Recently my husband and I went on a date night and we had a sitter watch the kids for four hours at night. We pay $30 an hour, so she made $120 plus $20 we slipped her for gas money. At the end of the night we came home and I saw dirty dinner plates on the kitchen counter, a dirty pot with extra dinner in it, and there were toys strewn in the TV room. It definitely wasn’t a huge mess by any means- I was able to clean up all of it in about three minutes after the sitter left. But I was shocked that she didn’t think it was important to clean that up before we arrived. I mean, it was a mess that was created while we were gone. And, there were two hours at the end of the night between putting the kids to bed and us arriving home from our date.

Tidying aside, she is a wonderful sitter and we will have her back anytime she is free. I’m just a little flabbergasted because I think back to how tidy I was when I babysat as a teenager and into my 20s. Heck, one time I cleaned a sink with soft scrub and the mom gushed about it for years afterwards 😂

This is mostly a rant, but if you have suggestions, I’d love them. Okay, here it is…

Why are toddler shoes so expensive?!

Toddler shoes are running $30-$60 a pair. Now, I acknowledge I’m looking at some nicer brands, Stride Rite, Jan and Jul, Ten Little, See Kai Run - all those wide toe box, good foot development type of shoes. But can we not buy proper footwear at a reasonable price? For Pete sake, we have to buy shoes every few months and we can’t keep spending this much every time. I even go through the sale shoes and prices are still so high.

So then I go to the kids consignment store and look at shoes and the pickings are slim!! Even worse, I once went to the consignment store, passed up on a pair of nice shoes because they were the wrong size, and then saw them on Facebook MarketPlace a week later where someone was selling them for triple the price of what the consignment store had them at!!! WTF?

If you’re born with feet, good luck!

My 6 year old was completely nonverbal until he was 4 1/2 years old, out of nowhere he started talking and hasn’t stopped since.
I was in a few groups of parents with autistic/neurodivergent kids but since he’s started talking I’ve been pushed out of these groups.

He’s high functioning level 1 autism and has severe adhd but because he’s not as bad as he was before a lot of moms are telling me that my situation doesn’t fit into the group anymore and that I should find other parents who have kids with less severe disabilities that can more relate to me.

It’s fucking exhausting being a parent, I was just trying to reach out and connect with other moms and they’re telling me my situation isn’t bad enough to be there.

Lol what the fuck.

That's it.

I hate my life. I hate the way my husband treats me. I hate that I do everything for my kids and it's not even close to being over. I hate that I have chronic illnesses and autoimmune disorders that nobody understands. I hate being poor. I hate being mentally ill. I hate trialing mess.

Every day is getting harder and harder. My body is starting to react very poorly. I have lost so much weight and the thoughts of not wanting to be here ever again are so persistent they make me cry constantly. I can't even imagine waking up tomorrow to do it all again, packing lunches, getting screamed at all morning until drop off, crying on the way to work, working my ass off, rushing to get my extremely grumpy kids after school, doing an hour by myself while trying to figure out dinner. Bath, bed, no time for me. I usually just crash. I'm completely done. I WANT to be done. Fuck this all. I literally want nothing to do with life anymore.

And no, I'm not fucking panhandling or sobstorying. I just want to be done with this bullshit life.

EDIT: thank you for the comments. It seems like such the obvious answer to just say “they’re just some booboos, they’ll get better”. I just have been overwhelmed with this whole situation and couldn’t think of the words. I want to include that I am looking into hospitalization options for my sister. Thank you again for helping clear the fog and give me some easy words to use.

CONTENT WARNING: self harm

My sister moved in with us about two years ago. Prior to living with us, she was living with our abusive parents and we basically had to help her leave in the middle of the night for her own safety. She is 22 years old and has a lot of mental health problems that we are trying to be patient with and offering as much help and support as possible. She does not pay rent. We bought her a car to drive. We don’t really make her do any chores around the house and she really only interacts with my toddler every once in a while.

However, she has been self-harming and while we are addressing that issue and getting her help, my toddler (3) noticed and is now asking questions. I grew up in the tumblr age and remember a lot of romanticization of self harm and self harm scars. I do not want to romanticize this behavior in any capacity but I also don’t want to traumatize him. I’m not really sure what to do in this situation and I’m not sure if it’s heinous of me to ask my sister to make sure her injuries are covered. They are fresh, not scars. It just feels like such a delicate situation. I used to self harm as a teenager so this is super triggering for me as well. I am at an absolute loss on how to answer or how to talk to my toddler about it. When he asked I just said “I’ll talk to you about it later, let’s play cars right now” to not make it a big deal. I don’t want him to fixate on it. I’m not bringing it up unless he asks again. I know I want to be very calm and very matter of fact when I do talk to him. I just genuinely do not know what to even say.

Thanks for any advice. Apologies if this post is not allowed here. If there’s a better place to ask please let me know. My sister is being helped by a professional and living in a safe home.

My daughter recently celebrated a birthday and my parents gave her some outdoor toys to play with through the fall. I have no problems with second hand toys, but they got a slide with one of the steps broken and a playhouse that was repainted at some point and the paint is chipped and looks pretty terrible.

We are all in financial positions to buy new, or buy nicer secondhand items. They got these for free, and it’s clear why they were free.

I’m annoyed and already have a complicated relationship with my parents. My daughter is the only grandchild so they love her well. They are not local so we only see them every couple of months. Do I just let this go and not say anything? My mom has made snide comments in the past when I told her a box of books she gave us had broken/ripped/unusable books in it and that I was frustrated that she didn’t go through the box before bringing it. She has held onto stuff from my and my siblings childhood to pass along which is sweet but after 5 kids and 30+ years a lot of it is garbage. How do I hand this?

I don’t even really know where to start. I’m writing this because I feel incredibly alone in my experience as a mother, and I desperately need to hear from someone who has been through something similar and can help me see the light at the end of the tunnel, or tell me that I haven’t ruined my child, that he won’t grow up remembering me as an angry, miserable mother, and that things can get better.

I have two children, aged 4 and 2. I love them both more than anything, but my experience parenting each of them has been so drastically different that I am beginning to wonder if I’m the problem.

My 4 year old has always been a little different. Not in a bad way, but I noticed pretty early on that he was a little more particular than other babies. He’s always been very advanced, funny, curious, and verbal, but he’s also always been intense, sensitive, strong-willed, and emotionally reactive. Everything with him has the potential be a battle, and most times it is. Transitions, getting dressed, following directions, eating dinner, bedtime, you name it. The smallest things can very quickly turn into enormous meltdowns.

Didn’t answer his question the way he was expecting? Meltdown. Can’t answer him with certainty, meaning you say “sure,” “maybe,” or “I don’t know”? Meltdown. He asks YOU a question that you don’t understand? Meltdown. The list goes on. I genuinely feel like I’m walking on eggshells trying to avoid the next one. And lately I’ve almost been avoiding getting too engaged with him out of fear that I might do something to trigger an uncontrollable meltdown.

For additional context, we have pursued developmental/ behavioral evaluations due to some sensory and behavioral concerns, particularly his extreme rigidity and difficulty with transitions. So far, his initial assessments and feedback from his teachers haven’t suggested that he meets the full diagnostic criteria for ASD. Socially, he’s very typical for his age and doesn’t appear to have significant difficulties in that area. However, he does have notable sensory processing challenges and rigidity that affects our daily lives. We’re currently awaiting a formal ADOS assessment to explore things further and we’re actively trying to better understand his needs and how to support him.

That being said, I think my son has been more challenging from the start, but it wasn’t something I fully recognized until I had my daughter. I was an incredibly anxious first-time mom (still am if I am being honest) and he was a very particular baby. Looking back, so much of his infancy was spent in survival mode. I was constantly worried, overwhelmed, and questioning myself and every single decision I was making for him.

When I had my daughter, the entire experience felt so different. Mothering her has truly felt almost effortless in comparison, which even writing that out fills me with so much guilt and shame. I’ve spent a lot of time wondering if my son’s early years were impacted by how much of that time I spent feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Whether he felt that, and if it impacted his development? Our attachment? Whether I had somehow failed him from the very beginning?

Now, here we are four years later and I feel like it’s only getting harder.

I wake up every day wanting to be patient, gentle, understanding, and fun. But by the afternoon, I’m often so emotionally depleted that I’m barely holding myself together.

92% of the time, he doesn’t listen to me, doesn’t cooperate, seems intentionally defiant, doesn’t really respond to changes in tone or attempts to de-escalate, and doesn’t seem to care even when I’m visibly frustrated or upset. I feel like I have absolutely no influence over him, and it’s incredibly defeating.

Then, 7% of the time, he’s eerily mature and insightful, helpful, follows instructions enthusiastically and without hesitation, and is just generally pleasant and a joy to be around. And the remaining 1% of the time, he’s a totally normal-tempered 4yr old who has tantrums within reason, is kind of whiny but redirectable, and is overall just a silly, goofy little boy.

And listen, I KNOW he’s only four. I know he is not responsible for managing my emotions, and I know he’s not intentionally making my life difficult. But knowing that doesn’t make it any easier in the moment. I feel like I am always correcting a behavior, repeating myself a thousand times, or eventually exploding and yelling. I hate that I get to that point. Sometimes I can manage to hold it together, but the sheer amount of mental energy I spend trying NOT to lose my patience leaves me completely exhausted.

I have ADHD, and I struggle greatly with anxiety and OCD so I know that some of this is related to my own struggles with emotional regulation and such. I sometimes just feel like our personalities and nervous systems are so similar, that we clash. Maybe I’m making his behavior worse with my own reactions. I genuinely don’t know anymore. (Yes I am in therapy, I have been for months. I am actually on the hunt for someone new)

Now, the worst part of this is that I don’t experience this level of stress with my daughter. Of course she’s a toddler and has difficult moments, but I feel capable of handling them. I have the capacity to be patient with her. I enjoy parenting her. And then I look at my relationship with my son and feel like an absolute failure of a mother for not being able to give him the same thing. It is not intentional, they just have wildly different temperaments. However, I am worried he might eventually start recognizing that something is different, or he might feel like he’s the “difficult” child, or worse, that he’s somehow less loved. Which is not the case, whatsoever.

I adore my son. He’s an amazing little person, and I want so desperately to give him a beautiful childhood. I want to be his safe place. I want him to trust me, and to remember me a mom who was fun and supportive, and most importantly I want him to feel unconditional love through it all.

He truly is such a cool kid. He has unique interests, asks complex questions, and understands more as a four year old than I do as an adult. He is unbelievably loving, thoughtful and empathetic. He cherishes his little sister and his family, and it’s one of the most beautiful things about him. I am SO proud that he is mine, and I actually can’t quite comprehend how my DNA contributed to such a bright and truly remarkable little boy.

But I’m really worried that instead of looking back on his childhood with fondness, he’ll only ever remember a mother who was always frustrated with him, who yelled too much, and who always seemed overwhelmed by him. That thought absolutely destroys me. Like…It literally keeps me up at night. I feel like my son deserves better, but at the same time, I’m at my absolute max capacity. I feel like I’ve exhausted every parenting philosophy, book, and approach I can think of and frankly, at this point, I don’t know how to be better for him.

So I guess what I am asking is: has anyone else experienced anything like this? Or felt this level of mismatch with one child but not another? Is this normal?? Am I the problem??

I would especially love to hear from parents whose children are older now, who struggled with similar feelings when their kids were little. What does your relationship look like today?

And for anyone wondering, I also have a golden retriever of a husband who is endlessly patient and supportive, and who probably deserves better, too. 🙃

My ten year old daughter wants to dress up as one of their characters for Halloween and she wants take a manga to class in school to show she's wearing a book character. She watched My Hero Academia, Naruto, and is starting to be interested in Demon Slayer. I haven't watched it, is it appropriate?​

Apologies in advance if this comes off as bragging.

My son is 3 years old. We began introducing the potty about 6 months ago, just casually to get him used to it. I was dreading potty training after hearing that boys are harder to train. Then one weekend I decided it was time. Got the Oh Crap book and kept him without clothes for 3 days. First day, 2 accidents. Second day, none. Third day, one accident and an outing where he stayed dry! It's been almost 3 weeks now and he almost never has accidents at home and knows when he has to go. No fear for pooping on the potty either. I am shocked at how easy this was. I figure it was just the right time to do it, he was ready.

He also had a dentist appointment where they told him that he should start trying not to suck his thumb anymore because it could hurt him (meaning it could wreck his palate). Couple days later and he has stopped completely. I bought the bitter tasting nail polish in anticipation of it being a battle since he's a lifelong thumb sucker. But nope. One talk with the dentist and he understood I guess??

Toddlers blow my mind sometimes.

My husband and I are FTPs to a 6-month baby girl. The pregnancy went very smoothly, but she got stuck during labor and I opted to get a c-section after 4 hours of pushing. Because of this, my recovery was much more challenging than both of us had anticipated, and I really relied on my husband for the first few weeks while he was on leave. Oddly enough, during these initial weeks, I had a relatively high libido but we didn't act on it since I had not been medically cleared yet. When my husband went back to work, I had a tough time adjusting to both taking care of myself and our daughter (who has been exclusively breastfed), and I found myself getting physically and emotionally overwhelmed. Since then, I have pretty much had no sex drive. I think we have had sex less than 10 times since I was cleared. I truly don't have any desire to have sex. I don't think about it at all during the day, and I currently don't miss it. The thought of trying to have sex is both exhausting and grosses me out, not because I think he is gross but like it just makes me so uncomfortable after a full day of holding our daughter. Also, for a long time, the skin around my c-section scar was so sensitive that just the slightest brush against it would make my skin crawl, and I don't know if he ever fully understood that despite me explaining it to him.

Despite this, I love getting to cuddle with him, hold hands, give (very PG) kisses, but these things all seem to lead to him making moves on me. We have had SO many conversations about this. He tells me that he doesn't feel wanted. I apologize and tell him I love him but that I think this is really all hormonal and will eventually pass when I'm done breastfeeding. He acknowledges this and lets me know that we don't have to have sex together. I become relieved because I don't want that. He gets frustrated that I am relieved by this and gets upset saying I am shaming him for having a sex drive. A couple of times, he has suggested that I am not trying hard enough to be interested in sex again. I don't really know what to do. I've done pelvic floor PT, which has definitely made sex a more enjoyable and not-painful experience, but it certainly hasn't increased my libido. I've gotten back into running, which is so exciting and liberating, but despite feeling much more "me" in my body, it also hasn't made me feel like having sex. Our daughter is also still sleeping in our room (I am feeling very anxious about trying to put her to sleep in her nursery), and it just feels weird sometimes to try having sex when she is literally just a couple feet away.

Now that I'm back at work full-time (mostly in office but partly wfh) and he is taking the rest of his paid leave to watch our daughter for the times I am in office, I think he has an expectation that I will suddenly want to have sex again. But actually now I feel like I want it even less! My days are completely absorbed by breastfeeding and being primary caretaker in the morning, going to work, pumping during my lunch break, working some more, racing home to breastfeed and take over caring for our daughter, then eating solids + bathtime before getting her and myself ready for bed. He has told me that I shouldn't feel as tired because he is "doing everything now", which to be fair he does make us dinner every night now since I am the one watching her in the evenings. But from my perspective, I am still the one doing her laundry (read: I haven't gotten to do my own laundry in 2 weeks and he insists that he can't figure out how to wash my clothes), all of her baths, managing her introduction to solids, making sure she is getting her supplements, doing all the night time changes and feeds, managing her doctor's appointments, etc.

I don't really know what I'm looking for here...honestly just needing to rant. I just feel like we keep having the same conversation over and over and it's not going anywhere.

I am a SAHM and I have a 2 year old. I caught my husband texting with his coworker, who he previously flirted with. This brought us a wedding gift and then a year later was caught sending inappropriate text messages. Shortly after she transferred to another location and he blocked her. So he says. Well she’s back at his job site and he decided to unblock her. The texting has been going on for 3 months now.

I want to end things because this isn’t the first time I’ve caught him texting other women over the course of our 10 years together. I guess my question is do I leave now or wait? We struggle financially and I doubt I’ll get much in spousal support. Is my only option to leave now, get on public assistance and hope for the best or start stashing cash and then make my escape. I just want the best for my child and I feel so stupid.

Hi all, I hope this is the right subreddit to post in. I am a FTM, I’m 24, and I just had my baby Monday (6 days ago). I had an uncomplicated, quick vag birth, 1st degree tear and 2 stitches. My baby was 6lb 14oz so not large.

I made the mistake of looking down there with a handheld mirror yesterday to look at my stitches. I noticed the hole looks rather large and there’s a pink bulge near the opening. I put a gloved finger in the opening and it felt like it was collapsed in on itself.

I am kind of freaking out and I’m worried I have a prolapse. I already deal with really bad endometriosis so the thought of having even more issues down there terrifies me. Experienced moms, is this temporary or should I worry about it being permanent? Is there anything I can do besides going to pelvic pt? I have an appointment set up for 6 weeks pp.

i expected the physical healing to be hard, i expected to be sleep deprived, i expected to miss intimacy with my husband, but i didn’t expect everybody to treat me differently after giving birth. my daughter is only a month old and i don’t know how i am going to continue to cope with this change.
i only get texted about the baby. when i walk into a room with her, everyone sees her and not me. when my family texts it just feels like im the middle man between grandparents and their grandchild. friends and family stop by and expect to get to hold the baby and only ask me about her and how she’s doing. these people never made this much effort to see me before i had my baby. i know they all love me, but i feel more invisible than ever.
does it keep feeling like this? will my family and friends eventually settle in and see me as a person again or will they always see my baby before they see me? this has by far been the hardest part of postpartum. please tell me i’m not alone and it gets better!

When my kids started school, I was pretty much the only divorced mom I knew, so I definitely felt like the odd one out.

I was never trying to hide my situation, but people would alllllways ask me about it during the playdates (we had little children where we needed to be present), and I was still figuring out my boundaries, so I’d usually just answer. Now, I know how to shut down anything im uncomfortable with.

Another mom is a family law attorney, and she asked me so much about my divorce and ask me a ton of questions about custody and co-parenting. I later learned through a mutual friend that she had actually been involved in a much messier court battle with the father of her first child. She never mentioned any of that while asking me about my situation.

Then there’s another mom who has this very polished, perfect-looking life. Gorgeous house, kids in a million activities, skiing over winter break, etc. I eventually found out she’s divorced too and her relationship is way, way more complicated than I realized.

And honestly, that’s my point. Most of us have messy lives. Myself included. I’ve been through some very rough years that I honestly didn’t think I’d make it out of.

I’m not saying anyone owes me their trauma or personal details. But grilling me about mine while conveniently leaving out major parts of your own story just feels yucky.

It’s not the messy lives. It’s the one-sided nosiness and being guarded about themselves.

Needless to say, I’m good on any more playdates with these particular moms but I have found this is pretty common where some parents sort of embellish things and brag but leave out things i.e bragging about like no screen time but then my child tells me they want an iPad t play Roblox like their friend.

Can we commiserate about health issues for a second?

How many of you feel just as destroyed as I do?

I got Hashimotos from the hormone shifts after pregnancy. I also got psoriasis. Both of these autoimmune conditions made it so I can’t tolerate gluten or dairy anymore or else I’ll flare them.

I also have low iron. Possibly autoimmune.

I think I’m going into perimenopause at 35 because my cycles are so short and I have other peri symptoms.

I got diagnosed with ADHD because I couldn’t handle motherhood. Medicated and thats been wonderful but

My god.

And honestly friends in general. Before anybody calls me a pick me or says that I have internalized misogyny, I have trouble making friends with men too. But I guess I don't really desire to have male friends like I do female friends so I'm less sad about it.

But idk, every time I've tried to make a mom friend and connect it's never really worked out. I can't stand when people complain about their kids. Not like the normal todays been rough I'm tired, but more like stuff that has me questioning if they even enjoy being a mom and like their kids in the first place. Like they're so negative all the time.

I'm also struggling with secondary infertility which also doesn't help. I get so jealous of pregnant women and women with multiple kids and it's hard to hide sometimes. I find it hard to listen to people complaining about being pregnant because I want to be pregnant so bad. I honestly try to avoid making friends with moms who want more kids soon because seeing them living my dream would be so hard and seeing another pregnancy announcement would be like a knife to the heart and I don't want to be negative around them or make them feel bad either. I know that's a me problem though.

They'res also the judginess. Judging family size and relationship dynamics and breastfeeding and being a SAHM and etc. Like most moms I've tried to be friends with have ended up making me feel judged and the relationship kinda fell apart after that. It's the same thing in online forums like reddit. I always get downvoted for seemingly no reason and people make sweeping judgements about me and my parenting based on almost nothing. This post will probably get downvoted and I'll probably delete it lol, I just feel so alone.

I was at a birthday party with my kid today. There was a mom from a similar ethnic culture than mine. She thrust her crying 3 year old in a bouncy castle, saying “you’re going to like it when you’re inside.” The kid is wailing, manages to slide out, and the mom says “Aw, stop crying, what’s wrong?” Laughing the whole time like it’s a normal interaction. I watched her the rest of the party and she was just generally dismissive of her kid’s feelings, micro-managing her, teasing her, talking harshly. There was no tenderness there. It made me so angry because I had a childhood like that, where my feelings were dismissed. Where I got thrown into the pool without my consent. The little girl was so cute, in sweet little pigtails. She was fine and calm when her mom was talking about parenting with other moms. I wanted to say something but I stopped myself, since I know my own stuff was bubbling up. Also I know that when my mom felt shame she took it out on me.
I’m far from a perfect mom, but shit it is hard to see generational trauma being played out in front of you. I feel like my whole life’s project was to come to terms with the emotional neglect/abuse I grew up with so I can break the cycle. It was so tough to see someone in this day and age who isn’t. Like, I know I was just witnessing one moment in a child’s life, but it felt like looking at myself back in time. I am so sad for this little girl, and for myself, and for kids whose inherent dignity isn’t respected. It’s a tough road. Anyway, I wrote this to see if anyone else has ever felt this way. What did you do? I kind of feel crazy.

I’m not really sure where to start, but I could really use some advice from other parents because I feel completely overwhelmed right now.

My son Beau is 2 months old, and we’ve been in the hospital dealing with a lot of medical issues. What started as concerns about his breathing and weight gain has turned into so many questions and possible diagnoses that I don’t even know what to think anymore.

During his workup, doctors discovered that he has a bifid epiglottis, which means the flap that helps protect his airway is split in two. His doctor told us they had never seen this before. They also found an abnormal tracheal ring and a kidney abnormality.
He has episodes where he develops retractions, tracheal tugging, and other concerning changes in his breathing. His head sometimes pulls back, and there have been episodes where his eyes and movements have looked unusual. The really confusing part is that his vital signs stay stable during these episodes. His oxygen levels and other monitored vitals can look okay even when what we’re seeing is really scary. We’ve been trying to understand what is causing them, and it’s hard not having clear answers.

He also has trouble feeding and gaining weight, even though we’ve been trying so hard to get him what he needs. He had a swallow study that did not show aspiration.

Now we’re concerned he could have Pallister-Hall syndrome, a rare genetic condition that can affect multiple parts of the body. He’s also having testing for hormone issues, including cortisol.

The part that is really eating at me right now is that he hasn’t had a brain MRI. We were told the risks of anesthesia outweigh the benefits right now because of his breathing issues. I understand that he’s very little and that anesthesia has risks, but I’m scared that we could be missing something important. I don’t know if I should trust that we’re doing the right thing by waiting or push harder for answers.
The doctors have been doing testing, and I know they’re trying to help him. But some of these findings are so rare that his doctor has told us they’ve never seen certain things before. I feel like I’m constantly trying to research everything myself just to understand what is happening to my own baby.

I want to get him a second opinion at a major children’s hospital, but I don’t even know where to start or how to make that happen. I’m scared of overlooking something, scared about his future, and scared that I’m not doing enough to advocate for him.

On top of all of this, I have a toddler at home, and I’m trying to be there for her while spending so much time worrying about Beau. I feel guilty no matter where I am or what I’m doing.
Has anyone else been through something similar with a medically complex baby? Has anyone experienced scary breathing or movement episodes in their child even when their vitals remained stable? How did you handle the anxiety of not having answers?

I would also really appreciate advice from parents who have had to seek care at a different children’s hospital or get a second opinion for a rare condition. How did you know when it was time to push for more answers?

I’m not looking for medical diagnoses from strangers. I just feel lost, scared, and exhausted, and I could really use some support from people who understand what it’s like to be terrified for your child and not know what comes next.

A friend of mine is currently 7 weeks postpartum. I would love to cook / bake something for her to help her out (she has a 3 year old as well) but am unsure it is too late / weird at this stage - did I wait too long? Should I ask first?

We live quite far apart and don't see each other regularly so I would need to ship it to her overnight. I would keep it simple at this stage and stick to breakfast / snacks (muffins, quiche) that the whole family could eat and is easy to store and transport. I would also avoid huge quantites, I was thinking a dozen muffins total with 2 types (6x quichy egg muffins, 6x sweetish breakfast muffins).

I never received offers for meals / snacks when I had my kids, I think if someone had offered to make something for me I would've appreciated it, and at around 2-3 months pp my self-prepped reserves usually were used up.

I am mid thirties with a 5 and 1 year old. I’ve slowly realized my husband and I are just incompatible, and I have been essentially functioning as a single married mom since I was pregnant with my first. He’s recently “changed” to be better but I just can’t get past it all.

I plan to file for divorce. I’m so scared but I am so tired of being so miserable. I feel as though when he travels for work it is easier because he’s not around. I have just mentally checked out.

My ask….give the good the bad and the ugly. Would also love to hear some positive stories of someone who was in similar situations. I have been gaslit that I am going to ruin my children, and that I will never find love again, and it’s just so hard to get that out of my head.

She’s 25 and recently married. Her husband is upset that I ”delayed the plan” I reiterated that THEY ASKED ME and this is none of my business beyond the scope of the conversation we had at my parents house. All I said is, you won’t know until you know. You could have an easy child or you could have a horrifically difficult one for any number of reasons: colic, just not a happy baby, they might be medically and psychologically complex etc. I have 1 of each. My second is very chill. I’m genuinely surprised at myself for even having a second because my 1st has been hard since day 1 and keeps getting harder (severe combined type ADHD, we’re in a lot of therapies - language group because he can’t focus long enough to form coherent sentences some time, behavioral and feeding for AFRID) we are also home schooling him because he needs it. School was a nightmare. I am mostly exhausted by parenting him - there are days where I am downright miserable and question why I chose to reproduce but it’s not like I can go back so onward we march. Doesn’t mean I love him less. ADHD also runs in our family. Our other sisters have boys with ADHD and Autism. My sister knows this but I’m not sure she clicked on the genetic link until I said it.

I DID talk about the nice times, I only ever share happy things about my son and his sister because that’s what we do. But you also asked about all of it and I shared my experience.

How to help a 5y boy who has caught a viral flu, to rest at night without continuous coughing? I tried giving him warm water, honey, applied warm oils on his chest but nothing soothes it. I got him checked by his pediatrician a day prior (he didnt have cough then, just a runny nose) and I think the antihistamines are making him really drowsy. Cz im not even sure if the coughing fits disturbed him. He threw up once and still fell back asleep like nothing happened.

Has anything worked for y'all mums? I'm desperate here. Hes been coughing for the last 2 hours!

Any remedies, tips, or things that made nighttime easier would be so appreciated.

TIA

For those who had a baby who struggled to gain weight, how/when did you drop bottles?

Bonus questions: did your baby ever take off weight wise? If so, when?

For context, LO dropped on percentiles until we started fortifying bottles per ped instruction. Currently on 5 bottles per day and is variable on which bottles are completely finished.

Edit to add a note that although there are questions on the various stats of this specific baby I am looking to hear about the experience that others had with babies with weight gain concerns.

Thank you!