got off her bus. I've tried all sorts of punishment

• scolding ( I don't nessissary agree with)

-a comforting approach simply just by trying to explain to her right from wrong -taking away all electronics -telling her things such as Santa or Easter bunny ect won't give her gifts. -and combinations of all of them She just keeps doing it and me and mom feel stuck with no clue what to do Can anyone give me some advice?

My 4 year old has had 2 encounters with snakes. A baby snake got into our house. Before I knew it was inside, he had petted it and let it smell him with its tongue. Then, his aunt let him play with a realistic rubber snake. He dragged it around with him for 2 days and cried when we had to leave it.

He’s been setting me up for his big question for a while. He asked me if I was scared of snakes. I told him, only if I don’t expect to see one, then I get startled. Then he started telling me stories about snakes, but only the kind I expected to see.

Last night dad was doing wind down and they were watching a show together. Someone in the show had a pet snake. Our son started asking for a snake. Then crying because he doesn’t have a snake. My husband started laughing and told him to go tell mom why he was crying. My husband was certain it would be a big fat no from me. But I started asking where the snake would live, what we would feed it, and what would he name a snake. My husband was confused. I was supposed to say no. So he came in and we talked about how our son really, really wants a snake. We decided we’d consider it.

Y’all, I hate snakes. I’m not scared of them, I just really, really don’t like them. And the thought of having to feed it live mice is so appalling to me.

We know we would end up caring for the snake, but also, we don’t know that much about caring for snakes. Are there any snake owners who could give me some facts? Should we get our sweet little boy a (imo disgusting) pet snake? Please help me with this.

Hubs and I regularly find ourselves having conversations and saying things we never thought we'd say. My two from today alone are;

1/ I don't really want poo in my bed

2/ Why are you letting the shark bite your penis?

For context - I have a 2yo who is early days in toilet training and somehow sneaks a new shark toy into his bath each night. So I need to hear from other parents, what odd things have you found yourself saying that are perfectly normally in the situation but you'd never thought you'd ever say?

Hi everyone, I was just wondering if the Cerave moisturizing cream is well tolerated in toddlers. I use it on a daily basis and my son sometimes copies me applies it as well. Tia

My son (just turned 3) has this strange habit when he sleeps. If me (or my husband) lay with him while he is falling asleep or lay with him to get him back to sleep because he wakes up (usually at least twice a night, but that's another struggle 🥴), he constantly tries to shove his arms and/or legs either under my back or under my legs. He constantly readjusts and moves them around.

I feel like it is maybe sensory seeking for the pressure so we started putting socks on at night and it helped for a little while. Now he just refuses to go to bed without socks. Has anyone else dealt with this? Have you have any success with something to make it stop? It's super uncomfortable. We try to get him to fall asleep without laying esode him, but some nights we're just so tired it's easier to lay with him.

My 8 year old son doesn’t have any friends and struggles to see how his behavior is the reason.

Since he was a toddler, he’s struggled with impulse control, playing too rough, and managing big feelings. I thought he’d grow out of it by now. He’s very competitive, needs to be first in line or throws a fit, and is very physical and rough when he’s happy or angry.

We’ve met with the principle, school counselor, and his teacher. All say they’re not concerned about a bigger psych issue (like ODD). To them it seems like a classic impulse control issue you’d see with some boys. His behavior is NOT negatively affecting his schoolwork. In fact, he’s doing great in all areas academically and us in the gifted program.

Yet he no longer gets invited to birthday parties. No play dates. His soccer teammates play well with him but generally avoid him off the field. Our nextdoor neighbor boy is in the same grade and no longer wants to be around him. The boy said he doesn’t feel safe around him.

My son says no one wants to be friends with him because he’s being “targeted”. But in reality it’s because he’s unpredictable and not a good friend. He’s a sore loser (he’s in chess club and threw a piece at an opponent because they were winning), he takes everything personally, blows things out of proportion and plays way too rough. He’ll also just blurt things out without thinking about how it would make someone feel.

Just the other day a teacher pulled me aside and said someone was teasing him, saying he had a crush on a girl. When they wouldn’t stop he threatened to punch them in the face.

He sees the school counselor regularly. He eats well and we limit sugar. He sleeps great. We set expectations and clear consequences prior to doing anything. We model good behavior. We limit screen time (we don’t have an iPad or video games) and use tv as a reward. Pediatrician said we could pay for a psych evaluation but sees no physical issues.

I’m at a loss and the almost daily incidences are taking a toll on my mental health. How can I help my son change his behavior so his peers will like him? It breaks my heart (and seriously worries me) that he doesn’t have a single friend, and doesn’t connect that he’s the reason why.

Help!

…unless I play Down With the Sickness by Disturbed. The second it comes on, her eyes get heavy and she’ll be out by the time the song ends. I’m now pacing to make sure she’s really out before I lie her down. In two or three hours, I’ll do it again. See you then, Reddit!

My daughter is on her 2nd year in kindergarten and turned 4 years old this month.

Her school has been taking the children out to field trips. I’ve asked if my child could somehow be chaperoned by a nanny or myself but they would not let me.

I feel bad because I skipped the parent-child trip as I am 36 weeks pregnant, my husband is working on that day (he just took time off recently) and simply I could not trust my nanny enough to chaperon alone with her. These school trips location are averagely 30m-1hr drive.

With the school trip tragedy that happened recently in Thailand, I have become more fearful in letting my daughter go by herself.

Please tell me if I’m being insane and what would be the best way to stop being paranoid. I would like for her to explore and go out there too.

A former employee of my sons daycare reached out to my wife on FB claiming the following: The daycare is short staffed and are exceeding the 4 kids per teacher limit. This is leading to more incident reports (injuries). I feel like this is a problem everywhere, and we have been having to sign more incident reports lately. There are problems with suppliers and lack of adequate laundering services, leaving staff to have to buy their own PPE and some voluntarily taking bibs, crib sheets, etc home and laundering those themselves. Last one I remember is a mouse problem. She claimed having found droppings in numerous places and told to vacuum it up which can be dangerous. The solution so far has been to put out traps that didn’t work. After continual push to fix issues she claims she started getting treated differently from management and the ultimately fired her. This is happening in the infant room as that is where our son is. This person’s DM to my wife seemed more based on fact than emotion. And she always had a soft spot for our son. I don’t quite know what to do with this situation. Obviously we could take him out, but other places are gonna have mice problems, everywhere in the area is understaffed, we could bring him somewhere else and it be worse, but in the mean time until we figure that out, what can or should we do about this information presented to us?

Hi there, Just seeking support and a place to vent. To give you the context, we have two boys, 6 and 4 years old. 3 years ago, the eldest was diagnosed with a brain tumour and underwent 7 months of treatment including chemo and radiotherapy. He is now cancer free and we feel incredibly lucky to have him here today. 3 years later we are now dealing with some of the after effects of treatment. He started school last year and, although initially did pretty well, as the year went on he struggled more and more as he became more tired with school demands. He was frequently acting out and getting into trouble at school. During the summer holidays he’s like a different kid, calmer and less prone to meltdowns, I genuinely believe a lot of the behavioural problems stem from his brain getting over tired and fatigued as his has to work that extra bit hard as a result of all the treatment he’s had in the past. We were dreading the start of the new term, but his psychologist suggested we start him on methylphenidate to help increase his brains processing speed and help him keep up in class. This medication has done wonders for him at school- his reading and writing have come on loads and he’s not getting into trouble (so far!) The problems we’re having are at home. He has a massive come down/crash from the medication around 4pm where is he absolutely awful, aggressive and often just shuts himself away in his room, refusing to see anyone. His appetite is affected. His sleep has been totally disrupted- he will often stay away until 10pm (we’ve had later!) and then wakes up at 6 something. This has been going on since the beginning of September. The psychologist suggested we have weekend breaks- this has helped as his sleep and appetite are back to normal now on weekends. But during the week I get so miserable. My husband and I don’t get any time together, we no longer share a bed, and it’s causing a fair bit of friction as he seems to think that everything is fine and I need to stop being so uptight. We have a meeting with the psychologist next week so I can raise my concerns. I have this constant flux in my head of feeling grateful that he’s here after everything he’s been through. Yet finding this period really bloody hard and resenting what a crappy impact it’s having on our lives now. Thanks for reading

I'm asking for some parenting advice.... And sadly adults tend to make parenting alot harder.

My mother in law is French Canadian. Shes been a translator throughout her career. She lives and breaths French. My husband and I communicate in English. I knew French was important to the family coming in. So as parents, we decided that our children would go through schooling in French. But they'd have to speak English at home and with my parents. With his parents, when we're at their home...they'd speak in french.

We explained this limitation when our daughter was born. I always speak French out of respect for them ... But with my daughter in their presence, I speak to her in English. I want her to know that with mommy and daddy she expresses a certain way and with school and others another way. She's smart and a complete sponge. Shes less than 2 years old and she finds ways to get her messages across based on the person and environment.

Now the issue starts while im in the presence of my MIL ... When I speak English to my daughter, she corrects me with the French word. She makes passive aggressive comments about how we need to practice more French. I'm honestly a bit fed up. I've mentioned it again to her, but she dismisses it. My husband's mentioned to her and she still makes these rude comments.

I honestly think she doesn't get it. I don't think she's being malicious... But it's starting to confuse my daughter who's learning how to express herself. I also don't like being corrected in front of my child.

How do I rectify this? Am I overthinking it?

I’m not sure how many of you have seen the Adventure Challenge books. They have them for couples, bed, solo, and families. The pages have scratch off boxes with adventures to do for the day. Outside of the scratch off area is a note about cost and basics like if it’s an at home or elsewhere and such. I like the idea a lot. I’ve tried to look at some of the ideas that are in it to make sure my family would like them, some of the examples I’ve found look good, some not so much for my family. I’ve decided to put together something similar, but with all activities we will actually do. I’m going to make a box with envelopes with the key details on outside and then inside is the challenge. I’m currently up to 19 ideas but would like to have around 30-40.

Can anyone share some ideas?

For me personally, I now have only an 11 yr old and 17 yr old at home and don’t have a lot of disposable income right now. But even if it’s not an idea that would suit me, please share and maybe it’ll be useful to someone else.

My kids’ school baked cookies on Monday for an advent fest next week. Of course, most kids licked their fingers when adding icing and other decorations to the cookies. On Wednesday (3 days later) evening/ Thursday morning half the class reported vomiting and feeling nauseous. Is there a chance those cookies ( especially the decorated ones) could be contaminated?

I have been talking to as many people as possible about this but so far I’ve never met anyone with the same problem… my 10 month old progressively pushes back his sleep time every few months by half an hour or an hour at a time. At this point, we are at 5am. I don’t know what to do. Once he’s asleep, he sleeps great! It’s just that his circadian rhythm is messed up. I’ve tried limiting naps to 30 minutes, but he just passes out exhausted sometimes. He should be getting 2 naps per day but takes many per day now. We wake up at 11am together (I am in evening college classes so it’s not the biggest deal, but I’ll graduate next July and it will be a big deal then when I get my first job as a nurse). It’s causing a bit of a strain on my relationship because I can’t put the kid to sleep and spend the evening with my husband. Anyone faced this? Any tips? It doesn’t seem the healthiest for baby’s brain development if I’m constantly waking him up, as well…

Sorry this is so long, Quick back story: I have two boys from a previous relationship. They are 10 and 9. I had them at 15 and 16. Their dad is 9 years older than me… thats a whole nother story we dont need to get into, I had them on my own living with just my mom and the dad visiting occasionally once every other week for a couple hours until my younger son turned 2. Then we went to go live with him for about a year. Didnt work out so i moved out of there and in with my dad . Then he started getting them on weekends. Then a bit later we try again and got back together for about 10 months. We got a place and when we split He moves out and I am on my own with my boys in the apartment. He was abusive and cheating. I finished school early at 16 and went straight to college to become a counselor so 1. i have a good steady job because there dad was and is a cook at a food place and 2. I knew id be on my own so i wanted to make sure i could work at a school and have the same schedule as my kids as far as days off and times we start/end our day. He becomes a weekend dad again. This was in 2018 and we have been separate ever since. I now have a fiancée of 3 years and a baby. He is an amazing step dad and they both adore him. But my oldest has always favored his dad, even more than me. I have done nothing but be there for them and provide. I have always been their rock and had them 100%. Ever since i was 15, i made it work. Their father and I got along at first in the beginning of the separation but then he tried to cross a boundary and I denied him in 2020 and ever since then he turned on me. Now we dont communicate and if we do its him talking down on me. I try to communicate but get ignored. We never had anything court ordered. Until one day I asked for help with back to school stuff and dental expenses, for the first time ever and he says no. This was in august 2023. My biggest fear was once i start asking for help financially hed dip on our boys. And thats exactly what happened. He stopped seeing them and started ignoring me. Then jan 2024 I file for child support. Then immediately he files for custody. But he only requested custody of our oldest boy, he didnt want our younger one. Obviously his request was denied. He also had to take parenting classes because when he did get them he would keep them in the same clothes all weekend long, they would not shower or change anything. And if they did they were too small. He was court ordered to get them clothes and underwear because he just wouldnt on his own. Things finally got settled in August 2024, he gets them every other weekend now. Well my oldest started acting out in about 3rd grade. Hes in 5th now, it was Nothing to crazy but it progressively gets worse. It got really bad last year. When he stopped seeing his dad. Constant emotional disregulation, crazy tantrums like screaming, yelling into his pillow and destroying his stuff and his brothers. Lying about almost anything he can. Getting in trouble at school as well with bad words, being inappropriate towards girls, destructive acts of impulse, lying, stealing, and so on. Hes already been suspended once and almost again last week. Hed say he hates it at my house and just wants to be with his dad. But his dad went a year without seeing him during this time and my son blamed me. As well as now even with stuff court ordered his dad does not text or call him or try to see him if it isnt scheduled. He knows our son has these issues and no surprise, he blames me. I suggested therapy but that I would need help paying for it. He said no that its ridiculous and im the one who needs help mentally. My son has expressed that things, in his mind, were better when his dad and I were together. I told him I am happy he remembers it like that but that was not my experience, that his dad and i just dont get alomg anymore and this is what it is now. Their dad is EXTREMELY toxic. He tells them all about child support, how much he pays, how much his rent it, his car payments. My oldest needs braces and since that is a dental expense i told their dad I would need the extra money from him since its not included in child support. He ignored me but told our son that he is not going to pay for it and thats what child support is for and tells them that i must be spending the money on myself and not them. Im not, i cant even remember the last time i bought myself anything other than a house plant. Well my youngest is normal. He doesn’t have any of these issues, very calm go with the flow. Just gets a little too competitive when playing handball at school. Unfortunately since my oldest is always getting in trouble he is grounded a lot. This means no electronics, extra reading and help with chores around the house. Chores include taking out the trash, emptying out the dishwasher and feeding the dogs. Their dad told both of them that its not fair for one of them to be in trouble. And since they are brothers they need to be in trouble together… that i am enforcing cruel punishment and labor. he also told them i treat them unequally and treat my younger one better than my older. Which is untrue, i treat them accordingly to how they act. Due to their dad feeding them toxicity he has gotten bold with me. Starting arguments and straight up telling me “no” when i told him to read. I used the word “shit” when i was lecturing him and he said he was going to tell on me to his dad… then his attitude became horrible and he started being so disrespectful. He feeds him things like “i bet if your mom was a better mom then maybe you wouldnt miss me so much, so it seems like its her fault” and my son agrees. He has even told me that sometimes he goes against me just out of him feeling like he has to for his dad. He also wouldnt admit that it wouldnt be right for his brother to be grounded with him when he hasnt done anything wrong, he said he couldn’t agree because it would be going against his dad. I just feel at a loss when it comes to parenting my oldest. NOTHING works. Ive tried therapy, talking calmly, grounding, stern yelling, spanking, asking him what he needs, taking things away, trying to explain the consequences of his actions and his future, how hes losing friends because of himself, and idk what to do. Part of me feels scared of him. Like the only person he cares about is his dad. Hes expressed he wouldnt care if he didnt have anyone but his dad. Including he would prefer to he his dads only child and not have a brother. How do i parent him, when his dad feeds him stuff to hate me and it works. I need help.

Our house doesn’t have a mudroom of any kind and the entry way where we keep shoes and a few hooks for coats is very small. Now with two kids in school plus a newly walking baby who wants to get into everything and really loves shoes, I’m going crazy without a mudroom to organize wet winter gear, backpacks, etc. It’s all out in the open and the baby wants to grab everything. We have a small entry way closet but it’s small and has our coats and vacuum, broom, mop. Just looking for some unique ideas on what to do!

Just found out that one of my favorite children's book authors is doing a Kickstarter offer for her "Search and Find" books. Her Shadowboxes and Shadowbox Hunt have been my children's favorite books for years. And I have given them as gifts to my friends and their children. So I feel like it makes sense to draw attention to this unique offer outside of Amazon.

The new edition of Shadowbox Hunt features a dozen beautifully detailed paintings on 12 different subjects, each minutely detailed in a shadowbox: "Colors", "Mammals", "Food", "Numbers", "Shapes", "Opposites", "Birds", "Letters", "Your Five Senses", "Reptiles", "Fish & Amphibians", "Telling Time" & "Bugs & Blossoms."

This is basically a direct sales way to get autographed copies of her books. This Kickstarter post is apparently active for just the next five days--to November 27. According to the Kickstarter post, there are a number of other books available that I have not seen  before.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/acatnevertells/the-search-and-find-world-of-shadowboxes-rediscover-the-abcs?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=laura%20seeley&total_hits=3

All of her books are great for teaching children to read through poems (rhymes) while searching for various subjects like the alphabet, shapes etc.-which makes the sit down with your child fun for both you and your child.

I must admit that I think that a gifted author and illustrator should benefit from her work. Nowadays, it is more difficult to keep great books in print for the parents of the now and in the future.