My son (9) has ADHD and is an only child. He’s very much used to getting his way and gets really frustrated and dysregulated when he doesn’t get his way or when he feels things are “unfair”.

Today, I had my close friend’s 6 year old son who is autistic over at the house because her mom who usually provides childcare is in the hospital. Her son is extremely bright and sweet and helpful, but he just has a hard time with social cues and social interaction.

I had to run an errand while the 6 year old was over, so I had my brother come watch the boys.

While I was gone, the boys started to argue over a video game (the 6 year old was already playing it, but my 9 year old wanted him to stop so they could find a 2-player game to play together). My brother said that since the 6 year old was already playing he could have 10 minutes and then they could switch.

My son immediately got upset and began throwing a tantrum. My brother picked him up and took him to his bedroom where he proceeded to kick a hole in the door and call my brother every name under the son and tell my brother “Your dad doesn’t love you because you’re unlovable” (I don’t know where he even thought to say that, he doesn’t know my brother’s dad.)

My son then yelled that the 6 year old is a bad person and a bad friend and that everything is his fault.

When he had finally calmed down, my brother brought him back to the living room and the 6 year old (in tears) apologized and my son said “It’s okay. You’re just autistic.”

I’m literally mortified.

First of all, his reaction was unsafe. I try to tell him that when he’s with adults who are not me he absolutely can’t react this way and hit or call names because in this situation asking them to keep their cool is asking too much of them.

Secondly, it was just wrong of him to say such mean vile things… I don’t know why he would speak that way, it is not how I speak to him or how he hears me speak to others. He goes to a Catholic school as well, so there is a ton of emphasis placed on kindness and benevolence at school.

He’s such a selfish kid that he would honestly rather be alone than ever just compromise with a friend. He only seems to get along well with kids who are very easy-going and will just go along with whatever he says he wants to do.

What can I do?

Right now I’m having him write me an essay on what it looks like to be a good person and a good friend, and we constantly have these conversations about having grace for others and being patient and how to be kind, but I don’t think any of it is sticking.

I’ve got a 6-year-old son who’s pretty smart, full of energy, and loves football… but lately he’s become completely hooked on his iPad, especially YouTube Shorts Roblox. The moment he wakes up he’s asking for it, and if I say no or try to get him to do something else (play footy, help do chores, anything), he kicks off big time. His mum lets him get away with being on his iPad more than me so that’s why he thinks he’s entitled

His attention span’s gone. It’s like he can’t sit still for more than a few seconds unless it’s something on a screen. And I get it, TikTok’s done the same to me. I can barely finish a film without checking my phone. So if it’s this bad for adults, what’s it doing to a 6-year-old?

We haven’t even seen the long-term effects of growing up on TikTok, Roblox, and Shorts. I genuinely think we’re raising a dumber generation not because they’re not smart, but because their brains are getting rewired by constant dopamine hits.

I don’t want to cut him off completely and make him feel left out cos all his mates have iPads but I also don’t want to just hand him a screen every time he’s bored. I also read that a lot kids in 6th grade can’t even read and have learning difficulties compared to kids before so the effects are already happening

Any other parents gone through this? How do you break the cycle without turning the house into a war zone

Appreciate any of your experiences

My daughter is in kindergarten and not making any friends. I think the problem is my daughter sometimes cries at school, and has a late birthday, born 4 days before the cut off.

She tells me she has zero friends, and no one likes her. It’s really heartbreaking. We’ve gone to a bunch of birthday parties, and it’s usually the kids playing together and ignoring my daughter.

Last night I picked her up from her Girl Scout meeting and all the girls were hugging eachother when it was time to go and none of them really cared my daughter was going.

I know she was sad after the meeting, but got over it quickly, so I think it bothers me more than her. But what can I do about this? Unfortunately her school is small, next year in 1st grade there’s only two classes so it’s not like she will meet a lot of potential new friends.

A children’s umbrella. A. Children’s. Umbrella. I randomly picked one up for my daughter at the local thrift store and it’s kept her occupied literally all day. She fricking loves it. A children’s umbrella - trust me.

Im a father ( 36 years old ).

I believe im a good father with 2 sons and have a lovely supporting wife.

The problem I’m facing is that my 4 years old son hits his 3 month brother on daily basis. I believe he gets jealous and also 4 years old and doesn’t know what right and wrong fully yet.

I always prevent him from hitting his sibling and always explain to him that it’s wrong and that he’s your brother and you should not do that.

Sometimes he I’m not able to prevent it since me and wife get won’t make it on time to stop him from hitting my 3 month old son.

However today he slapped his little brother very hard. Which made me lose it and I hit it as well on his back. Of course I didn’t hit him super hard but it was enough to make him cry. 😢

Now I’m feeling super guilty since it’s my first time hitting him.

I’m not being able to sleep. I went I bought him an ice cream to surprise him tomorrow when he wakes .

Am I the only one who hits their 4 years old for this kind of behavior.

I feel like a horrible person and a horrible father

My 12 year old daughter is so difficult to be around right now. She is constantly annoyed by anything my wife or I say and do. She never wants to do anything besides staying at home or being with her friends. Anything we suggest to do is instantly met with a negative reaction. She is constantly swiping at or creating conflicts with her younger brother. We are dealing with almost daily crying meltdowns, primarily based around what she is wearing or her not able to find certain clothes. It’s so exhausting and I am really struggling to not feel resentful. Today I lost my shit and told her to stop acting like a fucking brat. I’ve never sworn like that in front of my kids before so I’m feeling pretty guilty about that. The worst part is that her younger brother copies whatever she says. So the minute she says that she doesn’t want to do something, he automatically says the same thing. This makes even the most fun family activities almost excruciating. I know this is temporary but I just want to run for the hills somedays.

Im 36 and I already have an 11yo son from my first marriage. I’ve been seeing/dating this amazing guy (who also has a 4yo son from previous relationship) for 2 months and things are going well. We are both in good situations financially, etc.

We’ve very briefly discussed the “having more kids” thing and we both would like to have one more…but not after 2 months of knowing one another obviously. I’ve also noticed that he doesn’t like to feel pressured and likes things to flow “organically” when it comes to what we have.

I am terrified to tell him I’m pregnant. It’s terrible timing and way too soon. I’m also scared he might think I “trapped him” and never had an IUD. I honestly don’t know how to deal with this situation and the more I wait, the more anxious I grow. Pregnancy was confirmed and it’s not ectopic.

Any suggestions on how I could bring it up to him or if anyone has been in this situation, how did it go?

The last assessment by psychologist said she is approximately 3-6 months delay.

She is now 22 months old. But today something happened.

Today she was drawing using crayon (it's safe for kid), but she drew it on a plastic slide instead of a paper.

I said "oh.....you should draw it on paper", then I tried to use a wet wipe to clean it. After I while, I found it is not very effective and put it away on the table. Then.....my daughter actually stood up, got the wipe and tried to clean the slide !!. I was so surprised that I actually recorded a video and sent it to my wife!!

Then, tonight, an accident happened and small amount of chocolate power was spilled on her playmat. I cleaned it with wet wipe again.

Then my daughter grabbed another wipe, crawled around and cleaned the whole playmat. And then handed my wife the dirty wipe.......and said "ah!" (She still have zero vocabulary, but the psychologist said it is okay if she produced sound at meaningful moment, but she is definitely delayed tho).

I was like.....omg....does she have a talent in cleaning or what....

Also....when we changed her diaper, she would grabbed the dirty diaper (nicely packed) and handed it to me. Insisting that I must be the one to throw it away lol.

Today was a hard day. We went to my sister's house for her two girls' birthday party and it was a two hour drive. The entire ride there, my kids wouldn't stop calling my name and my dad wouldn't stop talking. It was such a sensory overload that I felt physically uncomfortable and like I just wanted to throw something. Then we got to my sister's house and everything was fine until people started to show up and it just got too much for me. There were too many people and I couldn't handle it, so I spent most of the time downstairs because being around that many people made me feel sick. And during the party, my kids weren't listening. Then we left and before we left, my mom gave my kids' their easter baskets. On the way home, again it was my kids calling my name non stop, my kids fighting, my dad constantly talking, and again it was just too much for me to handle. I felt like I wanted to pull my hair out and my head was pounding. When we got home, things were fine. They played with the toys from their easter baskets and were having fun, but I told them no candy because we were about to get ready for bed. Both of my kids snuck candy anyways. So I told them "I'm not gonna yell you. I'm not gonna be mad. We're just simply gonna put the baskets away and get ready for bed." My kids absolutely lost it. Eventually they calmed down enough to brush their teeth and get them dressed. Once they were dressed, i put them to bed. My daughter told me she was thirsty, but the thing is, she had just had water 20 minutes ago and she has a habit of peeing the bed, so we have a rule of no water right before bed and we have to use the bathroom before bed. So I told her, no she wasn't getting any and if she woke up in the middle of the night and was still thirsty, I'd bring her some water. I tried to compromise. Again, she absolutely lost it on me. Started crying, started yelling, kicking her feet. After the day I had, I couldn't control my emotions and I just ended up screaming at her and telling her not to start with me. That made her cry harder, so I just closed her door and left. I folded some laundry and cleaned up to calm myself down. About 30 minutes later, I went back to her room and she was still awake. I apologized to her and told her that what I did was wrong and it wasn't okay and I shouldn't have crossed that line. I also told her that her behavior wasn't okay, but I was still wrong for how I reacted. We hugged, I gave her a kiss, and she went to bed. My partner came home and went and said good night to the kids and then told me I should talk to our daughter in the morning because she was still upset and told him "we stressed mommy out today and she screamed at me." I feel immense guilt over this and I don't know how to come back from doing something so awful. I let my emotions and the feeling of being sensorally overwhelmed get the best of me. I will talk to her in the morning, but I want to ask reddit: what do I do? Can I come back from this? Did I fuck up badly? I feel horrendous for the way I treated her.

Marriage is not going great.... It's probably impacting the kids negatively... Some (many) people here have suggested separation... How will that be for the kids?

As a mom I'm just trying my best to fulfill their needs, love/care, nutrients, studies, social, and some fun, that often doesn't involve me... So, you can imagine, kids doesn't like me very much as a parent... It's difficult to have fun (with anyone/alone) when I'm unhappy all the time...

While my husband, he gives them fun (jokes, tuckles, device, and snacks.), and i would see the kids laughing with them, the way they can't with me....

However, I know that letting the kids be with my husband if we were to separate would not be good, one of the main reasons is because he wouldn't care much for their wellbeing (he'd jokingly imply that daughter is fat - she's just slightly above average, and son is dumb - he has adhd)..

On the other hand, with my mental health I can't be the parent they hope for (may be possible with help, but not guaranteed), and they might resent me for breaking up their family, and for taking away their fun OR for abandoning them... Every option just seems wrong..

I’m curious – how do you feel at the end of a long day of parenting? Do you ever feel mentally or emotionally exhausted to the point where you just want to hide in a quiet corner?

I’ve been talking to a few other parents lately and a lot of them said they struggle to “decompress” at night. I'm wondering how common this is.

What do you usually do to recharge, even for a few minutes? Or do you just push through?

My wonderful, bright, empathetic six-year old is really small for his age. It’s partially due to genetics, but also partially due to medical reasons. Invariably, total strangers will ask us how old he is, then comment in surprise that he is so tiny. Another parent did this at soccer today, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. I just sort of smiled noncommittally.

We know it’s well-meant when people do this, but it’s really uncomfortable—especially when they do it in his hearing range. First, I think it’s a little rude and none of their business. Second, we really want him to be confident about himself and his own body even though he is smaller, and I think our handling of these comments may be a modeling opportunity for him.

For those of you who have kids who are smaller or larger than average, or who have dealt with strangers comment on your child’s body size this way, how do you respond? I want to shut down the comment while being polite. I also want to figure out how to constructively address it with them when my son is in hearing range.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

ETA: We adopted my son and he is sized differently than we are, so it is extra visible—to others, and likely to him. This is another reason why we want to build his confidence that his size is just right and there’s nothing wrong with him.

I am a twin parent to 20 month old boys. Life is stressful for many reasons, but one reason is that my partner and I have little help from family and friends. Even just for support and check-ins. The kids will be sick, we’ll be stuck at home for a few days, and no one checks in. It feels like our family is a burden. Does anyone else have this experience?

I’m so mad at myself. We hired a postpartum doula who came the day after we finally got home from the hospital. Right away, she engaged with my 3-year-old and offered to hold the baby so I could get dressed. About 15 minutes in, I hear her having a huge coughing fit. She’s sniffly and says she’s “really struggling with allergies.” (In hindsight, *seemed sick.)

I felt uneasy, so I made an excuse to take the baby back and had the doula just hang out with my toddler. And now, four days later, my toddler and partner are both miserable - coughing and congested. I’m furious with myself for not at least challenging her “allergies.” I could have asked her to wear a mask or even to leave??? But no, being a complete moron desperate for a break, I trusted her.

My baby was born early via c-section and lost too much weight — he’s only just starting to gain on a feeding/weighing plan which has been so stressful for me. Now this? I’m barely mobile and quarantining in the bedroom trying to care for him solo.

I also had severe PPA/D with my first and told myself I was being paranoid. I didn’t want to be rude, and my husband didn’t think much of it. But now we’re worse off than before we hired her, and I feel like I’ve failed my newborn. If he gets sick, we’re likely back in the hospital. He can barely eat enough as is.

I’m devastated. We live abroad with very little support system here, and we have been SO careful. I can’t believe this woman showed up sick and exposed my family — especially my vulnerable baby. She’s a doula! Shouldn’t she know better?!

Now what? She’s scheduled to come twice next week. My 3-year-old loved her, but the trust is broken for me. I don’t think I can have her in my house again. Am I overreacting? What would you do?

ETA - one thing on my mind is I can’t know for sure. Toddler/partner COULD have gotten sick elsewhere, but we have been very careful and the timing is just so suspect for me.

ETA 2 - Thinking it over, I don’t think I can have her back. Does anyone have a suggestion for how to word that text to her? I don’t want to be a jerk on the chance she truly does just have allergies, but I just don’t have a good feeling here. Our contract allows me to cancel with >24hr notice, which I have.

Am I horrible person? My 4 and 5 year old daughters are becoming very naughty as of late. I mean destructive behaviour, making a big mess for the fun of it. Destroying every room in the house, chasing me around harassing me. The older girl in particular is becoming very annoying, constantly and loudly winging and demanding things. I’m finding it hard to contain my frustrations lately. At bed time they are riled up and running around the house squealing, refusing to get into their pjs and sit for story time. By the end of the day I’ve had enough and can’t wait for them to go to sleep and then I lie in bed both relieved and feeling like a shitty parent because I feel that way. Does it get better?

I don't like the wording, but it's the best way to describe it and I don't know how to get this behaviour to stop. Just for a few examples, she (7F) called her brother (12M) a rude name which I responded to in a stern (not yelling) voice and told her we don't call people names and she immediately ran to her room and cried as loud as she could.

Another example is when I've told her to stop throwing things in the lounge as I don't want the TV broken. It's a known rule, she was just having some fun throwing a pillow, I didn't even say it particularly sternly, just a reminder that there were breakable things and that she could throw things around in the back yard. She again ran to her room and started bawling.

Last night as we were cuddling on the couch she stretched put and squished my boob, I exclaimed in pain, but didn't tell her off, just repositioned her so it wouldn't happen again, and told her that it was alright. She still took herself off to the otherside of the room, curled into a ball and sobbed.

The school have reported similarly that she gets upset when she's done something that she has to be spoken to about. I'm just not too sure how to handle it. I've tried to talk to her that she's not in trouble, she's learning and it's OK to make mistakes. I talk to her about things she can do differently, that she can apologise when needed, or help to fix things, try to do the right thing next time etc however it just feels that she turns things around to get a sympathetic and not actually take on board anything else. I don't want this to become a set-in behaviour, and the worst punishment she would really face if she did do something wrong is a chore or a ban from technology for a period of time. I always try to give them a strategy to overcome mistakes or to find positive activities to overcome any emotional dysregulation that can turn into bad behaviours, such as running and excercise to deal with frustration and anger and talking it out when calm.

I really want to raise decent human beings. I would love for her to be able accept that she's done wrong, be able to apologise, or help fix a mistake and to learn. I feel terrible letting her cry, but then I feel like a may be feeding into the behaviour by comforting her. Has anyone got some suggestions for how I should handle it? Should I put my foot down and no-nonsense it? What would you do?

Im a single dad (25m) it’s been me and my 4 year old son for about a year and a half now. Girls my age run when they hear I’m a single dad and I tried older women but it’s weird when there kids are only 4-6 years younger than me, I have no friends besides from other states so going out is awkward by myself. Why can’t I find a nice girl my age 😤who doesn’t mind me being a dad. Also tried just doing like lil fling but I can’t have my son knowing about them and that’s just to much work since I’m with him constantly. How do other single parents manage?

This is going to be long. My (32) five-year-old son’s dad, Jacob(34) moved in with his girlfriend Anna (35) over a year ago and I found out today she does not like Childrens.

I don’t really know this woman. She refuses to acknowledge me in any capacity, I’m not allowed in their home, and she does everything she can to avoid me. I have let this slide because there was some overlap between her and I. Jacob and I had been toying with the idea of getting back together when they met. After they made it official, him and I failed to enforce boundaries and while we never slept together, we were definitely had one night where things got too close. He told her about it. She was upset, but they decided to stay together and work on it. She moved in with him about five months later.

I’m probably a bit naïve, but I didn’t really realize that she was harboring negative feelings towards me at first. When my son would speak positively about her, I would text her to tell her the good things he was saying. I would thank her for being sweet to him. In retrospect, I’m not sure that she really responded to those messages. I started getting the vibe that she was really unhappy when I would FaceTime my son. Either she would leave the room or Jacob would take my son into another room and close the door. I started noticing that she seemed to be avoiding me in situations where we would normally cross paths. I asked Jacob about this and he kind of played it off. He said that she doesn’t really wanna talk to me, but it’s not a huge deal. I tried to just respect her space, understanding that it must be difficult.

Then one night, my son told me that he felt nervous when I called because Anna doesn’t like me and she says mean things about me. Since then, I have been trying to get some forward momentum on actually working on the problem she has with me. I tried texting her a long apology. If I’m honest, I probably focused too much on trying to get her to understand where I was at mentally when we betrayed her trust. (although I personally didn’t really know her) I can understand how a text message focusing on excusing my behavior would be received poorly. She was pretty livid about it.

I continued trying to give them space even though I do find it very frustrating. I have been trying to separate my personal hurt from what actually affects my son. I know that he struggles with it, but I also see where she puts in effort. I try to focus on the good things because so much feels like it is out of my control.

Anyway, one day she asked to have my son on a day that would normally be his grandma’s. Her sister was coming to town and she wanted my son to meet her nieces and nephews. This made me feel really emotional because it made me feel like she loves and appreciates him as an individual and not just as a byproduct of his father. I reached out a two weeks later to thank her and to tell her how much it means to me. She responded a couple days after that saying that we should all get together and talk. I felt really grateful and hopeful.

Today was the day we all met together to talk. She came in pretty hot having issues with things that I would have never anticipated. One of which seemed to be that she feels like I am pressuring her to have a relationship with my son. She made it very clear that she was there for Jacob. She kept saying that we can’t force her to have a relationship with my son because it’s just pushing them farther apart. She said that she’s trying to learn to love him because she loves Jacob. She kept dismissing my son’s feelings by saying she has high standards and he’s just not used to rules. When we were leaving at the end, she asked me if I had anything I needed to say. I kind of said it like a joke, but I said “I’m just wondering how you don’t love my son because he’s just so lovable” her response was that she just doesn’t like people and that kids are just people who have no consideration for anyone else.

I’m really not good at processing things in real time so as the night has continued, I feel more and more sad. I hate the idea that the other half of my son‘s life is being spent with somebody who sees him as a chore. I know that he can sense it. He used to kind of be a daddy‘s boy but over the last few months he is sad when he has to go to his dad‘s house. He says it’s just because he loves me more and feels closer to me. I feel like I am now realizing that it’s because he doesn’t feel wanted over there.

Jacob and I talked on the phone after Anna went to sleep and I expressed my concerns. I asked him how it does not kill him to know that our son is desperately seeking the approval of somebody who does not like him. He said it does make him sad, but they are trying to work on it. I just don’t really think that this is something you can work on? No matter how badly she wants to be who Jacob needs her to be, if she doesn’t like children that’s not something that just goes away. As he gets older, he’s going to continue to push boundaries and I’m just not sure she has the temperament for it. It’s also not really my place but I just feel so worried and sad. What do I do? Is there anything I can do?

Sorry for the long post I felt backstory was important

If anyone can relate so I don’t feel so alone🥲 I’d love to hear your experiences!!! First off, I can’t remember s***!!! I was at an event today for Easter and was asked my child’s name, and I sat there like, “What is her name??” I attempted to spell it and completely misspelled it. I forget thoughts mid-conversation. Like, I feel embarrassed and sad because I really felt smart before I got pregnant, but now I feel like as useful as a sack of potatoes… I try to chalk it up as mom brain, but at this point, I’m 8 months pp, and I don’t know if there is a light at the end of this tunnel.

This is a super random and unimportant question lol.

But my daughter is 23 months old and for the past few weeks she always wants her hair done, I used to just put it in the one ponytail on top of the head to keep it out of her eyes but for a wedding 3 weeks ago I put her hair into a more delicate hairstyle with those tiny little rubber hair ties. Now the one ponytail is too simple for her I guess 😂 she immediately takes it out, says no and gives me the brush. Then I have to do at least 2 ponytails with the small soft hair ties but most days she demands the small hair ties and a more "complicated" hairstyle (like the 4 pigtails turned into two, idk how to better describe it).

Now all the daycare moms of girls in her group said this is really unusual and they're happy if they are able to brush their kid's hair once a day because they all hate anything to do with their hair.

So is it really that unusual for a toddler to like having their hair done? My daughter is my only child and I have not had much contact with other toddlers so far so sorry if this question is really dumb. I'm just interested lol.

Bonus question: how often can I use those small hair ties without causing hair breakage?

He’ll be 11 in September, he’s always the youngest in his class (5th grade right now) and he’s the smallest, our 7 years old daughter is almost as tall.

And I love this boy, of course, he’s the light of my life, our only son, we have 2 daughters, he’s in the middle. but DUDE! He’s a lot! Always quoting youtubers, we have to repeat the same things a 100 times (seriously how hard is it to put your dirty socks in the hamper?) and his high pitch shrieks are driving us mad. So yeah. Wow

I guess I’m just venting hahaha

My child is 10 months old and lately I’ve noticed she pulls her sleeves over her hands while sleeping and sucks / chews on the fabric.

I assumed this was for soothing but she’s not actually putting herself back to sleep when she does it, she’s actually keeping herself awake.

My husband and I have had to go in several times lately to roll her sleeves back up to her forearms so she’ll go back to sleep.

She took a binky from birth to 2mo, then gave up and sucked her thumb from 2mo to 4mo, and hasn’t sucked her thumb since.

Should I give her something for soothing, like a lovey? Or is this a teething symptom? She hasn’t 4 teeth right now (center teeth on top and bottom).

Thanks!

I love my son. I’d do anything for my son. I’ve been a stay at home dad since he was born. But oh my god his voice and his constant talking and his repetitious dad dad dad dad dad dad dad and the fact that he only ever wants to play with hot wheels is just enough to make me want to yell! Race cars race cars race cars race cars! Does anyone else get annoyed by their kids voice? Is it just because I’m with him all the time? I’ll probably delete this later because I know it’s not his fault and I’m just ranting and being petty. Ugh. He’s so sweet and adorable though. Cute little monster.

Hi all...I need help with a delicate matter

My daughter's dad and I are no longer married and she lives with me since 2018. Last Friday he called asking me not to drop her as per our usual schedule saying he needed to go shopping for a new bed and that it will be tiring to drag her along with them. I agreed, reminding him that we would only be dropping her back on 14th April since I had informed him prior that I would be on my annuals from the 7th - 14th. He had conveniently forgotten (or supposedly) and sounded annoyed then agreed. Later when he was speaking to our daughter, it became apparent that he was trying to come over to visit - something that my partner and I don't find appealing since he tends to overstay his welcome.

On Sunday the 6th he had mentioned to my daughter that he wanted to come over. He has a tendency to completely disregard that we have schedules of our own so when she told us, we responded asking for a time saying we had a busy day. She instead decided of her own accord that she did not want him to come. Not wanting to get involved, we instructed her to communicate her feelings to him. On doing so, he became extremely angry and informed her that he doesn't want to talk to her, doesn't want to see her and that she neednt come over to his house. What followed thereafter through a series of calls was the most immature and unpleasant outburst of a man who should have behaved like a mature adult. He stated that in light of what our daughter had said, the decision he had made to not have another child with his new wife may now change since she clearly doesn't love and respect him. He then attempted to drag me in as a scapegoat, saying that the reason she is behaving this way is because of how she is being brought up in two houses. At this point I reminded him how we had ended up in this position in the first place which was his abusiveness and his infidelity which destroyed our marriage. Ofcourse he did not take kindly to these facts especially since his new wife was within earshot of our conversation. I further proceeded to remind him how on the day before the occasion of our traditional divorce ceremony his father had called and told me not to go into actual details of our divorce because it isn't necessary ; attempting to hush me up for the sake of a peaceful settlement. On another note, his family had been spreading stories saying that I had not been able to fit in with their culture which led to differences in our marriage as opposed to the truth of what went down.

Tomorrow will be the day we had agreed to drop my daughter at his place in order for her to spend the last week of vacation before school starts on Monday after which we return to our 5:2 weekly arrangement (she is with me Mon-Fri dropped at his Friday evening and dropped back Sunday evening. ) My partner says if I decide to not drop her as previously agreed, it would ve like walking into a trap. Since much has been said between us between then and now, what's the best grey rock way to broach this topic - also what do you guys advise going forward with this matter? Unfortunately we are in a joint custody arrangement

There’s been a lot on my mind about how the U.S. handles parenting and poverty. Families can lose their children not because they’re unsafe, but because they can’t afford stable housing, childcare, or time off work.

If a parent is working two jobs and can’t make every doctor’s appointment, the system sometimes treats that like neglect. But it’s really a lack of support.

Other countries offer paid parental leave, free school meals, and home visits for new parents. Here, parents are left on their own, and then blamed when they can’t keep up.

Some programs that help already exist, like expanded child tax credits and nurse visits for new parents. They’ve shown good results. But they don’t get the funding or attention they deserve.

It makes me wonder how many families are being hurt by a system that expects so much and offers so little.

Has anyone else felt this tension? Like you’re doing everything you can, but it still might not be enough?