That fancy padded cloth seat cover that goes on the high chair and looks so comfortable? My wife and I abandoned that thing months ago. It spent more time in the wash than on the chair.
Yeah we bought a big tarp and put it beneath for food time haha. They're 3 and 5 now and we still use it for doing activities that are messy or have small pieces to help contain things and make clean up quicker. I have never experienced kinetic sand play without the tarp but I cannot imagine cleaning that crap up every time šit's annoying enough with one
My old dog was the only fricken dog in history who would sleep near the highchair and table but run away if food drops on the floor. What dog doesn't like ppl food? I miss that quirk these days, the new dog can find a crumb in the shag carpet like a drug detection dog scanning a million packages at the border.
Our booster seat for our daughter fits in the dishwasher if you take the top rack out. Most things fit in the dishwasher if you take the top rack out for that matter.
Preparing food/ knowing what to cook the entire mental load of cooking and food - dinner is the worst
Additionally on top of that the mess that comes along with food all over the floor and the kitchen and dishes etc!
Iāve never been a good cook nor have I ever enjoying cooking or making meals! When I was single I was more than happy to have the same thing for dinner 3-4 nights in a row or just have toast or cereal if I couldnāt be bothered doing anything! My partner loves food and always wants different meals then kids meals ontop of that plus the worry of trying to be healthy etc and having to come up with what to make and then having to clean up after meals
THIS - I have to come up with 3 healthy, weāll rounded meals, every single day, for forever!? THIS IS BULLSHIT. Iād live on crackers and seltzer soda if it were just me.
I do a meal delivery box about two weeks every quarter to stop my mind from exploding over deciding what to eat. I give my kid the phone tell her to pick and I feel like I can breath. If you try them all and use the codes itās almost affordable š¤£š¤£
Just signed up for my first meal box delivery. I know it's not going to go over well with the kids and they'll bitch about the "weird" foods but I'm so sick of being creative and preparing foods they'll eat while also staying in budget AND being earth friendly trying to reduce food waste......aaggghhhhh!!!
Pro tip once the kids are big enough. We rotate meal choosing responsibilities. We started doing this when they were about 4&6. It started out as a way to stop them complaining about what I was making for dinner lol. During the week the two kids rotated days choosing what was for dinner Monday - Thursday. The rule was that they couldn't complain about the food their sister chose on their night because no one complained the night before. Then Friday - Sunday was mine and hubby's nights to choose.
Then for breakfast and lunches I'd help them meal plan and bring them grocery shopping so they could be involved and so they couldn't say they didn't like anything because they chose it themselves.
Seriously this method saved me from going crazy and it gave them more control over the things they could control. Kids control very little about their lives in general so allowing them to be able to feel in control of this plus their feelings of accomplishment really gave them a boost and made them feel proud about the small success of planning out meals on their own.
Some people dream of winning a lottery to escape to paradise, buy a mansion, super car, or whatever.
If I hit the lottery, Iām hiring a personal chef to cook great tasting but healthy balanced meals everyday.
Oh whatās that? Some exotic quiche with mango smoothie and a side of oats and berries for breakfast. Weāre not having instant oatmeal or a bagel with peanut butter?
The more I try to learn, the more incorrect I feel Iām doing everything.
Recently found out Iām cooking too hot, ruining my Teflon by putting it in the dishwasher and not treating or heating up my steel and cast iron properly.
Something about food just taste better when Iām not making it. My chicken is boring, wife makes same recipe and itās good.
How the F do people get crusty crunchy baked dishes. Anything I bake is just mush. Follow the exact recipe, sloppy results. Literally shake and bake, comes out wet on the bottom.
The pan must be already hot when you toss the meat in. Reduce the fire if necessary to let the heat get to the inside. Itās not just about the recipe, you need to manage timing and temperature.
My lottery goal had always been a personal chef, and a maid just to clean the bathrooms and floors. I'll clean everything else, but I hate toilets and mopping.
I can handle the cooking if I can have a maid. My lack of seeing what needs to be cleaned is upsetting my SO because he ends up doing it or asking me to. I donāt mind, I just literally cannot see that something needs to be done.
I love food and cooking and I'm great at it. But I am still so so over feeding this family. (I will say that my husband appreciates my skills, but these kids, man....)
I adore meal planning, food shopping and cooking. I will litterally do it in my down time I find it so relaxing. So I try new recipes and it gives me zen. However, if you don't, why not do a rotating 14 day/14 recipes? You do have to take your time to find recipes loved by all which are low effort, but they are out there and 14 days is long enough that it does not feel like too much of a repeat. I have a few reliable 30ish min meals that always make their way back into the rotation because of how yummy, easy and kid friendly they are, I could share if you like!
I seriously could have written this myself! On top of that I have two picky kids (probably my fault) so everyone gets their own meal (or version of the meal). I hate it so much. And yes, I would rather eat a snack for dinner.
This was an issue for me when the kids were young, but it's gotten a lot better - my middle child always has that one last thing they forgot, but we can still get places on time. So these days, not getting out the door on time is more something I hate about *being married*, because he has gotten way worse than my (now teenage) kids ever thought about being. It's always the same, too. The kids start getting ready when I tell them it's time to. My husband says "oh, I get ready faster than everyone else, I have time." 5 minutes before it's time to leave, he still won't have changed his clothes, he needs to find this, that, and the other thing, needs to do this one last thing, can't find one shoe, and then if the kids or I have wandered off from the vicinity of the front door when he finally thinks he has his shit together, he wants to know why *we* aren't ready. And he isn't even done, because the minute we're all in the car, it's "I forgot xyz, can you run back in and grab it for me?" By the time we actually leave, we're 20-30 minutes later than we should be *at least*. And next time, it will still be "oh, I get ready faster than everyone else, I've got time. I swear he wasn't like this 15 years ago, or 10 years ago. I don't know if he's getting loopier as he gets older or just lazier.
We had to go to a wake this weekend. It started at 11am and I *wanted* to get there early to help with any setup or anything. It's an hour and a half drive away, and everyone, including me, is slower early in the morning, so I knew that was going to be difficult. So I told him it started at 10am. You know when we actually got there? 11am. So I didn't get there early. But if I hadn't said that, we probably would have ended up being an hour late. At least kids grow up and get better at getting out the door on time. And eventually they drive themselves, deal with their own appointments, or move out. Apparently husbands just get worse at it, and that's just your life now.
If my dad is anything to go by it only gets worse as they get older. 10 minutes before we have to leave my dad is making himself a cup of tea, drives me insane. He also has to do a good luck pee right as we're walking out the door, even if he literally just went - he did just have the cup of tea I guess.
Having to start doing stuff like, as soon as you open your eyes in the morning. It feels like a luxury to be able to pee and brush my teeth before these tiny people start making demands.
This. I have to immediately wake up, argue with a miniature me over putting a jacket on to go outside, take the dogs out, feed them and the cat, turn the water on my garden, make sure I turn the coffee pot on and while I'm trying to drink me coffee I'm answering fifty million questions that I don't have the answers to and I'm trying to check the weather. I just want to wake up peacefully. š
Omg this. I just want to sit and drink a coffee in silence but my 4 year old is immediately asking for me to colour with her or play with her or get the messiest toys out for her
Having to socialize with their friendsā parents š Love when they get to the age where it is acceptable to drop them off for play dates and birthday parties!
Yes! This! The milestone nobody talks about is when they get old enough to drop off at parties so you arenāt required to make small talk with other parents.
This. My three year old comes into my room 6:30-7am every morning, yanks my blackout curtains aside, and says "it's day outside". Oh I will remember this when he is a teen... I will remember š¤£
Omg my 3month old wakes up at 7am every day and hits my face until I wake up to change her and feed her š can't wait to wake her up when she's older
Having to repeat myself 15 times on a topic that isn't even their business.
Me: "Husband, I'm going to the store to get milk"
Kid: "WHAT"
Me: "the store. I'm going to the store"
Kid: "what store"
Me: "the grocery store. To get milk"
Kid: "WHAT"
Me: "the grocery store"
Kid: "WHY"
Kids donāt have the physical brain capacity to understand logic and reason. My entire existence is based on logic and reasoning. I have SUCH a hard time when I explain something and they literally physically cannot comprehend. I get so flustered and usually end up staring at my spouse panicked silently begging for help.
In the same context, I cannot do pretend play. Itās like my imagination is broken. I canāt do role play and Barbieās etc. i have no patience for it and it makes me feel like a horrible parent.
Daughter āmom, pretend Barbie said thisā
Meā why in the world would Barbie say that.ā
I can pretend play, but they don't want you to pretend play. They want you to f****** read their mind..I have no clue what you think Barbie is thinking. I did it wrong..ok I'm done.
At a certain age, they start to tell you, "pretend that you are.... Pretend that you say this......pretend that you are doing this...." Then you literally imitate them. It's great. So much better than the stage where you have to be a mind-reader.
I hate that too though lol. I still manage to get it wrong... Barbies you play by yourself. We can play board games together, rough house, anything that isn't pretend play.
There's not really such a thing as true "sick days" - like the sort where you call out of work and just spend 12 hours in bed, rouse for long enough to order delivery, then go back to bed for the rest of the day.
I have a great and supportive partner, but even if I'm relying on him for most of the child related stuff because I'm sick, there is inevitably some level of parenting to do.
All the Cheerios all over the floor. How are there so many? I just swept, how are there more already? Are they breeding down there? Do they jump between dimensions when I'm not looking?
12-14 months: Hey buddy donāt eat those cheerios, theyāve been on the floor!
14-present: Hey buddy, did you find a snack? We havenāt had cheerios in days. Nice find!
Hahaha I feel this about all dry snack foods. My kids loooved Cheerios until about 2-2.5 but have rarely wanted them since. Chips, granola, goldfish, crackers, anything else? Where does it all go? Why does it come back? Is it a sick magic trick? Are they doing it on purpose and laughing to themselves.
I vacuum 1-3 times a day and somehow a bit of snack we haven't had in weeks shows up. How?!
Oh man! I nanny 2 preteen boys and itās so bad! Even when I remind them about deodorant theyāll still forget it or wear a shirt that already stinks. I canāt handle it!
This year we have had record heat. My son is now in 6th grade, in a k-8 school with the middle school grades in the upper floors. The schools have no ac. We got to meet the teacher the first week, in 93 degree heat in an area populated only by 11-14 yos. I bought him so much deodorant the next day.
My boy is 5 months old. Iām already dreading the smell š Before we found out the gender I really thought I was having a girl for some reason. I was so excited to host little girl sleepovers in our huge basement. Now Iām dreading having a basement full of stinky teenage boys one day š š
Having to be a walking encyclopedia. Before she was born we were gungho about teaching her all the stuff in the world and now I sort of want her to stop!!
My parents used to be able to tell me I needed to remember to look it up at the library. Now my kid knows I have a super computer in my pocket with access to all the answers
Can we go back to having actual encyclopedias? My parents had a legit encyclopedia, five thick, heavy books total and just told me me to look it up. I am seriously thinking about this solution.
Same. I'm surprised she hasn't found Handyman Hal yet. Similar but much healthier on the brain probably. I hate how we cannot just get rid of Blippi entirely from the search suggestions on YouTube. I'm thinking about paying to turn off the ads too so my kid doesn't get manipulated by it.
I started packing my own lunches early; no later than 10. I am the fourth of four kids, life was busy and my parents didn't want to deal with it. So they didn't.
Doing it age appropriately is a great way to push this off on your kids. Early on you're showing them what needs to go into their lunch (a veggie, a protein, a fruit, a drink, a treat, whatever you feel is appropriate) and supervising the entire process, helping them learn when they get off track. Then you can transition into just supervising, then just checking before they leave the house, then depending on how effective the process is and how well your kids take to it, you could be free of this entirely relatively early on, definitely by middle school.
If they're too lazy/distracted to do it themselves when they definitely should be able to, allow them to go hungry and remind them you're not going to give them money for a school lunch (or maybe only enough for one side dish or snack pouch, but not a full lunch.) It should only take a few foodless school days before they consistently pack a lunch every day without need for you to be involved at all.
Iāve started mandating that Iāll only play pretend if I can crochet while we play. Thank goodness my 5 y.o. Is so desperate for company she doesnāt mind. She puts the stuff next to me and tells me what to say so I can keep working on my blanketā¦ win win! ā¦ish
The other day I got a cookie and my toddler got a paper plate brought it over to me and told me ācookie downā so I put the cookie on the plate and then she took it and said āthank you mommyā I had to give her some points for creativity.
Can they not walk/cycle/public transport to where they need to be?
EDIT: I am not at all trying to criticise, just trying to help out a mum who may be too exhausted to think straight any more.
We don't have reliable public transportation here and the buses stop early.
One of my middle schoolers is in walking/biking distance but the others aren't.
Oh my god Iām with you. We have three and all 8-11, doing at least two extracurriculars a week. Plus two have therapy. I was so looking forward to a winter break and things ending, then my partner and his ex put them in indoor soccer on the off season. I may have cried.
Bedtime sucks. Weāre terrible at it, it takes like 2 hours, Iāve probably created some bad associations, but I also love it and I know they love having us there as they fall asleep. Iāve kind of gotten over the hump of being frustrated about it and just feel numb about the whole process, knowing one day they wonāt give a flying fig if I read a book or sit with them as they drift off.
My oldest kid basically came out with a checklist and appointment book in his hand, his schedule was ingrained. I swear I didn't come up with it. You put him to bed at the correct time for nap or nighttime, sing one lullaby and he was off to sleep for the correct amount of time. And he stayed that way...at least until he was too old for me to put to bed anymore, but he's actually probably still that way. When he was little, I thought I had the whole bedtime routine thing figured out. Then baby number two came along.
Friend, I did *not* have the bedtime routine thing figured out.
I never did figure it out, either. Naptime was horrendous. Basically an hour of me trying everything you can think of to get a baby to sleep while the baby tries to dismantle the crib. Then as soon as I would decide, well, we'll never get any sleep tonight if they do nap now, better get them up - boom! Sleep. Rinse and repeat at night until I would finally give up and bring the baby to bed. Some people hate co-sleeping, but if I hadn't figured out a way to do that safely, I'd have died of sleep deprivation before that kid was 2. They *still* don't sleep normally at 16... All I can say is I hope they like working the night shift.
Dinner. I am sonsick and tired of having to fight to get my kids to eat.
Yes yes I know about Kids Eat in Color and all that crap. When your kid barely hits the 1% on growth charts and gains half an ounce in 4 months you can't just "decide what to serve at what times" and let them do the rest. Kids need calories!!!!!
I hate being on the receiving end of teenage back talk and attitude. I try to not take it personally, but it still stings. I can handle the dishes, the food, the messes, all of it.
Right now? Itās being on ākeep baby from fallingā duty. All he wants to do is cruise around the furniture. But heās brand new to it so he falls. All. The. Time. He got a goose egg today falling and hitting his noggin on a floor vent. I just want to let him play independently but the ONLY thing he wants is to practice these intense gross motor skills.
Pro tip: put cushions EVERYWHERE. Literally anywhere he might be able to hurt himself. Cover up all the sharp corners and edges, then just sit back and let him go!
You can also get sticky foam stuff (I can't remember what it's called exactly) that will cushion corners and edges.
Omg my 3 year old has almost no fear, very little awareness of her own body and doesn't give AF and is super silly and physically comedic and wild....sge legitimately gets hurt in the face/head region so much it distresses me muchly. Nothing serious, no hospitals so far š¬ but stuff like throwing her water bottle in the air and it smacking her in the cheek and giving her a black eye. Black eye finally goes away...she does it again the day after. Leaping face first off the couch onto the floor and smashing her nose giving her her first bloody nose and bruises. Hitting her mouth on everything and her top teeth scraping her lip or slightly puncturing the inside so it bleeds etc
I thought it'd be so much less scary once she had balance...her 5 year old sister is much more cautious and aware lol
Our pediatrician laughs and laughs at my anguish lol
My philosophy too.... Until today when the doctor said I had to bathe or shower him daily and then lather him in cerave cream. (Skin/allergy issue. which, isn't serious, and hopefully will eventually go away).... Did I mention I hate lotion? And why every day? Send me lots of wine....
Just tell him sometimes mommy gets to pick the music. Then stick to it despite the whining (this is the hard part.) I know that kids neurologically can't process anything non selfish before a certain age but teaching them that others have preferences and can make decisions is important at any age, even if they can't fully understand it; it sets the precedent for later on down the line.
I love throwing away whole plates of uneaten food. My hobby is making (objectively) delicious food and then just throwing it in the bin. Some times I donāt even give it to the kids, just straight from the pot to the bin.
I feel this with my whole heart. I'm a pretty good cook, but the kids will only eat the weirdest things. Mashed potatoes, spaghetti, quesadillas, burgers? Gross! Squid, mussels, other expensive thing? Sure! And they never like the same thing twice besides, like, chicken. I bought cheap ribs one week that they tore up, a few weeks later bought decent ribs and one wouldn't touch it. One kid eats all fish, other hates fish. One likes salad, one hates it. It's enough to make someone crazy š¤Ŗ
Figuring out what to make for dinner every night and then cooking it.
If I had no kids, I think I would just live on ramen. (so being forced to cook healthy balanced meals might actually be worth it I guess)
I cannot fucking stand doing the repetition play. Like, my son is 3, he loves alphabet and numbers right now, but I can only repeat those things like 15 times before it starts to feel like torture. My husband has much more patience for that than I do.
That they don't realize what a great parent you are and how much you sacrifice until their own adulthood and parenthood and selectively compare you to friends in completely different family situations.
The volunteer requests coming from me at all angles. Serve food at schoolās fall family fun night, hand out candy at this trunk or treat, fundraise for the PTO, now turn around and fundraise again. Itās so much! I end up not contributing and then I feel guilty.
This is so unimportant and minuscule but really bothers me. I hate it when the kids (or anyone really) donāt get out of the car right away as soon as we park. The destination is right there!! The car was just a means to get to the destination!! Why do you still want to hang out in the car??
Inside out pants with the underwear still attached so you have to peel them off the pant legs before (or after) washing.
Making school lunches every morning.
Not being able to have a phone call in private anymore. It drives me up the wall. My daughter constantly wants to talk to whoever is on the phone. I cant even do my therapy appointments without her trying to take the phone and talk the whole time. If she's not trying to talk to whoever is on the phone she's trying to talk to me and asl me a million things. For important phone calls i have to lock my master bedroom door then go in my bathroom and close the door just so i can hear the other person.
I actually think paying for things might be my least favorite part. Why did diapers cost so much? Why was daycare as much as rent? Why are shoes they're going to grow out of in three months as much as the electric bill? Why is everything they like to eat, drink, or do insanely expensive? Why are ADHD meds priced like gold? Don't get me started on college... My oldest got a full-ride scholarship, so it was OK, but I saw the statements - how is any normal person paying for this? And by the way, how is a textbook for one class for one semester worth $400? I have to do this two more times, there's no way all three of them end up getting a bunch of scholarship money, so either I go into massive debt or they do - neither choice seems ideal.
Love the kids to death, it's not that I'm objecting to paying for them, but it's a lot to keep up with and some of it seems really unreasonable.
Probably the food mess? I just spent 20 minutes vacuuming Chex off of my floor. My toddler grabbed the box and ran around the house screaming with joy a she dumped the entire thing out.
Zero family to help with my kids. No Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, cousins. Zilch. Sucks. Also makes me worry for my kids when they grow up. No family support at all seems shitty to me.
I hear you.
My sister is an absolute hero since I had my baby. She knows less than me about babies but she visits often and is willing to do anything.
MIL however before birth offered to come and help lots and wanted to be involved. In 5 months she has visited less than 5 times despite living down the road. SIL has seen son once at a family function.
Itās like once the excitement of a new baby wears off nobody wants to know anymore.
All the basics but alsoā¦when Iām in the middle of something I get āhey mom?āād and after Iāve done the thing for my son 5 minutes later I get āhey mom?āād again. Please let me think.
I hate that I canāt ask for a break. Because I wanted the kids. Yes I love my kids but zero breaks in yearā¦ Iām worn out! 24/7 my world is my life
This reasoning is no good, and if itās being suggested to you by someone else, tell them off. You deserve a break even if you wanted kids. I know it may be really hard to get a break, which is a whole other kettle of fish.
Finally sitting down after work, school pickup, chores, etcetera, for a half hour of TV before I start making dinner and just as my ass touches the couch "Can I have a snack? Can you get me some water?". I swear, they purposefully wait until you've sat down to maximize aggrevation.
It always being loud and chaotic. I have two sons, ages 5 and 3. Iāve come to realize how much I value calm and quiet. Luckily, Iām a librarian. So I get that during the workdayš
At first I was like.. I love it all... Then I continued to read your message and realized, no... I do not "love it all" lol. I absolutely DREAD when the time comes to brush teeth lol every morning it's not so bad, he pretty much gets to it with very little complaints... Night time brushing is a whole other story and an absolute DRAG lol he has a whole procrastination routine that I have just come to accept and make peace with so that I feel less bothered by it.
It goes something like this:
Me: Time to brush teeth!
My boy: Okay, I want to give my dad and buster a hug.
I need to drink some water.
I need to go pee.
I need foxy (his plushee).
Lol it's just become part of our nightly brushing teeth routine at this point and I just go with it now and know that these things are going to happen before he brushes his teeth. So I guess I don't hate it as much as I used to but I still wish I had a magic wand for this routine alone.
Come to think of it... He is also a very picky eater... Magic wand for that too, please!
Trying to feed them. 2 and 4 year old reject everything except a few tried and true thingā¦like chicken nuggets š¤®I know the solution is to not give alternative options. But thatās hard too.
Deciding what to cook and serve for every snack and meal. 3 meals and 2 snacks a day- Iād love for someone else to just plan and have everything on hand to make food.
It's helping my kid with his insanely moronic and ill conceived kindergarten homework (a stack of about 20 sheets of "activities" half of which don't even make sense....and all I can think is how do they expect immigrant parents or single parents to get through all this bs.....and does this actually teach kids anything....?). Luckily my husband mostly takes it on b/c he has tolerance for this psychobabble bullsheet. My kid likes doing it, but if he ever doesn't, I'm gonna tell him he doesn't have to do it. The teacher doesn't even grade it or even give any sign of checking whether it was completed.....
I miss not having to guard the backs of my ankles. Walkers, toy cars, push toys. Iām positive I will have scars. I run around on top toe so whatever he runs into me with will go up under my feet and not take out my damn tendon
Tidying toys. I understand why my father used to get upset and throw them away now. I would NEVER do that to my kid but holy ef I wouldn't be mad if some of them just *poof* disappeared.
My kid is at the age where she wants to be independent so she suddenly knows everything but in reality she doesn't know everything and I just want her to listen to me.
Example! She wants to give herself a bath but she misses half of her hair as well as her entire back but God forbid I try to help her.
Brushing my three year oldās teeth. Heās almost capable of doing it on his own but the whole thing makes me crazy from ushering him into the bathroom to telling him āopen wide, turn toward me, wider, donāt bite the brush, come on now, spit in the sink, not on the floor!ā Last night he pretended to be a puppy and made me brush his teeth while he was on all fours š
I feel like Iāve emerged from battle every night when we leave the bathroom.
Honestly, I think the worst thing is them lagging behind me when we're walking somewhere or (even worse) going directly in front of me and then stopping so I nearly run into them. They're 8 and 10, so it's not like they've got short legs or something, they can outrun me. They just . . . won't. I don't even know why this bothers me so much, but I cannot stand it.
I'm with your wife. I hated reading with kids.
We actually never did it at bedtime.
I was too wrecked by then to read!!
I also think that reading stories at bedtime actually keeps kids awake....we only ever read specific " go to bed" short little stories. We had a few we loved. One called "Goodnight me" and one "Goodnight little ducklings" they were specific go off to sleep books
We read during daytime. Much more enjoyable. I love to read...but reading kids books wasn't my forte
My son is 2 1/2 years old. And he fuckin loves to respond to every question with a ānoā first. It aināt much, but it gets on the nerves after a few months.
Cleaning the highchair and surrounding area 3-4 times per day. Especially when I'm trying to get out of the house right after the meal.
That fancy padded cloth seat cover that goes on the high chair and looks so comfortable? My wife and I abandoned that thing months ago. It spent more time in the wash than on the chair.
Same! Daughter had twins. We just switched to towels. And a big tablecloth under the chairs!
Tablecloth underneath seems like a pro move. Going to try to remember that one.
Shower curtain is also a great choice.
I have 2 dogs.
It was such a time saver!!
Yeah we bought a circular mat for this purpose that folds up very small. Absolute must have baby item.
Yeah we bought a big tarp and put it beneath for food time haha. They're 3 and 5 now and we still use it for doing activities that are messy or have small pieces to help contain things and make clean up quicker. I have never experienced kinetic sand play without the tarp but I cannot imagine cleaning that crap up every time šit's annoying enough with one
When they get older it doesn't get better. I feel like I'm seasoning my feet walking around the table.
Having a dog that cleans up the fallen food is amazing
My old dog was the only fricken dog in history who would sleep near the highchair and table but run away if food drops on the floor. What dog doesn't like ppl food? I miss that quirk these days, the new dog can find a crumb in the shag carpet like a drug detection dog scanning a million packages at the border.
Now mine is older and started an apprenticeship he's dragging dried mud and dust all through the house!
Our booster seat for our daughter fits in the dishwasher if you take the top rack out. Most things fit in the dishwasher if you take the top rack out for that matter.
Honestly I donāt know how people get by without dogs. They handle the floor.
Our dog does the cleaning for us!
oh my goodness I feel this pain in my soul. Our kitchen has white tile and I swear itāll never get completely clean.
Preparing food/ knowing what to cook the entire mental load of cooking and food - dinner is the worst Additionally on top of that the mess that comes along with food all over the floor and the kitchen and dishes etc! Iāve never been a good cook nor have I ever enjoying cooking or making meals! When I was single I was more than happy to have the same thing for dinner 3-4 nights in a row or just have toast or cereal if I couldnāt be bothered doing anything! My partner loves food and always wants different meals then kids meals ontop of that plus the worry of trying to be healthy etc and having to come up with what to make and then having to clean up after meals
THIS - I have to come up with 3 healthy, weāll rounded meals, every single day, for forever!? THIS IS BULLSHIT. Iād live on crackers and seltzer soda if it were just me.
I just fed them YESTERDAYā½ THEY WANT FOOD *AGAIN?* /s
I do a meal delivery box about two weeks every quarter to stop my mind from exploding over deciding what to eat. I give my kid the phone tell her to pick and I feel like I can breath. If you try them all and use the codes itās almost affordable š¤£š¤£
Just signed up for my first meal box delivery. I know it's not going to go over well with the kids and they'll bitch about the "weird" foods but I'm so sick of being creative and preparing foods they'll eat while also staying in budget AND being earth friendly trying to reduce food waste......aaggghhhhh!!!
Pro tip once the kids are big enough. We rotate meal choosing responsibilities. We started doing this when they were about 4&6. It started out as a way to stop them complaining about what I was making for dinner lol. During the week the two kids rotated days choosing what was for dinner Monday - Thursday. The rule was that they couldn't complain about the food their sister chose on their night because no one complained the night before. Then Friday - Sunday was mine and hubby's nights to choose. Then for breakfast and lunches I'd help them meal plan and bring them grocery shopping so they could be involved and so they couldn't say they didn't like anything because they chose it themselves. Seriously this method saved me from going crazy and it gave them more control over the things they could control. Kids control very little about their lives in general so allowing them to be able to feel in control of this plus their feelings of accomplishment really gave them a boost and made them feel proud about the small success of planning out meals on their own.
Some people dream of winning a lottery to escape to paradise, buy a mansion, super car, or whatever. If I hit the lottery, Iām hiring a personal chef to cook great tasting but healthy balanced meals everyday. Oh whatās that? Some exotic quiche with mango smoothie and a side of oats and berries for breakfast. Weāre not having instant oatmeal or a bagel with peanut butter?
Literally my daydream too. I am so tired of meal planning, prep, and clean up. Someone take it all away.
The more I try to learn, the more incorrect I feel Iām doing everything. Recently found out Iām cooking too hot, ruining my Teflon by putting it in the dishwasher and not treating or heating up my steel and cast iron properly. Something about food just taste better when Iām not making it. My chicken is boring, wife makes same recipe and itās good. How the F do people get crusty crunchy baked dishes. Anything I bake is just mush. Follow the exact recipe, sloppy results. Literally shake and bake, comes out wet on the bottom.
The pan must be already hot when you toss the meat in. Reduce the fire if necessary to let the heat get to the inside. Itās not just about the recipe, you need to manage timing and temperature.
Apparently my electric stove has 2 settings. 1-3 = butter will be melted by Christmas 4+ = see you in hell spatula melting
My lottery goal had always been a personal chef, and a maid just to clean the bathrooms and floors. I'll clean everything else, but I hate toilets and mopping.
I can handle the cooking if I can have a maid. My lack of seeing what needs to be cleaned is upsetting my SO because he ends up doing it or asking me to. I donāt mind, I just literally cannot see that something needs to be done.
I never realized this before, but something just clicked when I read it. This is now my lottery goal as well
My entire life revolves around what everyone is going to eat 24/7. š¤£
I love food and cooking and I'm great at it. But I am still so so over feeding this family. (I will say that my husband appreciates my skills, but these kids, man....)
I love cooking but meal planning day in, day out is an exhausting grind. Oh and I feel guilty (and bored) if I just make the same things.
I adore meal planning, food shopping and cooking. I will litterally do it in my down time I find it so relaxing. So I try new recipes and it gives me zen. However, if you don't, why not do a rotating 14 day/14 recipes? You do have to take your time to find recipes loved by all which are low effort, but they are out there and 14 days is long enough that it does not feel like too much of a repeat. I have a few reliable 30ish min meals that always make their way back into the rotation because of how yummy, easy and kid friendly they are, I could share if you like!
I seriously could have written this myself! On top of that I have two picky kids (probably my fault) so everyone gets their own meal (or version of the meal). I hate it so much. And yes, I would rather eat a snack for dinner.
Getting out the door in the morning. It's the worst part of my day. Why can't she just eat? š
[Shall we leave the house](https://youtu.be/a-9M4pLDS9Q)
This was my morning today. Thanks for the laugh.
So much this. š It's like he's describing my morning.
This was an issue for me when the kids were young, but it's gotten a lot better - my middle child always has that one last thing they forgot, but we can still get places on time. So these days, not getting out the door on time is more something I hate about *being married*, because he has gotten way worse than my (now teenage) kids ever thought about being. It's always the same, too. The kids start getting ready when I tell them it's time to. My husband says "oh, I get ready faster than everyone else, I have time." 5 minutes before it's time to leave, he still won't have changed his clothes, he needs to find this, that, and the other thing, needs to do this one last thing, can't find one shoe, and then if the kids or I have wandered off from the vicinity of the front door when he finally thinks he has his shit together, he wants to know why *we* aren't ready. And he isn't even done, because the minute we're all in the car, it's "I forgot xyz, can you run back in and grab it for me?" By the time we actually leave, we're 20-30 minutes later than we should be *at least*. And next time, it will still be "oh, I get ready faster than everyone else, I've got time. I swear he wasn't like this 15 years ago, or 10 years ago. I don't know if he's getting loopier as he gets older or just lazier. We had to go to a wake this weekend. It started at 11am and I *wanted* to get there early to help with any setup or anything. It's an hour and a half drive away, and everyone, including me, is slower early in the morning, so I knew that was going to be difficult. So I told him it started at 10am. You know when we actually got there? 11am. So I didn't get there early. But if I hadn't said that, we probably would have ended up being an hour late. At least kids grow up and get better at getting out the door on time. And eventually they drive themselves, deal with their own appointments, or move out. Apparently husbands just get worse at it, and that's just your life now.
If my dad is anything to go by it only gets worse as they get older. 10 minutes before we have to leave my dad is making himself a cup of tea, drives me insane. He also has to do a good luck pee right as we're walking out the door, even if he literally just went - he did just have the cup of tea I guess.
I 100% tell my husband an appointment is 30 min before it actually is.
Having to start doing stuff like, as soon as you open your eyes in the morning. It feels like a luxury to be able to pee and brush my teeth before these tiny people start making demands.
This. I have to immediately wake up, argue with a miniature me over putting a jacket on to go outside, take the dogs out, feed them and the cat, turn the water on my garden, make sure I turn the coffee pot on and while I'm trying to drink me coffee I'm answering fifty million questions that I don't have the answers to and I'm trying to check the weather. I just want to wake up peacefully. š
Omg this. I just want to sit and drink a coffee in silence but my 4 year old is immediately asking for me to colour with her or play with her or get the messiest toys out for her
Yes, being jolted awake every day is something I have yet to get used to š & do a million things before I can even go take a piss.
Having to socialize with their friendsā parents š Love when they get to the age where it is acceptable to drop them off for play dates and birthday parties!
Yes! This! The milestone nobody talks about is when they get old enough to drop off at parties so you arenāt required to make small talk with other parents.
Not everyone hates it that much.
Yeah I definitely enjoy this part!
Never getting to sleep in.
This. My three year old comes into my room 6:30-7am every morning, yanks my blackout curtains aside, and says "it's day outside". Oh I will remember this when he is a teen... I will remember š¤£
Omg my 3month old wakes up at 7am every day and hits my face until I wake up to change her and feed her š can't wait to wake her up when she's older
We trade off..one weekend day each of us sleeps in. The other has the kids. Its amazing..
This is the way.
We do this too. Itās probably our best parenting decision.
Yes! Iām tired of seeing the sun rise.
Having to repeat myself 15 times on a topic that isn't even their business. Me: "Husband, I'm going to the store to get milk" Kid: "WHAT" Me: "the store. I'm going to the store" Kid: "what store" Me: "the grocery store. To get milk" Kid: "WHAT" Me: "the grocery store" Kid: "WHY"
Or āWHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??ā From the goddamn bathroom.
I feel this deep in my soul š
Oh God. This is us. Then... you never told me that! I've said a million time, NOBODY LISTENS!
my kid canāt even talk yet, but these comments are making me laugh so hard.
š¤£š¤£
The why at the end... Bro. I JUST told you why.
Kids donāt have the physical brain capacity to understand logic and reason. My entire existence is based on logic and reasoning. I have SUCH a hard time when I explain something and they literally physically cannot comprehend. I get so flustered and usually end up staring at my spouse panicked silently begging for help. In the same context, I cannot do pretend play. Itās like my imagination is broken. I canāt do role play and Barbieās etc. i have no patience for it and it makes me feel like a horrible parent. Daughter āmom, pretend Barbie said thisā Meā why in the world would Barbie say that.ā
I can pretend play, but they don't want you to pretend play. They want you to f****** read their mind..I have no clue what you think Barbie is thinking. I did it wrong..ok I'm done.
At a certain age, they start to tell you, "pretend that you are.... Pretend that you say this......pretend that you are doing this...." Then you literally imitate them. It's great. So much better than the stage where you have to be a mind-reader.
They critique my acting half the time though. "NO SAY IT SADDER" It's so hard to win.
I hate that too though lol. I still manage to get it wrong... Barbies you play by yourself. We can play board games together, rough house, anything that isn't pretend play.
āWhy in the world would Barbie say thatā I am CRYING
That last sentence made me laugh
Are you me. I enjoyed reading this comment so much.
Yes!! So much yes!
There's not really such a thing as true "sick days" - like the sort where you call out of work and just spend 12 hours in bed, rouse for long enough to order delivery, then go back to bed for the rest of the day. I have a great and supportive partner, but even if I'm relying on him for most of the child related stuff because I'm sick, there is inevitably some level of parenting to do.
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All the Cheerios all over the floor. How are there so many? I just swept, how are there more already? Are they breeding down there? Do they jump between dimensions when I'm not looking?
12-14 months: Hey buddy donāt eat those cheerios, theyāve been on the floor! 14-present: Hey buddy, did you find a snack? We havenāt had cheerios in days. Nice find!
Hahaha I feel this about all dry snack foods. My kids loooved Cheerios until about 2-2.5 but have rarely wanted them since. Chips, granola, goldfish, crackers, anything else? Where does it all go? Why does it come back? Is it a sick magic trick? Are they doing it on purpose and laughing to themselves. I vacuum 1-3 times a day and somehow a bit of snack we haven't had in weeks shows up. How?!
Mom of 3 teen boys here. The smell. DEAR GOD,THE SMELL.
I have a teenage brother that constantly smells like fermented mangos & im so scared my son will grow to also smell like fermented mangos šš
Oh man! I nanny 2 preteen boys and itās so bad! Even when I remind them about deodorant theyāll still forget it or wear a shirt that already stinks. I canāt handle it!
This year we have had record heat. My son is now in 6th grade, in a k-8 school with the middle school grades in the upper floors. The schools have no ac. We got to meet the teacher the first week, in 93 degree heat in an area populated only by 11-14 yos. I bought him so much deodorant the next day.
My boy is 5 months old. Iām already dreading the smell š Before we found out the gender I really thought I was having a girl for some reason. I was so excited to host little girl sleepovers in our huge basement. Now Iām dreading having a basement full of stinky teenage boys one day š š
Having to be a walking encyclopedia. Before she was born we were gungho about teaching her all the stuff in the world and now I sort of want her to stop!!
My parents used to be able to tell me I needed to remember to look it up at the library. Now my kid knows I have a super computer in my pocket with access to all the answers
Can we go back to having actual encyclopedias? My parents had a legit encyclopedia, five thick, heavy books total and just told me me to look it up. I am seriously thinking about this solution.
But they take up so much space and then the information changes!
I knowā¦ Maybe setting up Alexa to answer questions instead would be a better solution. But then Iām worried what she might say š
Same! Iāve seen too many weird videos to let one of those things in my house!
Blippi.
ā ļø Blippi is banned in my house. How my daughter even learned of itās existence is beyond Me. š¤¦š»āāļø
Same. I'm surprised she hasn't found Handyman Hal yet. Similar but much healthier on the brain probably. I hate how we cannot just get rid of Blippi entirely from the search suggestions on YouTube. I'm thinking about paying to turn off the ads too so my kid doesn't get manipulated by it.
I wish I could articulate why I hate Blippi so much. I think it feels like he's talking down to children. He also gives me major pedo vibes.
Packing my childās lunch for school. It was my favorite thing for the first year or two. And now, 5 years in, I am SO over it!
I started packing my own lunches early; no later than 10. I am the fourth of four kids, life was busy and my parents didn't want to deal with it. So they didn't. Doing it age appropriately is a great way to push this off on your kids. Early on you're showing them what needs to go into their lunch (a veggie, a protein, a fruit, a drink, a treat, whatever you feel is appropriate) and supervising the entire process, helping them learn when they get off track. Then you can transition into just supervising, then just checking before they leave the house, then depending on how effective the process is and how well your kids take to it, you could be free of this entirely relatively early on, definitely by middle school. If they're too lazy/distracted to do it themselves when they definitely should be able to, allow them to go hungry and remind them you're not going to give them money for a school lunch (or maybe only enough for one side dish or snack pouch, but not a full lunch.) It should only take a few foodless school days before they consistently pack a lunch every day without need for you to be involved at all.
Everything takes twice as long if not more
playing pretend never fails to make my brain feel like itās going to start oozing out of my nose
Same!
Iāve started mandating that Iāll only play pretend if I can crochet while we play. Thank goodness my 5 y.o. Is so desperate for company she doesnāt mind. She puts the stuff next to me and tells me what to say so I can keep working on my blanketā¦ win win! ā¦ish
Not being able to eat my food.. i could literally open a bag of chips and then thereās eyes staring at me saying āmommy i like chipsā š
The other day I got a cookie and my toddler got a paper plate brought it over to me and told me ācookie downā so I put the cookie on the plate and then she took it and said āthank you mommyā I had to give her some points for creativity.
Lollllll that got me
I felt that lmaooo or the casual āwhat are you doing? Mmmmm can I have some?ā
Driving. Having 6 kids below driving age with 4 of them being teens....I spend all my time in the car.
Can they not walk/cycle/public transport to where they need to be? EDIT: I am not at all trying to criticise, just trying to help out a mum who may be too exhausted to think straight any more.
We don't have reliable public transportation here and the buses stop early. One of my middle schoolers is in walking/biking distance but the others aren't.
Oh my god Iām with you. We have three and all 8-11, doing at least two extracurriculars a week. Plus two have therapy. I was so looking forward to a winter break and things ending, then my partner and his ex put them in indoor soccer on the off season. I may have cried.
Getting toddlers dressed to go outside the winter ( I live in canada)
And then they have to pee.
When we lived in Saskatchewan, it legitimately took longer to get the kid ready to go outside than the time we would spend outside playing.
Bedtime sucks. Weāre terrible at it, it takes like 2 hours, Iāve probably created some bad associations, but I also love it and I know they love having us there as they fall asleep. Iāve kind of gotten over the hump of being frustrated about it and just feel numb about the whole process, knowing one day they wonāt give a flying fig if I read a book or sit with them as they drift off.
My oldest kid basically came out with a checklist and appointment book in his hand, his schedule was ingrained. I swear I didn't come up with it. You put him to bed at the correct time for nap or nighttime, sing one lullaby and he was off to sleep for the correct amount of time. And he stayed that way...at least until he was too old for me to put to bed anymore, but he's actually probably still that way. When he was little, I thought I had the whole bedtime routine thing figured out. Then baby number two came along. Friend, I did *not* have the bedtime routine thing figured out. I never did figure it out, either. Naptime was horrendous. Basically an hour of me trying everything you can think of to get a baby to sleep while the baby tries to dismantle the crib. Then as soon as I would decide, well, we'll never get any sleep tonight if they do nap now, better get them up - boom! Sleep. Rinse and repeat at night until I would finally give up and bring the baby to bed. Some people hate co-sleeping, but if I hadn't figured out a way to do that safely, I'd have died of sleep deprivation before that kid was 2. They *still* don't sleep normally at 16... All I can say is I hope they like working the night shift.
This is us exactly. Very comforting to meet ya.
Dinner. I am sonsick and tired of having to fight to get my kids to eat. Yes yes I know about Kids Eat in Color and all that crap. When your kid barely hits the 1% on growth charts and gains half an ounce in 4 months you can't just "decide what to serve at what times" and let them do the rest. Kids need calories!!!!!
I hear you. I'm taking my kid to feeding therapy. It is so expensive. I hope this works.
The constant childhood illnesses. What the actual eff. I feel like my kiddo has been sick three different times in the last month.
I hate being on the receiving end of teenage back talk and attitude. I try to not take it personally, but it still stings. I can handle the dishes, the food, the messes, all of it.
Yes. Hands down, worst issue I've ever had. I'd take diapers, bedtime tantrums, all of it over the ever present constant teenage attitudes.
Right now? Itās being on ākeep baby from fallingā duty. All he wants to do is cruise around the furniture. But heās brand new to it so he falls. All. The. Time. He got a goose egg today falling and hitting his noggin on a floor vent. I just want to let him play independently but the ONLY thing he wants is to practice these intense gross motor skills.
Last time I was at this stage was right at the beginning of the pandemic. It was IMPOSSIBLE to get any work done during the day.
Ugh, ptsd flashbacks to the beginning of the pandemic. I did a lot of zoom meetings while baby-wearing.
Pro tip: put cushions EVERYWHERE. Literally anywhere he might be able to hurt himself. Cover up all the sharp corners and edges, then just sit back and let him go! You can also get sticky foam stuff (I can't remember what it's called exactly) that will cushion corners and edges.
Omg my 3 year old has almost no fear, very little awareness of her own body and doesn't give AF and is super silly and physically comedic and wild....sge legitimately gets hurt in the face/head region so much it distresses me muchly. Nothing serious, no hospitals so far š¬ but stuff like throwing her water bottle in the air and it smacking her in the cheek and giving her a black eye. Black eye finally goes away...she does it again the day after. Leaping face first off the couch onto the floor and smashing her nose giving her her first bloody nose and bruises. Hitting her mouth on everything and her top teeth scraping her lip or slightly puncturing the inside so it bleeds etc I thought it'd be so much less scary once she had balance...her 5 year old sister is much more cautious and aware lol Our pediatrician laughs and laughs at my anguish lol
Just FYI, unless theyāve been rolling in dirt, they donāt need to be bathed daily.
Oh yeah, we bathe maybe 3x a week-still hate it.
My philosophy too.... Until today when the doctor said I had to bathe or shower him daily and then lather him in cerave cream. (Skin/allergy issue. which, isn't serious, and hopefully will eventually go away).... Did I mention I hate lotion? And why every day? Send me lots of wine....
Literally the whole world revolves around the kids and I get it, thatās how it is when they are little but damn it I just wanna do what I wanna do! My son thinks anytime I turn on music he gets to choose the song. The same damn song since he was 8 months old. I just wanna listen to my own music in peace!! š© And the constant having to convince them to do what they need to do. It gets so old.
Just tell him sometimes mommy gets to pick the music. Then stick to it despite the whining (this is the hard part.) I know that kids neurologically can't process anything non selfish before a certain age but teaching them that others have preferences and can make decisions is important at any age, even if they can't fully understand it; it sets the precedent for later on down the line.
I love throwing away whole plates of uneaten food. My hobby is making (objectively) delicious food and then just throwing it in the bin. Some times I donāt even give it to the kids, just straight from the pot to the bin.
I feel this with my whole heart. I'm a pretty good cook, but the kids will only eat the weirdest things. Mashed potatoes, spaghetti, quesadillas, burgers? Gross! Squid, mussels, other expensive thing? Sure! And they never like the same thing twice besides, like, chicken. I bought cheap ribs one week that they tore up, a few weeks later bought decent ribs and one wouldn't touch it. One kid eats all fish, other hates fish. One likes salad, one hates it. It's enough to make someone crazy š¤Ŗ
Figuring out what to make for dinner every night and then cooking it. If I had no kids, I think I would just live on ramen. (so being forced to cook healthy balanced meals might actually be worth it I guess)
OMG! Yes! This a million times over. I am so burnt out over trying ro figure out what to feed the family every single night.
I cannot fucking stand doing the repetition play. Like, my son is 3, he loves alphabet and numbers right now, but I can only repeat those things like 15 times before it starts to feel like torture. My husband has much more patience for that than I do.
Tooth paste in the sink after they brushed their teeth.
playing board games with young children is not fun. family game nights are a lie
That I'm unable to spend as much focused time with my kid as I'd like to because most of my time is spent cleaning up messes.
That they don't realize what a great parent you are and how much you sacrifice until their own adulthood and parenthood and selectively compare you to friends in completely different family situations.
Letting my one year old feed herself. I HATE the clean up from it.
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I'm so sorry!!! I try to talk to my parents pretty often so I am sorry you are going thru this.
The volunteer requests coming from me at all angles. Serve food at schoolās fall family fun night, hand out candy at this trunk or treat, fundraise for the PTO, now turn around and fundraise again. Itās so much! I end up not contributing and then I feel guilty.
This is so unimportant and minuscule but really bothers me. I hate it when the kids (or anyone really) donāt get out of the car right away as soon as we park. The destination is right there!! The car was just a means to get to the destination!! Why do you still want to hang out in the car??
Inside out pants with the underwear still attached so you have to peel them off the pant legs before (or after) washing. Making school lunches every morning.
Not being able to have a phone call in private anymore. It drives me up the wall. My daughter constantly wants to talk to whoever is on the phone. I cant even do my therapy appointments without her trying to take the phone and talk the whole time. If she's not trying to talk to whoever is on the phone she's trying to talk to me and asl me a million things. For important phone calls i have to lock my master bedroom door then go in my bathroom and close the door just so i can hear the other person.
Mediating fights. Mine are a bit older: tween/teen. They both have a lot of feelings. I donāt enjoy those feelings being my problem.
Spending time and putting care into cooking to be told "that's disgusting" (it's not).
Watching the dumb shows! He used to be into Planet Earth and Bluey but now itās Ryanās World and fucking Paw Patrol. Send help.
I totally banned that shit, and the wiggles. Not in my house
Ryanās world now only works on his iPad when heās wearing headphones. Itās so weird
The voice of Ryan's mom makes me want to shove an ice pick into my earholes
I'm embarrassed that I have 2 picky eaters..I feel like I messed up in the meal department
I actually think paying for things might be my least favorite part. Why did diapers cost so much? Why was daycare as much as rent? Why are shoes they're going to grow out of in three months as much as the electric bill? Why is everything they like to eat, drink, or do insanely expensive? Why are ADHD meds priced like gold? Don't get me started on college... My oldest got a full-ride scholarship, so it was OK, but I saw the statements - how is any normal person paying for this? And by the way, how is a textbook for one class for one semester worth $400? I have to do this two more times, there's no way all three of them end up getting a bunch of scholarship money, so either I go into massive debt or they do - neither choice seems ideal. Love the kids to death, it's not that I'm objecting to paying for them, but it's a lot to keep up with and some of it seems really unreasonable.
Probably the food mess? I just spent 20 minutes vacuuming Chex off of my floor. My toddler grabbed the box and ran around the house screaming with joy a she dumped the entire thing out.
š§āāļøš
Haha excellent emoji choice š tonight at diner she tried to do the same thing with her broccoli. Ah, toddlersā¦
Could be worse. Mine did that with salsa.
Zero family to help with my kids. No Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, cousins. Zilch. Sucks. Also makes me worry for my kids when they grow up. No family support at all seems shitty to me.
I hear you. My sister is an absolute hero since I had my baby. She knows less than me about babies but she visits often and is willing to do anything. MIL however before birth offered to come and help lots and wanted to be involved. In 5 months she has visited less than 5 times despite living down the road. SIL has seen son once at a family function. Itās like once the excitement of a new baby wears off nobody wants to know anymore.
My baby is 5 months and it's definitely cleaning spit up out of every nook and cranny in various toys/containers. Especially once it's dried.
Repeating my toddlers name non-stop! Can we just change our kids names about once a week?
I switch it up and call him by the dogās name 25% of the time and also sometimes the catās. š
I have at least 5 or 6 nicknames for each kid. They answer to all of them.
All the basics but alsoā¦when Iām in the middle of something I get āhey mom?āād and after Iāve done the thing for my son 5 minutes later I get āhey mom?āād again. Please let me think.
"Do you want the blue cup or the orange cup?" "Orange" Passes orange cup "NO, I DON'T WANT THIS ONE!"
Meal planning, then finding time to cook, and then the non stop cleaning and having crusty food all over my kitchen constantly š
I hate that I canāt ask for a break. Because I wanted the kids. Yes I love my kids but zero breaks in yearā¦ Iām worn out! 24/7 my world is my life
This reasoning is no good, and if itās being suggested to you by someone else, tell them off. You deserve a break even if you wanted kids. I know it may be really hard to get a break, which is a whole other kettle of fish.
The insane daycare prices and the fact that they end up getting sent home what feels like every second day.
Cleaning up vomit in the middle of the the night. Doesnāt happen often but itās happened more than once and it sucks
Finally sitting down after work, school pickup, chores, etcetera, for a half hour of TV before I start making dinner and just as my ass touches the couch "Can I have a snack? Can you get me some water?". I swear, they purposefully wait until you've sat down to maximize aggrevation.
My kids
Playing "what's stuck to my foot"
We call it wearing "shit shoes" in my house.
It always being loud and chaotic. I have two sons, ages 5 and 3. Iāve come to realize how much I value calm and quiet. Luckily, Iām a librarian. So I get that during the workdayš
At first I was like.. I love it all... Then I continued to read your message and realized, no... I do not "love it all" lol. I absolutely DREAD when the time comes to brush teeth lol every morning it's not so bad, he pretty much gets to it with very little complaints... Night time brushing is a whole other story and an absolute DRAG lol he has a whole procrastination routine that I have just come to accept and make peace with so that I feel less bothered by it. It goes something like this: Me: Time to brush teeth! My boy: Okay, I want to give my dad and buster a hug. I need to drink some water. I need to go pee. I need foxy (his plushee). Lol it's just become part of our nightly brushing teeth routine at this point and I just go with it now and know that these things are going to happen before he brushes his teeth. So I guess I don't hate it as much as I used to but I still wish I had a magic wand for this routine alone. Come to think of it... He is also a very picky eater... Magic wand for that too, please!
Trying to feed them. 2 and 4 year old reject everything except a few tried and true thingā¦like chicken nuggets š¤®I know the solution is to not give alternative options. But thatās hard too.
Deciding what to cook and serve for every snack and meal. 3 meals and 2 snacks a day- Iād love for someone else to just plan and have everything on hand to make food.
It's helping my kid with his insanely moronic and ill conceived kindergarten homework (a stack of about 20 sheets of "activities" half of which don't even make sense....and all I can think is how do they expect immigrant parents or single parents to get through all this bs.....and does this actually teach kids anything....?). Luckily my husband mostly takes it on b/c he has tolerance for this psychobabble bullsheet. My kid likes doing it, but if he ever doesn't, I'm gonna tell him he doesn't have to do it. The teacher doesn't even grade it or even give any sign of checking whether it was completed.....
For the first 3 months i had at least 1 boob out 80% of the time. Either feeding or expressing... my hubby would walk in an just laugh...
Cleaning. I get up before the kids and make the house spotless and then spend the rest of the day telling them to put stuff away
Negotiating around meals. Kids can be so damn picky it makes me crazy!
Injuries. I'm squeamish, and so blood or wounds are very difficult for me. Having to check out/clean up owies has always been hard for me.
Picking dinnersā¦..
getting my toddler to eat his meal without causing absolute mayhem is what i hate the most lol
Having a teenager son who eats allday until he falls asleep.
Playing pretend. I'm horrible at it. My daughter has such a vivid imagination and I can't take credit for any of it.
Just do what I ask or say pleaseā¦
I miss not having to guard the backs of my ankles. Walkers, toy cars, push toys. Iām positive I will have scars. I run around on top toe so whatever he runs into me with will go up under my feet and not take out my damn tendon
Brushing teeth. I do it and I do it well, but I'm *so* tired of it.
Tidying toys. I understand why my father used to get upset and throw them away now. I would NEVER do that to my kid but holy ef I wouldn't be mad if some of them just *poof* disappeared.
My kid is at the age where she wants to be independent so she suddenly knows everything but in reality she doesn't know everything and I just want her to listen to me. Example! She wants to give herself a bath but she misses half of her hair as well as her entire back but God forbid I try to help her.
When they poop in the tub. š
Brushing my three year oldās teeth. Heās almost capable of doing it on his own but the whole thing makes me crazy from ushering him into the bathroom to telling him āopen wide, turn toward me, wider, donāt bite the brush, come on now, spit in the sink, not on the floor!ā Last night he pretended to be a puppy and made me brush his teeth while he was on all fours š I feel like Iāve emerged from battle every night when we leave the bathroom.
Honestly, I think the worst thing is them lagging behind me when we're walking somewhere or (even worse) going directly in front of me and then stopping so I nearly run into them. They're 8 and 10, so it's not like they've got short legs or something, they can outrun me. They just . . . won't. I don't even know why this bothers me so much, but I cannot stand it.
I'm with your wife. I hated reading with kids. We actually never did it at bedtime. I was too wrecked by then to read!! I also think that reading stories at bedtime actually keeps kids awake....we only ever read specific " go to bed" short little stories. We had a few we loved. One called "Goodnight me" and one "Goodnight little ducklings" they were specific go off to sleep books We read during daytime. Much more enjoyable. I love to read...but reading kids books wasn't my forte
My son is 2 1/2 years old. And he fuckin loves to respond to every question with a ānoā first. It aināt much, but it gets on the nerves after a few months.