Parenting

Parenting

Kids don't owe you gratitude for doing your job as a parent. You signed up for this. You chose to have them. Taking care of them isn't some favor you're doing-it's what you're supposed to do. The parents who get this stop keeping score. They stop waiting for recognition.

There's an analogy I've heard many times that may be helpful here: If there are a few poison M&Ms in a bag of 30, should you feel safe eating it? What's three out of 30, right? Is it likely that James or someone else will do something inappropriate? No, but is it impossible? Also no.

Somewhere between 'go to school' and 'get a job,' work became the central node of our lives-the very thing that defines us. We measure our worth by our output, our identity by our title, and our health by how much we can endure. The hours. The travel. The back-to-back meetings. The busyness.

People tell me it will stunt their growth or that it's dangerous, she says. She is also often accused of forcing her children to train, when actually it all started the other way round. What child doesn't look at their parents and want to do what they're doing?

A parent is worried about an assignment requiring her son to use A.I. They bring on Jeff Young from the Learning Curve podcast to unpack what the listener's teacher was trying to get at, some good uses for ChatGPT (versus the bad ones), how A.I. ruined the em dash, and more.

It's late. I want to go to bed, but instead I'm picking up popsicle sticks and wrappers. I was always taught to leave the place better than I found it. I'm not expecting anyone to fold laundry or scrub floors. But I do expect the mess made during the evening to be taken care of, especially when my kids have been asleep for over two hours.

We know from the vast amount of research on spanking that it simply does not work. It is not only ineffective for correcting children's behavior, but it is also harmful.

He said having a nine-month-old baby "makes me even better because I actually disconnect more than ever" and focus more on the pitch.

In China, the 30 to 40 days after a woman gives birth are sometimes referred to as zuo yuezi, which means 'The Sitting Month' - a postpartum confinement where you stay at home, care for your baby and recuperate.

The HALT framework helps you identify the basic states that make everything harder. HALT stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired - and when you're in any of these states, your window of tolerance gets narrower. So before you can think about some elaborate self-care routine, start here: Physical needs: Do you have food that's actually easy to eat? Are you getting actual rest, or just scrolling through your phone?

Our daughter grew up with a bad best friend, "Trisha." Trisha was the type to constantly be skipping school, smoking behind the bathroom, and generally making trouble for everyone around. She would constantly be dragging our daughter along to the point that it had serious legal complications. Our daughter stole my late grandfather's empty pistol and gave it to Trisha so she could "scare" her drug-dealing boyfriend into giving her money. No one was injured, but the cops were involved.

Being a new mom can be overwhelming, especially when you can't figure out why your baby is crying. There might have already been a time you ask yourself, "Why does my baby cry for no reason?" You must have missed your baby's subtle signs. If you use a video baby monitor , you can spot their cues quickly and take action immediately before crying starts.

This stainless-steel bowl is a game changer! It's incredibly durable, so I know it will last for a long time. The silicone suction base is a fantastic feature it keeps the bowl securely in place on the table, preventing any accidental spills. It's definitely a must-have for anyone with little ones. Highly recommend!

My wife, "Lourdes" and I have a 2-year-old daughter, "Mackenzie." Mackenzie was a difficult baby (long crying spells, difficult to soothe, hypersensitive to sound, fussy about solid food, etc.), and my wife has a low threshold for frustration. So most of Mackenzie's care fell to me since Lourdes said she "couldn't deal with it." The result has been that our daughter is closer to me than she is to her mother. Well, Lourdes said something disturbing regarding our daughter recently.

My son is 7, and he loves soccer. Since he was 3, he's played on local rec teams that have weekly practice and Saturday games at a nearby park. These are not really competitive leagues, more for kids to have fun. This league is really good about not pushing the kids too hard. Last year, three different coaches approached us after games to encourage us to have our son try out for a travel soccer team.

Baby care brand Frida is facing online backlash after screenshots of sexual innuendos in its marketing materials began circulating on social media. Frida, which describes itself as "the brand that gets parents," sells a range of baby care, fertility, and postpartum products through major retailers, including Target. Last week, an X user shared images of several products' packaging, writing: "sexual jokes to market baby products is actually sick and twisted @fridababy this is absolutely appalling and disgusting."

For all the talk from employers who claim to understand the needs of working parents, childcare benefits remain elusive in many workplaces. Surveys have repeatedly shown that employees strongly value these benefits, which can run the gamut from childcare subsidies to backup care options. As working parents have demanded more from their employers, these perks have grown in popularity in certain workplaces, alongside more generous parental leave policies. But the companies that offer childcare benefits are still in the minority.

I love reading romance novels whole-heartedly. Knowing the general beats of what is going to happen, and that there will definitely be a happily ever after, is comforting to me. I love reading about yearning and love and sex, too. The books I read are not "closed-door romances"-they're pretty smutty with racy sex scenes. The particular book she was reading does start out very "casual" and before it turns more serious, though all with consenting adults.

My mother dropped a bombshell on me and I don't know how to move on from it, but I feel like I need to, fast-I am expecting my first child in a few months and don't want this hanging over us. She informed me that she and my father have never felt like they are a priority in anyone else's life, including mine, and so they have decided to be their own priority.

Wondering if day camp is right for your family? Here are eight great reasons to sign your child up for day camp today! Day camp is one of the greatest gifts you can give your child. It's often a child's first step toward independence and provides an environment intentionally designed for children to explore, discover, and learn about themselves and others. Below are eight reasons why day camp is so beneficial for both your child and your family.

Baby naming is big business. In the pre-internet days, there were books filled with names and their origins and meanings. Then perhaps driven by '80s babies who remember what it's like to be in a homeroom with two other Jennifers, lists of names became popular online. These days, parents turn to social media, apps and even baby name consultants to help them choose the perfect name for their little one.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Dorenne Simonson, 66, who is her granddaughter's kinship care provider in New Jersey. Simonson has parented her since she was two months old. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. I've always been in a situation where I had to spend whatever I made. There's no retirement account when you're single and raise five kids by yourself.

I really wish I could give you THE answer. Regrettably, thousands of years of human knowledge on this point has served up only this: It's a dang crapshoot. You have created two unique humans and sent them spinning off like tops into a very complex world. They may fight like cats and dogs as kids and become thick as thieves as adults, or they may be little buddies as kids and maintain (at best) a cool civility when forced to interact at weddings and funerals.

These are awesome! I spent hours with a drill and screwdriver installing push-down locks on cupboards five years ago. I now have another crawling baby and those ones are all broken. I was dreading installing new ones and saw these. They literally go on in seconds, the bracket means it lines up perfectly, and the adhesive is strong! My older kids think the magnet key is super fun.

We sit down for dinner. Declan (5) whines, 'You didn't get me my milk!' Not, 'Thank you so much for this delicious meal you have made after a long workday, Mommy. Can I please have some milk?' We get to the playground, and he complains, 'You didn't bring the right pail!' We read three books at bedtime, he accuses, 'We didn't get to read my favorite book about the pandas (because he hadn't chosen it!) The whining is out of control and driving us mad.

Your son is in the exact same position as so many young adults today. As a professor who loves talking to her students-a large majority of whom are 20 to 25-I know just how much COVID has taken away from their ability to connect with people. So, there have to be other young adults in your area who are also looking to widen their social circles.

On a recent trip, my daughter and I were tossing her stuffed animal around the hotel room. The toy spun around near the ceiling and came to rest on the corner of the TV, high above our heads. My daughter pointed and tried to explain where the animal landed, on the, the, the ... she didn't have the word for "TV." Yep, we had to tell our 4-year-old what that big, black rectangle was called.

I'm not going to tell you that you can't squish or flush a bug if you can't handle trapping and releasing it (although, full disclosure, I am a trap/release outdoors gal for all except mosquitos and cockroaches), but I'm not sure that persuading your 4-year-old to be cool with killing any living creature (even when it's because it "scares the shit out of" their mother) is your best path forward as a parent.

"Morning! We're not. I don't think we were invited to this one ..." I wrote back, unoffended by the lack of invitation. But then, another, more unsettling thought crossed my mind: "Or I missed the invite, which is also very possible," I added. Sure enough, when I typed "Henry" into my inbox search a few moments later, two things came up: an invitation to the party and a reminder to RSVP. I'd missed both.

I resisted. How could I keep my promise and still consider a group home? The professionals all said the same thing in different words: You can't do this alone. What happens when you get older? He needs a trained staff. His physician, who'd known Chris since he was 3, was even more direct: A group home could offer the structure, safety and supervision I couldn't provide alone.

I have a 14-year-old son, "Tim." About a month ago, I caught Tim on making lewd and disgusting posts in an online forum. Both as punishment and for his own online safety, I cut all internet connection from the house except for my own personal computer. If he needs to go online, he goes through me, under my supervision. He complained, of course.

Video games are a major part of many children's lives, offering opportunities to build problem-solving skills, foster creativity, strengthen hand-eye coordination and connect socially with peers. In many cases, gaming can promote teamwork, critical thinking and even emotional resilience. When played responsibly, it can serve as a healthy and enriching activity. However, like any social environment, whether in-person or online, gaming platforms can also expose children to difficult situations, including conflicts, exclusion and occasionally bullying behavior.

I'd suggest counseling first before looking into possible avenues of having another child at this point in life. Learning and experiencing that your children are growing up as you planned and knowing that active parenting doesn't end at age 18, but continues for many years as your children seek your knowledge and wisdom, helps take the edge off feeling abandoned or no longer needed by your kids. -Robin

Kids may say the darndest things, but parents post about them in the funniest ways.