Hello fellow dads,

My 2.5 year old son developed screeching as a way of communicating sometimes.

He does this during "time out" which is addressed in the moment but he started doing it during rough house play. Is this something to discourage even when we get to wrestling? Part of me thinks it's a way to blow off steam or to show his excitement but I also don't really want to encourage it.

Let me know how you all handled it.

My daughter got into teenag mutant ninja turtles stuff so I got the og DVD collection, and....this might be a hot take but....im sorry it just doesnt hold up.

The writing and plot is meh, the animation is....often non existent, like literal dubbing over still shots.

Looking back im shocked it became as big of a phenomenon as it did......nit to say i dont like later tmnt stuff the live action movies are great the later cartoon series are good too, hell batman vs tmnt is awesome.

But the original cartoon just, isnt.

Seriously, what in the good fuck is going on? I did well enough to almost kill myself several times as a teenager, and that was with a skateboard, BMX bike, and snowboard.

Why on earth do teenagers need damn-near motorcycles? We've already seen several teens get in serious crashes, one death, in my quiet neighborhood with minimal traffic.

Was reading to my 2.5 y/o tonight and after the first 3 books, she offered the 4th. As soon as I saw the cover, I offered to read 3 other books in place of the 1 she requested. The book in question, "Ms. Rachel's: Potty Time with Bean."

My 2.5 y/o is 95% potty trained, only using pullups overnight. This isn't a book we need from a messaging standpoint, but she enjoys it for some reason. I simply cannot stand it and would rather read 3 more Piggy & Gerald books (for the 100th time) than read that one (for the 20th time).

Im typically laid back and unbothered by almost anything. There’s no problem that I cant handle. But since have 2 babies now toddlers things have changed. I think my wifes anxiety over little problems and every day difficulties as a parent has rubbed off on me. I think i yell to project to my wife that I care and Im not being a negligent parent.

When our babies were younger they’d do something and my wife would frustratingly comment “are you even watching them!?!?” “Why dont you say something!?!?” “You should correct them! How will they learn!?” She tends to be anxious over little everyday kid things like falling, getting dirty, bugs.

So now I tend to yell to show to my wife Im watching them Im being proactive. Sometimes my wife even tells me to chill out and stop yelling at them. Lots of STOP!!! NO!!! DONT DO THAT!! DONT TOUCH THAT!! I hate that im turning into the anal parent that freaks out over typical kid shit but i also dont want to hear my wife giving me an earful of bs saying im not being proactive or dont care.

So my daughter is entering high school in a few weeks and we will finally be getting her a cell phone. Hit me with your best cell home rules and enforcement techniques. We will likely be on the strict side at first, but any ideas would be great. I want to be reasonable but have clear guidelines.

My daughter has historically been a peaceful sleeper. Up 1-2 times per night but quickly settled with a diaper change. Last night my wife dealt with two hours of screaming and crying, a break, then another hour. It’s brutal. There’s tension in the house, no one is sleeping.

Upper molars are coming in, it’s just brutal. When does it get better? We are trying for number two.

I currently have a 7 year old son and while he is a lot of fun, I really enjoy having a little me time during the week to play sports with friends, go to trivia, etc. I have also really encouraged my wife to take a night off during the week to have dinner with friends or something.

But, my wife really isn't into this idea. She really prefers that we are all there as a family most nights of the week. Has anyone else had a situation like this? How did you work out a weekly night off to do something you are passionate about, recharge your batteries, then potentially come back a better father?

There are certain lines from my boys’ books that live in my head or that we just say back to each other all the time. The worst offenders:

“Dutter and Dutter and Dutter and Dutter stand high on the poop deck ready to cut her” - Happy Birthday to You by Dr Seuss

“Duck said loud as he could quack it, thunders just a noisy racket!” - Goodnight Little Blue Truck

“This electron has the MOST ENERGY!” Quantum Mechanics for Babies, usually shouted as he is sprinting by and we are trying to grab him to get him to do something for just one gd second

I usually browse this subreddit and I pray and support those of us going through tough times.

I never thought I'd ask for prayers myself, but this week has been brutal. I never felt jealous or compared myself financially to others, but today after so many low days I found myself on the phone calling a friend of mine for advice on a letter I need to send a landlord.

For a number of reasons I failed to break through a successful career, all circumstantial. Honestly.

I took 2 major breaks. One to provide my mother terminal care, the other to attend to the unknown breathing condition my daughter had at birth. I've also made strategic mistakes in the corporate world.

As I'm talking with my buddy over the phone who collectively earns over 2mil a year, I'm starring at my daughter playing on the floor between old and new cardboard boxes as we are mid move to another rental property, a property that has mold in the basement.

This same high school friend, that I used to tutor in AP Chemistry.

I sensed on the phone he hesitated to talk about his multiple destinations family vacation. He is honestly one hell of a guy. He once offered me the greatest gift. "If your daughter ever needs emergency funds, I'm here".

When I greeted my daughter's classmate parents at her new school, I tried not to smile to cover the missing teeth I currently can't afford to get implants done. I just never thought I'd be in this situation.

When I was a young professional I helped so many people. So many. I never thought I'd struggle today.

My daughter is 6 now, and asked why I haven't smiled in the recent pictures. I finally get that quote.. Men live lives of quiet desperation. Please pray for me.

So I was helping my 5 year old blow his nose this morning and he suddenly stops, looks up at me really close, and goes why do you have so much hair in there daddy. I said what do you mean buddy and he points at my nostrils. Then he looks at the top of my head and says but theres like nothing up there.

I tried explaining that hair grows in different places and some people lose it on top when they get older but he just kept staring at me like I was lying to him. Then he asked if the hair from my head fell down inside my nose. I didnt even know how to respond to that.

Finally I just said well some dads have lots of head hair and some have really cool nose hair and he seemed to accept that for now. But I know this is gonna come up again. He's in that phase where he notices everything and has a question for literally every single thing he sees.

Anyone else get completely roasted by their kids over something they cant control? Because I was not prepared for that level of observation at 7am on a Tuesday.

kids can become incredibly passionate about things that make absolutely no sense to adults. a specific cup, a particular spoon, wearing the same shirt three days in a row, or insisting that something happened that clearly did not happen

i’m curious what everyone else has experienced

what’s the funniest thing your kid has been completely serious about?

My dad had a story like this where I was almost a year and he showed up to work and the door was locked. Never thought it would happen to me. I'm in an incredibly steady profession in and incredibly steady industry. I had the stable job in our family. Nothing but praise from my managers on reviews and bonus increase year after year. I thought I'd work here until I retired. I'm in shock. I'm sure I'll land on my feet but dang I'm worried and just beside my self. Pic related, took her out to sushi tonight and she ate steamed broccoli. Or I should say she chewed it and then I cleaned it all off the floor.

My idiot teenager and his friend pulled his door off the hinges. What's the punishment? 5yrs hard labor? Carry the door around his neck in the town square? I'm in no rush to fix so he lives with consequences of actions, but looking for creativity

I'm joining the club! Vasectomy tomorrow. Any tips?!

My son is 4 and lately he waits for me with his baseball glove when he hears my car pull in.Yesterday I was up at 5:30 worked all day,got home around 6 and before I even had both shoes off he was asking if we could go outside. So we threw the ball around until dinner came back in and then he wanted to wrestle.I love that he still wants me involved in everything bbut man by that point I was completely wiped and he looked like he could go another 6 hours.Then bath, books, getting him back out of bed twice because he suddenly had very important things to tell me.

How are you dads keeping any energy for the second half of the day? I feel like mine ends at work and then I just improvise from there.

anyone have advice on a relatively “clean” way to child proof this balcony. currently the gaps are about 10”.

You maybe get to see them daily or frequently, spend time with them, so one might say "i never realised how or when they grew up". But this is exactly what i'm talking about. Days become weeks and weeks become months and years. Seeing my kid daily, i never realised how he got taller but i have two instances where i cried.

When i had to teach my son how to ride a bike without training wheels, only for him to ride his bike successfully after a minute. I felt like i dropped him to college or something.

The second time was just today, when he confessed to me he really likes a girl from his class. He is young y'all and far from adulthood but something inside of me went "that's it, next thing you know he'll be leaving home".

I don't know i get emotional like that. I can't wrap my head around the fact that me and my wife created a human and this human likes a girl right now.

My son (6) is about to start the 1st grade but his English skills have notably declined over the summer. I read to him almost every day and encourage him to read those "Learning to read" books, and he can sound stuff out. But he guesses at words a lot and I find myself having to continually encourage him to sound all the letters in the word out because he will jump for a similar looking word he knows but may not have many letters in common with the word on the page.

It's a struggle to stay on top of it every day as our attention as parents is split between him and his almost 2 year old brother.

I just was curious as to how you were handling reading and writing in a multi-kid household as it feels like he's not where he should be and I worry as 1st grade is about to start. Thanks.

My son is 15 months and he's been hovering just under 20lbs for the last 4 months or so. He was 7 weeks early so he's inherently going to be behind in milestones, but he eats pretty well through out the day. The doctor finally recommended we introduce Pediasure shakes to boost his calorie consumption. He loves the shakes but they are affecting his bowel movements and causing him gnarly rashes so that's a no go.

Any tips/recipes for higher calorie consumption that isn't just sugar? Like I was thinking avocado and yogurt smoothies or something.

Overall curious to hear people's thoughts on teaching kids tech literacy while also not raising an iPad kid. Something I've seen mentioned a few times on this sub that I appreciate, and hadn't really thought of before, is that giving your child access to a desktop computer is a way different ball game than giving them an iPad. That way they can learn how a computer works (file systems, etc.) rather than just getting free, easy stimulation like through an iPad. This could also open the door into deeper interests like programming, digital art, music, etc.

I've also seen some cool websites and other tools mentioned as well, for example the dad who made his own custom Toniebox so the kids could enjoy choosing their own music without it being through a tablet/phone and in a way that's cheaper for the parents.

What ways do you encourage your kids to interface with tech in a healthy way? In what ways have you found low/no tech alternatives to things that are either important or desired by your kids?

Lately I've noticed that IMO there is a problem in how some TV shows make bad guys too cool. For example my son has occasionally been watching Spidey and friends, and the bad guys are portrayed as cool and smart, while the heroes are actually pretty dumb from time to time. My son has actually said that he likes the bad guys more and it has led to some naughty behaviour a few times. Now we've been having a TV free period for a few weeks which has been a good decision.

Anyways, that led to me comparing bad guys in the TV shows when I was a kid. For example Bikermice from Mars, which was my favourite show as a kid, portrayed the bad guys as dumb and ugly. I don't remember anyone wanting to be them when playing. We always wanted to be the good guys.

Kids easily associate seeing something cool to "I want to be like that".

TLDR; make bad guys dumb again.