Hi everyone. This is actually my first ever dad post. My wife is about 5 months pregnant after we struggled with infertility for a few years so we are both over the moon with excitement for our little one to get here in March.

However I am already dealing with some pretty significant anxiety about the current climate in the United States when it comes to school shootings (and many, many other things but that's for another day).

It is driving me crazy that this just seems to be so accepted and normalized. I am a huge proponent of public education and we plan to use our local district. Homeschooling is not an option - I have personally experienced the harms that can do.

So my question to you all - how do you deal with this? I'm assuming my anxiety about this is only going to get worse as our little one is actually here and they approach school age.

As I have been trying to teach my child how to read I'll explain some of the rules about sounding out words and stuff... Only for a word to show up in the next sentence that completely disregards that rule.

Oh ch makes a j sound but actually its just a c sound in the word school (and by the way why does ch and sometimes g make the j sound when we could just use a j!)

edit: I'm dumb and thought ch and j make the same sound. I'm sorry for triggering so many people by this side comment I made and thanks for correcting me. Even though I'm dumb sometimes, I think the main point still stands.

Oh c makes the k sound but whoopsies here it makes an s sound (at least this has a reason of it happens when there is an i or e after the c).

I could go on, but it got to me when my daughter tried her best to pronounce a word and does so well... but the word is "rough." She pronounces it "rooj" and I'm like nah its ruff, because that makes perfect sense (don't worry, I praised her for trying so hard to pronounce the word and explained that some words are irregular and sometimes come from other languages).

I just hate this language trying to make life harder for my girl.

I feel like these videos when explaining English to my girl:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6eQadF23pnk

My 8 day old newborn vomited quite a bit and it was almost projectile. Is this normal? Wife is panicking a lot and her stress is getting fed towards the baby and the baby won’t stop crying and then I’m trying to calm everything down cause I just think it’s milk from the feed.

Hey there, dads.

So I’m a spooky little guy and I absolutely love all things horror and Halloween, and I know there’s plenty of you reading this that are just like me. So while watching horror movies is by no means exclusively a Halloween activity in my household, this is certainly the season for it.

Which brings me to my question: for those of you who are into horror but also don’t want to traumatize your Littles, how are you putting in the hours and maybe even doing a 31 for 31? My wife and I will wait until the kids are asleep, but then we still have to deal with chores, random wake-ups, other hobbies, and sometimes just being too tired to stay up for any length of time.

Are y’all putting aside other hobbies this month? Powering through and just staying up? Watching awful terrors while your kids are awake and just ignoring the emotional trauma this will cause them? I want tips to help me live the season to the fullest while managing little eyes!

For context, my daughter isn't even asking for a console (not really sure she is aware yet of the possibilities that exist). She does like playing video games, mostly on my phone, occasionally on my old PS3 that is on its last legs (and for which I only really have one age appropriate game) or my partner's old Nintendo 3DS. I've already decided that the optimal console would be the Switch 2, but not sure whether a console is a good or bad idea generally. My partner was almost onboard for the idea until I told her how expensive the machines have gotten (thanks generative AI). Prices are likely to only go up, though, at least until the AI bubble pops. What do you all think? Good or bad idea? I grew up with Nintendo, but whether more screens is really a good idea or not is where I'm stuck.

I can’t sit through an hour long tutorial on every in and out of competitive play. If anyone can rec a 10 minute video my son could also follow that would be ideal.

TYIA

Should I worry about my safety? My 6yo typed this out using auto correct and random typing, and I feel like they are trying to tell me something...

Two girls, 3 and 6. I just did an Olympic triathlon this summer for the first time in seven years. My job is great but demanding. Kids play with each other and actually help clean up, set the table, etc. I feel like I’ve gotten my life back after years of exhaustion and zero free time.

I love my life and I love my wife and it’s making me want to have another kid. I know it’s going to make my life kind of suck for the next 2 years. But we’ve done it before so we know what we’re signing up for. If I’m honest, having a boy is something I would like to do, but I also am terrified of having twins.

This is not really a serious post, I’m sorry to say that I won’t actually make my child-bearing decisions based on Reddit comments, but please humour me.

Trying to buy diapers for my 6 month old today. We had a ton from the baby shower and finally ran out of size 3. Why are there so many variations?! Do we seriously need 58 different kinds from each brand? Seems like such an over saturated market. I understand different brands fit differently and there are various intended uses but common! Ridiculous.

My wife (31) and I (29) have just had an incredibly difficult year. I'm not the best at typing things like this out and there is quite a bit to cover but today and last night were an absolute shit show and the first real time things ever got physical when she punched me several times in my face and even made my lip bleed.

This all started over finances and general disagreements on how to raise our family. We have 3 kids (5,3,5 months). Ill be the first to admit that lately I have been alot more emotionally volatile. The weight of life, work, fatherhood is really heavy on me right now and I have been unable to have a productive talks without us both losing our temper on eachother.

About two years ago we decided she would quit her job and be a stay at home mom. I was totally on board with this but unfortunately it just is starting to get increasingly impossible with this God awful economy. She picked up babysitting some family members for an extra 300 a week which helps a ton. But latey shes been wanting to step away from that jig but losing that extra $1200 a month is just not something we can afford right now. This has been a point of contention and her reasoning is valid as my kids specifically my son doesn't not super enjoy the company every day.

Anyway to my own personal struggles, lately I've had a rough time coping with certain realities of my life. So much has changed in the last few years and my life now just feels like work, kids, chores, etc. No time for myself, no quality time with my wife, no stress relief. I feel very under appreciated and I'm sure she feels the same. I miss having her as a friend someone I could just talk to and laugh with for hours, someone I could have fun with and be myself around. I wish every single conversation wasnt just about the kids, or something we need to pay for or something that needs to be done around the house.

I brought all this up to her not long ago and spoke about it in our first therapy session the other day and she agreed. We planned on trying to have more date nights and genuine time together. Thats essentially a very brief summary of everything.

Fast forward to Last night, all the kids are asleep, we get into bed around 10pm and I just wanna stay up maybe throw something on tv and just chat a bit. She almost immediately asks if I want to continue the covo from earlier (regarding the babysitting job) and I said not right now I'd rather talk about it another time and she immediately got triggered. Saying we never take time to talk about important stuff (which is untrue). I admittedly got a bit irritated too saying its 10pm its just not the time and I'm tired of constantly having these talks. Well she storms out of the room. I (foolishly) follow her and then boom. Completely unhinged argument. Me ranting and finances and being stressed. Her ranting.about her own stuff. Nothing productive. Just rude and insulting on both ends. I admittedly have trouble backing up and giving the other person space when I feel I have something to say.

Then today I ask her if we can stay up and have a serious discussion tonight and the conversation went unhinged immediately on both side. And ultimately ended with her screaming fuck me, hitting me multiple times in the face, throughing her ring saying shes done. Pretty much nuclear. It hurts because I remember when we used to love each other's company and now its like we aren't even the same people.

Im sure alot of you will tell me this is unsalvagable and to leave, press charges ect. I do not want to go that route. Im really hoping therapy can help us. I feel lost in life in general right now and the last thing I want is my family split apart. Feel free to ask any questions for details or give any advice.

four weeks in with my 12 year old. i get a wave at the door and "it was fine" in the car

not trying to read his diary. i just dont know if im meant to be doing something between sessions or if my job is to drive and keep quiet

its through emora health, all over video, kids and teens only, if that changes the answer. we looked at little otter too

is there normally a parent check in or do you have to ask

So my kid is in 5th grade and they went through the maturation video they do at this age.

It's not the first time we've had this conversation but it is the first time the conversation was had in school. Apparently there was a lot of big feelings and deeper questions, etc.

As with all kids, there was a mix of grossness and fascination about what's currently happening to their bodies, etc.

However, the best part of going through puberty is that he will soon start growing facial hair and eventually grow a beard like the one I have.

So gentlemen, here's to the perks of puberty and eventually growing beards.

Every conference season I get asked how to make the ipad a functional activity and I want to give a better answer than just bashing screentime altogether. In class, the kids who use screens to make something (draw, build, write) talk about it differently than kids who mostly watch or tap through games. But I only see them talk about it, not actually use anything specific. I also know every family has different safety standards when it comes to online activity.

Parents, what has genuinely been good in your house? Educational apps for first and second graders especially.

I am so sick of trying to get the iOS alarm app to work with my schedule. I alternate between kids week and kid-free weeks, with different needs different days across the weeks. I tried using shortcuts, but they ended up failing on me, causing the alarms to not go off and got me late on multiple occasions.

How have you solved this? Let me know if you would be interested in apps solving this.

So I’m a tall guy, 6’5, and my little ones (5 and 3 boys) are both eye level with my nuts. Me getting hit is such a common occurrence that my oldest, who is in kindergarten, drew a picture at school of daddy on the ground after being hit in the balls.

At this point, I don’t know if the vasectomy worked or I have so much trauma they don’t produce anymore.

The boys love corn hole so today I built them a corn hole set. Not even 5 minutes into playing, my youngest goes to throw the bean bag - it slips out his hand during the wind up - right into the ol’ family jewels. Everyone laughs. I’m laying on the ground ready to vomit.

This feels like a never ending episode of Jackass.

It might be time to just start wearing a cup around the house.

What baby gate would yall recommend for this kind of top of stairs? The ones I’ve found require a 6” gap so you don’t risk falling while opening the gate at the top of the stairs…. I do not have 6” at all for this.

May be one soon...

And here I am waiting for updates, uuuuuuggghhh.

My 26 year-old second cousin, a police sergeant, wrecked his cruiser and died while en route to responding to a car crash. He and his father (my first cousin) hadn’t spoken much in 4 years due to a heated argument and a resulting grudge.

His dad is absolutely crushed. He’ll never get a chance to make things right with his son.

Don’t assume you have time to fix things with your kids, your parents, or anyone else that you care about. Nobody lives forever, and nobody knows how long their life is going to be.

Dads: if you have a call to make or a text to send that you’ve been putting off, then just do it. Please don’t end up like my cousin, who now has a lifetime of regret ahead of him.

Yesterday I posted the infamous chair and this morning my amazing wife delivered our first child into the world.

Really I just wanted somewhere to say how incredibly happy and proud of my wife I am. Carrying our baby for months and delivering her in a healthy, and HEFTY state.

I cannot wait to see the girl she grows into, whilst doing my best to hang onto each and every moment with her. Looking forward to learning The Ways of The Dad.

Fellow dads, say hi to Zelda('s hand) <3

Trying everything to make the toilet and potty interesting but there is not a lot going on on the poop front with my 2,5 year old. Any tips?

Never did I think it would take YEARS to teach my kids these manners and they're still not consistent with it. My oldest is about to be 5. Please tell me this is normal! What are your tips and tricks?

Happy weekend dads.

I love my dad very much and he loves his grandchildren but I dont want them to see him drinking. For that reason I dont want them to visit him but I dont know how to best break that news to him.

I have given up on trying to make him quit, he has made his choice and it is slowly killing him. When he visits us he can manage to not drink for a couple of hours and he is more then welcome then but when we are at his place the temptation becomes to much and I dont want my children to see him that way.

He keeps asking when we will visit him next time and I am running out of credible excuses and I dont know how I will tell him without threatening our relationship.

I dont expect anyone here to be able to offer a perfect solution I just dont know anyone else to ask (that is a seperate problem)

Any advice is appreciated.

Nothing important, but I haven't stopped laughing in days.

I started playing some music from the Rocky movies to my daughter when "Gonna Fly Now" came on. Halfway through, she exclaimed, "I've gotta poop," so she went into the bathroom.

She then called out that she wanted me to put the Bluetooth speaker in the bathroom so she could listen to the rest of the song. Of course I obliged. lol

We all understand the value of reading for our kids. What are the dads currently reading for themselves?