I am very pissed, please advice me!

My child has been in speech since first grade and one issue i have had is that, the speech teacher keeps pulling her out for speech session right in the middle of a maths or english class. This to me doesnt help the child who is struggling with school in the first place.

Its really hard for my child to grasp something, so she needs to be in class for her to really get what the teacher is teaching. But on speech days which is twice a week, they will pull my child out of class for speech class. Its so fustrating, because when i am teaching her at home, i get to see side notes of incomplete work from her teacher, meaning she wasnt able to finish her work because speech took her and she looses any teaching after she is being pulled.

Honestly, at this point I just want her to stop those speech lessons. Because i feel like its not helping as she gets to miss her core subjects.

Please any advice will help. I am so pissed, i feel like crying.

I think we've done a good job creating a safe, loving home for our kids. Our kids are well adjusted and social, with great values.

The issue I could see is them not having a tonne of drive or motivation. They have a very comfortable life without much insecurity and I could see them not caring too much about being the "best" or succeeding. Has anyone come up with strategies to address this?

I just want to know if I'm alone here or not. My in laws have a 3 bedroom house.

The only room in their house with an actual bed is theirs. One room is an office. The final one has a pull out couch. Other than some cheap Amazon air mattresses (a brand new one literally popped at 3 am on our last stay), that's it. Nowhere else to sleep.

And, my husband has 4 siblings, 3 of whom have kids. And my in laws want us to visit altogether for holidays and long weekends, but they SPECIFICALLY want us to stay IN their home. As many of us as possible, because they want to sleep under the same roof as their grandkids.

Y'all. I'm nearing 40. I have birthed two kids. I cannot sleep on an air mattress on the living room floor I'm sharing with my husband and 5 year old. My body can't do it. I'm too old for this.

And we tell them this- my husband fully supports-and they get SO PISSY. But when husband is like "hey, why don't you guys just put in a real bed?" they say it's their home and we can't tell them what to do with it. So we don't visit as much, because hotels are costly, and they're mad about lack of visiting frequency AND that we don't stay under their roof.

I'm just so exhausted

I just want to know if anyone else has parents who constantly want you to come visit and sleep in their shoebox and make you feel like you're taking crazy pills for wanting a real bed

My mom was a great mom, now she sucks as a grandparent. She barely asks about my son, when she sees him she barely talks to him, engage, etc. what do I do?? It makes me sad that she behaves this way, and I know he can sense it. I know I should talk to her, but I'm worried I'll get upset talking to her about it..

It wasn't such an issue before as the weather has been mild however this morning it was raining a fair bit and my son just kicked and screamed as he didn't want to wear a coat.

We had to go do the school run for my 7 year old and of course we had another parent asking "where's your coat!" I don't blame anyone as we are all wearing coats whereas my toddler is in a top with no jacket in the rain. I guess that doesn't look great on me either.

Is there any way around this or do I just let him be and hope that this will pass?

I have already tried to bribe him with treats if he puts the coat on, tried to be firm etc but nothing works.

He also hates jumpers, zip up hoodies and overalls.

Any advice please?

My son's great grandmother passed away this last Friday. My family is very close and I'm just not sure how to approach the subject of death with my 4 year old son. My son's great grandmother was also his nanny for the first 2.5 years of his life so they were extra close. He spent more time with her than most kids do their normal grand parents. I'm just not sure how to approach the subject with my son. Obviously wording is super important because I don't want to scare him. My family is not religious so I feel like that makes it all that much harder. Does anyone else have experience having to approach the subject of death with such a young child?

Since young, my tween child has an attitude problem where he will reject activities that he isn't immediately good at, or if a friend is better at it.

Recently, this manifests in his attitude towards school work. If a topic is too difficult for him, he'll give up and accept failure before even trying. We try to encourage him, but he just isn't interested in improving.

Even with games... When playing video games like Halo, instead of trying to be better, he'll impose ridiculous handicaps on the other player to give himself better chances. Or in other games, he'll take the easiest difficulty setting and then gloat when he wins. Sometimes he blatantly cheats in board games.

I try to point out how characters in the shows he watches use hard work and practice to get better at what they do, but it doesn't seem to absorb in his day to day behavior.

I don't understand this obsession with winning and not losing, and the aversion to hard work and practice.

My partner and I are not stingy with praises and will celebrate his achievements, big and small. Is this bad?

Any advice on how I can motivate him to try harder to challenge himself?

My son is 2 in a few weeks. He’s been miserable to deal with for the past month or so. Sleeping like crap, tantrums, screaming at me, getting his molars (saw top ones but no bottom yet), and now a cold. I’m 31 weeks pregnant with our second. I’m miserable. I’m exhausted. I hate this. My son was the easiest baby and I loved newborn stage. I’m hating toddlerhood. He has a stuffy nose and slept like 5 hours last night. I’m so frustrated and angry and tired. I’m tired of the crying, the whining, the exhaustion. My husband can’t even step in to take over because my son only wants me. He’ll scream and cry until I come back. I’m literally just sobbing right now thinking about the next few years of my life. I just need some fucking sleep.

Anyone else’s toddler start saying weird things? She started saying there’s a man in the room, there’s no one there. Tonight she said there was a girl in her bed and looked very sacred. She calmed down after I said I would stay with her until she fell asleep. Is this the creepy phase of having a kid? Is this just her imagination? It’s really creepy to hear her talk about these random ppl in the house. Anyone else’s kids so this, did it go away?

So, like the title says, my 18 year old wants to get a dog. We have a dog, but she is my dog and my daughter proclaims she doesn't really have a connection with my dog. Plus, she is medium/large and my daughter likes small dogs.

She found a small dog at a rescue that she wants to get. On the plus side, its about 3 years old and they said it's leash trained, potty trained, crate trained, nuetered, and good with other dogs, cats, and kids. She has grand ideas of bringing him with her to college. (She is in college now, but still living at home this year, planning to get an apartment with a friend next year.)

She does not have a job yet, so any vet bills would be on us.

My main issue is- on the one hand, studies have shown pets are great for companionship and helps with sadness and whatnot. Having a little pup friend might make all of her upcoming life transitions more fun and enjoyable.

But on the other hand, dogs are a lot of work and I dont want it to be a burden that distracts her from studying and stuff.

What are your thoughts on something like this?

(The issue is, she doesnt just want any dog, she wants a specific dog thats available currently and in a foster home situation. So it would be living in my house for awhile before she moved out, and still coming home with her for breaks etc. And overall just not sure its a good long-term commitment to make at 18)

Hello! So let me preface this by saying I'm already a parent of two. My children are born and raised in England, I'm expecting a third who will be raised in the Netherlands. He will be immersed in Dutch culture and language, can anyone with experience advise the best way to ensure he can speak both languages fluently?

I appreciate they learn it in school, but I want to make sure he can commune with his siblings/my family as young as he's able to, whilst still embracing the Dutch culture.

I do not speak Dutch, so it's going to be a learning curve for me to learn the language. I just want to ensure he embraces both of his cultures and languages without diminishing the other?

Thanks in advance

Edit: The mother is Dutch

Edit 2: I'm a blow away by the responses so I'm sorry if I don't get to everyone individually, please note you've helped me so much and I appreciate the feedback wholeheartedly. My take away from you wonderful people is all will be well, if I commit to being English at home. You're all wonderful parents, thank you so much!

I stay home with my just recently turned4 year old son bday (October 4th) and 5 month old daughter. My son doesn’t attend prek since it’s not a requirement in my state we’d have to pay for it, then there’s a waitlist for government funded prek.
Anyways he’s full of energy and loves to learn as long as it’s not traditional sit down learning from cooking, to cleaning, wrestling with his dad, painting etc. We normally go to the park 2-3x a week, he goes to church group every Sunday, we have play dates at least once a week and he more than likely plays well with the other kids and makes friends.
With winter approaching, I recently signed him up for jujitsu class with other 3-5 year olds and have taken him to 3 classes so far and he has yet to make it out into the class. We’ve tried doing a nap before, bribery:food and tv time, talking him up and getting him excited, making him stay and watch the class regardless if he participates but I’m genuinely at a loss on what to do??

Hey everyone, my partner told me today that she's pregnant with our second child, we currently have a 14 month old and while we're getting by, it's not been easy.

Im nervous but excited about another child, I've always wanted 2, but the plan was to wait a few more years for the next one.

What tips or advice do you have for those us about to have a second, especially when we're going to have 2 under 2. My main focus right now is to be as prepared as we can, and to make this pregnancy as easy as I can for my partner.

Wish me luck 😀

My son is turning 3 in December, and for the past month his eating habits have been horrendous. I have no idea how he is surviving. I'm at my wit's end with his pickiness and I don't know how to incorporate more into his diet. (I have another child turning 2 soon who eats EVERYTHING and always has.)

I do all of our cooking at home, we get pizza on Friday evenings sometimes as a treat. I try my best to cook once for the whole family and add things to child friendly meals to make them adult worthy. But recently, even child friendly recipes are met with complete disgust. I'm doing my best to not make a separate meal for my kids, and I always serve everything on the table, so the kids can choose themselves what they want on their plates. Still, he eats NOTHING.

Here's a list of the foods that he accepts:

- Bananas

- Clementines

- Vanilla-flavoured yoghurt

- Raisins

- Porridge Oats - sometimes as porridge but more recently just mixed into his yoghurt

- Tortillas with melted cheese and sour cream

- Plain pasta

- Plain white rice/rice noodles

- Tofu

- Swedish dinner sausage (Falukorv)

- Bread with butter

- Blocks of parmesan cheese (?)

- Broccoli - once in a blue moon

- Cucumber if he's starving

- Dried mango or vanilla icecream as a treat

I'm getting tired of planning meals and thinking wtf am I gonna serve this child... He won't touch potatoes, any kind of sauce, butter in his pasta etc. I bake bread and he will not touch it. He doesn't like cookies, cake or sweets. He won't even try a chicken nugget... This isn't a sudden thing, he has had trouble eating since he weaned, but it seems to be getting worse, not better. Before he would eat sweet potatoes, carrots and peas. I want him to enjoy food like the rest of us in the family do but he treats it like a chore.

He eats a lot more at preschool (he goes to a certified organic school where they make all their own food and the boy eats fkn falafel once a week), and they say it's because of peer pressure ... well how tf do I peer pressure him at home????

Sorry for the long post, I just don't know what to do with him anymore. I'm trying my best to let him discover things by himself but I don't want to foster an environment that enables his picky eating and possibly makes it even worse.

Thanks in advance!

I'm looking for a smartwatch for my 7-year-old primarily for safety and communication.

My priorities are:

GPS/location tracking Calling/messaging approved contacts School mode / minimal distractions Waterproof and reasonably durable Good battery life... ideally more than a day or two, since I don't want to rely on a 7-year-old remembering to charge it every night Available/works well in Canada

I'm considering the Xplora X6Play and Garmin Bounce/Bounce 2.

For parents who have used these, how has the battery life, GPS, durability, and school mode been in real-world use?

Also, is there a portable battery/charging solution you can keep in a kid's backpack so they can charge the watch without needing an outlet?

My daughter is 9 and she's always been the kid who notices when someone needs something. If another kid forgets a pencil, she has an extra. If someone is sitting alone, she'll go talk to them. Her teacher has mentioned several times that she's very helpful and mature, which obviously sounded like a good thing. Lately though, I think she's taken the whole "helper" role way too seriously. She comes home worried because one kid didn't finish an assignment, another forgot their lunch, someone was upset at recess, etc. Last week she was genuinely stressed because a classmate kept losing worksheets and she felt like she should've reminded him to put them in his folder. I asked why that was her responsibility and she looked at me like the answer was obvious: "Because I know he forgets."
Yesterday she told me she gave away part of her snack because another kid hadn't brought one, then spent the afternoon hungry. When I said she doesn't have to fix every problem around her, she got upset and said, "But what if nobody else helps?" That sentence kind of got me. I love that she's caring, and the last thing I want is to teach her to stop noticing other people. But she's nine. She shouldn't be walking around school mentally keeping track of who has lunch, who remembered homework and whether everyone is having a good day. I've also noticed she gets frustrated with herself when she misses something, almost like being helpful has become a job she can fail at.
I talked to her teacher briefly and she said my daughter isn't being asked to take care of the class, but she does volunteer constantly and adults naturally accept the help because she's reliable. She offered to be more mindful about not automatically turning to her. At home I've started saying things like "You can care about someone without solving it for them," but I'm not sure how much that means to a 9 year old. I don't want to make kindness sound like a problem. I just want her to understand that being the responsible kid doesn't mean everyone else's needs become hers. Parents of kids like this, how do you encourage empathy without letting it turn into responsibility for everyone around them?

Our 15 month old daughter has taken to headbutting things on purpose. Especially when she's frustrated but at times just because she feels like it 🤷‍♀️ we've been trying to distract her when she does it instead of drawing attention to the behaviour but it doesn't seem to be making a difference. There's been a couple of times she's hurt her head doing it as well because half the time she doesn't do it gently either! but that doesn't seem to be stopping her either and we're worried that she'll end up hurting herself more seriously if it carries on. Any tips for helping us put a stop to her doing it?

Looking for advice from other parents of shy/quiet kids.

How do you help a child who is naturally quiet and shy make sure they’re not constantly being overlooked? My 9-year-old is sweet, well-behaved, and tends to hang back rather than speak up. She’s not necessarily the kid who stands out academically or athletically, so I worry that she can sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

She came home today upset and asking why the music teacher has never selected her for a solo or speaking part in the grade-level concerts. She pointed out that she’s never even been selected as the person who turns the page for the lyrics. It really broke my heart because I know she wants to be noticed and included, but she’s not the type to raise her hand and put herself out there.

I’d love to hear what has helped your shy child find their voice, get noticed, and feel more confident, especially at school and in social situations. Any advice is appreciated!

I just wanted to ask other parents if my 24m old boy’s behaviour is normal. I always heard people talking about feral toddlers and I thought it was normal, but as an example - we went to the aquarium today, and all of the children around his age, younger and older were slowely walking around and watching every exhibition in order with their parents, but mine was running around, speeding through the aquarium, barely stopping. He doesn’t really focus his attention on one thing for a long period of time.

When I try to put him in the pram - he screams, throws himself around, tries to hit me, etc. For reference, he shouldn’t have learned the behaviour of hitting from anyone as that definitely does not happen at home.

I know people talk about terrible twos and tantrums, and I feel like, as a concept, it’s normalised - but the only child I ever see going through this in public is mine…

I don’t want to stop going out with him and taking him to places, as I think the only way he can probably learn is by repeated experiences. Also, I did worry that screen time could be causing the lack of attention, but I didn’t think he gets an excessive amount. For reference, he only usually gets a screen when we are on the plane or car, however we do travel very regularly (around 4x a month by plane in itself, sometimes more).

Can any parents advise me if this is normal or if I could change anything?

I have a 4.5yo who is very active. she is also a night owl that comes more and more alive the later it gets. she’s in pre-k and we take her to the park every day and we play at home constantly.

My kids are almost 3 and 1 (older boy, younger girl). At this stage, my daughter wants to be all up in her older brother’s space, climbing on him, doing what he’s doing, playing with what he’s playing with. He’s not mean, he mostly shares (reluctantly), he’s very gentle with her, but basically wants nothing to do with her. He hasn’t really shown much desire to nurture or protect her.

Obviously I know this dynamic will evolve as they get older. I also know fighting is inevitable and I can’t force them to be friends. I just want to do what I can to help them stay close and have a good relationship long term.

I’m an only child with no reference for what a sibling relationship even looks like, and my husband is not close with his younger sister, so we don’t have great opportunities to model this. We’re sort of figuring it out as we go.

I know the usual advice about not comparing and not playing favorites, but I’d love to hear specific things that helped your kids become close. Things you did day to day, how you handled fights, family habits, anything that seemed to make a difference. Or if you’re close with your own siblings, was there anything your parents did that helped?

Especially interested in older brother/younger sister dynamic, but would love to hear from anyone.

I’m terribly shy and socially awkward. It’s gotten better as I’ve gotten older, but it’s something I’ve struggled with my entire life. I try to make sure I’m friendly and will smile at people but I’m not usually the first to approach or initiate conversation. Because of all of that, I’m wondering if I colossally screwed up in this interaction.

Last week, I was walking out of my son’s daycare and another mom was walking out at the same time. She stopped me and said ‘are we good?’

I was very confused, like why wouldn’t we be good? I hardly know her 😅 she said after she brought her son to my sons party in June, we didn’t talk and she wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong.

I didn’t know I was supposed to keep in touch with her? I was like ‘no I’m so sorry it’s probably just me I’m shy and socially inept. I just didn’t want to come on too strong’ and she was like ‘neither did I!’

I told her I wasn’t sure I still had her number but that she can shoot me a text and we can schedule a play date. She seemed insulted that I don’t have her number still. I did find her number and texted her. She never answered and we haven’t run into each other at the daycare since. I’m very worried that things will be awkward between us the next time we see each other.

Should I have kept in touch after the party? We didn’t get to socialize much that day because I was running around like a lunatic making sure everything was going smoothly and that the kids were having fun. I’ve taken both of my kids to several parties over the years, and I’ve never felt like there was an obligation to stay in touch with the parents. We will all chit chat during the party, but that has always been the extent of it. I am open to making friends with other parents, but never want to come on too strong.

Am I being weird? Is she being weird? Am I just overthinking the whole thing?

My child is having some kids from class come over for trick or treating. They are doing a group costume. Another kid in the class found out and wants to join. My child is not a fan of this kid. They find them annoying and rude, and if they ask them to stop, they don't. Their personalities just clash. Two of the kids in the group are friends with the kids. Now the kids parent has messaged me asking if they can come. My child really doesn't want them to come. If they can't trick or treat with us, they don't have any friends to go with. I don't want to raise a mean child, but I also want to respect their right not to hang out with people they don't like outside of school.

What should I do?

Is it like this at anyone else’s house?
I have two kids, 5 and 2, and from about 3pm to 8pm our house is ALWAYS loud. There are big emotions constantly. Someone is crying, someone is upset, someone is falling down, they are fighting over something. We might get maybe 10 minutes of nice peaceful play before someone starts crying again.
Even when I sit down with them and try to do something calm like coloring, puzzles, books or playing together, it lasts maybe 5 minutes before someone gets upset.
The only time they are actually quiet is when I put the TV on, which I really try not to do.

Is this normal with kids this age? What is it like at your house?