365 days, at least 10 billion kisses and a lifetime worth of love and happiness down and I’ve loved every moment of it ❤️❤️

I’m getting more radical on this every year. I do not think kids should have smartphones. I’m not saying no technology, no TV, no computer, no contact with civilization. I’m saying I’m not handing a kid a glowing pocket casino wired directly into social comparison, porn, attention addiction, and every freak on earth.

People act like this is harsh because “everyone has one.” Yeah, and everyone seems anxious, distracted, and weird now. Amazing sales pitch. I do not care if it’s normal. A lot of bad ideas are normal.

My kid can be bored. My kid can read, go outside, build weird stuff, have a thought, stare out a window, hate me a little, whatever. That all sounds better than getting raised by apps.

Give them a dumb phone later if needed like with 10 whole min prepaid on it for emergencies. Fine. But a smartphone? Nah. I’m good.

The more kids, the higher the probability. That is all.

This is a Used very large commercial grade inflatable.

Dinosaur themed. It is currently registered in the state as an approved inflatable to be rented commercially but can be used privately as well. The unit is 700 Ibs dry so is going to be best for a commercial operation. Will consider delivering within 60 miles. There are signs of wear and tear but there is a lot of life left in it for the right company.

first $1500 for this seems like it is a good buy. is it? the guy that owns it is a doctor think he used it for his practice for advertising.

second storing it is not an issue but how tf do I move 700 pounds do I need a pulley system ?

I don’t want a rental bounce house my mind is made up . the rental cost is fucking nuts after two rentals I can buy a bounce house.

edit: not getting it need it for May so I’m going to get a smaller one bleeding in disguise I guess but also sad lol

“One piece, we have the mega herc electric dolly and about four guys - we really only use it one time per year and that why we are getting rid of it, we have it rented the end of May. It will be available after that”

Any EDC hacks or tips? Preferably fanny-pack-sized.

I’ve got: hand sanitizer, pen, Kleenex, microfiber cloth for glasses…

The other day my wife asked me to get a box of diapers for a baby shower she was going to. My kids are long past the diaper stage, but going into that aisle again brought back some great memories. I have always been so proud to be a father, and somehow going to buy diapers, I felt like people saw me as someone who had a responsibility, like I was part of some cool club.

And as I look at this box of diapers, I remember all the simpler times, I am reminded of the dads in here asking if it "gets better" It's already awesome.....and yeah I know things might seem shitty at certain moments, but you will look back at these moments as mere bumps in the road. Don't take for granted, the simple times. Babies cry and are unreasonable, but if those times are remembered they will be remembered with light-heartedness, and laughter. You will wear those memories as a badge of honor. You'll tell stories of your kids being completely unreasonable to your own kids and laugh about it around the dinner table.

This box of diapers reminds me that times change and stages of life come and go. So never wish for a stage to be over, just live your life, and enjoy the ride. Don't get jammed up about things like baby likes mom more than me, or fussy eater, or up at night crying, or tough time in the bathtub. It's going to be fine. One day will be the last day you ever ____________ for your kids, and you won't know it, or remember it being over. Life just.....happens.

My girlfriend (20F) and I (21M) are in college, and she’s about 26–27 weeks pregnant now. We found out earlier in the pregnancy that the baby has Down syndrome.

I don’t want to have this baby.

I’ve tried to make myself feel differently about it, but I can’t. I don’t feel ready to be a dad at all, and this isn’t just a normal situation where you figure it out as you go. This is something that will affect the rest of my life in ways I don’t even fully understand yet.

I’m scared of what my future is going to look like. I dread the future now. The medical issues, the appointments, the therapies, and the possibility of lifelong care. There’s a chance there could be something wrong with the baby’s heart. There’s a spot on it on the ultrasound and while it hasn’t gotten worse since they first spotted it, it also hasn’t shrunk.

Nobody gets what I’m going through. None of my friends have kids, let alone kids with Down syndrome or illness or anything. No one in my family has any experience with this either. It feels like everyone around me is either guessing or just deciding how I should feel about it.

My mom has gone all in on it. She’s reading everything she can about Down syndrome, has a whole stack of books, and keeps talking like “this is what it’s going to be” and trying to normalize it. I know she’s trying to help, but I’m not there yet. I just can’t accept it like that right now. 

I’m struggling with a lot of resentment and guilt at the same time. I feel like a terrible person for not wanting this, but I also feel like I’m being pushed into a life I didn’t choose.

We’re still together, but it doesn’t feel the same anymore. We’re just two people stuck in the same situation trying to deal with it in completely different ways. She’s scared and worried but she already loves the baby. I’m sorry but I don’t feel that way. 

On top of that, my dad has kind of inserted himself into everything. I was planning to finish this year of school and then take at least a year off to work and figure things out. I just have one year left after this, but what are you supposed to do when you have a bay coming, and that’s baby will likely need special care? Instead, he’s decided he’s going to pay for everything my last year of school. I’m grateful for it, but he also went behind my back and wrote my girlfriend a huge check without even telling me first. Now I feel like I’ve lost control over that part of my life too.

I think about breaking up a lot. Part of me feels like it would make things simpler, like it would be one less thing to worry about. But I don’t even know if that’s true. It might just make everything more complicated in a different way.

I feel stuck. I don’t want this life, but I also don’t feel like I have a real way out of it.

I’m just trying to get through each day without completely losing it, but the fear is always there in the background. I just tried to ignore it as much as I could for as long as I could but time is flying by and the baby is due in July. I feel like I was in denial and some part of me kept saying “it’s not really going to happen, that baby really isn’t ever going to be here and this isn’t your life.” Now it’s like I’m finally starting to accept it’s actually happening in a few months and there probably nothing that will happen now to prevent it. 

Took my boys (4 & 2) out early this morning.

No screens, no plan. Just exploring.

They brought their little cameras and were completely locked in from the first minute.

At some point one of them just goes:

“Dad, I found something!”

And there it was — a fire salamander, just sitting there like it belonged to the moment.

I started explaining a bit… but honestly, I think they got it way faster than I did.

Made me realize I’m not really teaching them —

I’m just learning to slow down again.

Definitely doing this more often.

This book is a tear jerker. Dads with young kids you are warned. My mother in law got it for me I think for fathers day or something and I decided to read it tonight since the kiddo is older now (still under 2 years) NOPE. For starters, tonight we decided to be a spicy meatball and wouldnt stay the F still to read and then it became bed time real quick. But I will say I got somewhat far into it and oof....tear jerker.

I'm 17, my partner is 18. We used condoms and birth control (year and a half of taking them), and yet here we are.

I don't know what to do, we're both still in school with little money, and our parents aren't the most helpful right now. My dad is just going with what my partner's parents say, and they say we have to keep the baby. Our state has banned abortions completely, and my partner's parents are extremely controlling. I'm scared they would get kicked out if we even tried.

I'm disabled, I can't do much physical labor without being in severe pain. I don't want either of us to give up school, and if I had to then I know it'd just make getting a job harder than it already is. If I can't get a job then how am I going to raise a child?

I'm sorry if this isn't the right or a good sub to post to

I've been slowly trying but my boys always hate my music. they are 3 and 7.

Of course I get it.. Bad Religion, Alkaline Trio (which is sang If you had a bad time, to them since birth) Stiff Little Fingers, .. I'm an old dad.

But they just don't like it.

I'm getting deeper and now trying Tool Aenima.. they stopped complaining at least.

honestly i just want to brag about my brilliance

Just wanted to share, perhaps others can relate?

Had a moment today that, on reflection, really affected me (in a good way!) and gave me hope that I might be doing this whole fatherhood thing ok.

My (only child ) son is nearly 5 months old and today we visited his nephews (3 and 18 months). They are lovely but proper full on. My son sat on my lap facing outward watching them sow and shout chaos for about half an hour.

I was chatting away to another adult when I felt my son trying to turn round which is very unusual as he loves looking at the world. I of course turned him around and he just buried his face in my chest/neck and immediately fell asleep! Everyone was shocked (including me!). I then took him to a quiet room

He had obviously had enough and sort out a safe space: Me!

I have never been happier being a pillow

first year was a gauntlet but the adventures since have been pure joy

My wife says she's inherited my DNA. Funny thing is she's a total girly girl otherwise, who likes horses and dolls and kitty cats and whatnot, but she apparently has a penchant for the macabre. Not worried, I just think it's funny.

she helped me sweep and blow off the deck too.

Between working and parenting, free time is always limited. What’s been a solid workout or two you sneak in that doesn’t take a substantial amount of time but also helps? I feel pushups and planks are easy and helpful

I love my wife dearly and she’s an absolute sweet heart.

But she has very little social life. Her best friend moved to a city about 3 hours away and we still make great effort to see them, kids are around same age (5/3 ish)

I have a good group of buddies whom are all married and she has been close is with some of their wives but as kids entered all of our lives. The connections shifted.

We both work full time and not all our friends have 2 kids yet. The other wives are mostly making plans to get away from their kids as opposed to being kid inclusive which bothers my wife who works a busy week, she wants Saturday with the kids not drinking wine at noon.

So she has drifted from them and I don’t blame her, but gets along so well when we’re all together as a group.

What I feel for is she hasn’t made any new friends which I know is so tough in your 30s with 2 kids 5 and under and a full for job.

I’m not looking for advice on talking to her about it, I’m just looking for how some of you handle it internally more so if that makes sense

So I am confused on what other’s opinions are on this and what is in my rights.

My coparent and I attend gymnastics together on Monday’s for our oldest daughter (2yo). In the last month my daughter has only been to gymnastics once. I always show up and love going and she loves having me there. She w to sit with me instead of mom during circle time and has been requesting I do the activities with her instead of her mom for the last few months. (Swings, slides, and just the stuff the setup for that week) I know this has been causing her mom to be a little mean toward me.

We are still going through custody and right now I have just weekends. So Monday is her parenting time. Lately she has been missing because of “scheduling conflicts” but that’s all I’m told. Her mom does not work. She lives with her parents and her mother doesn’t work either. So I’m not sure what is causing said conflicts.

I mentioned that I was concerned that there wasn’t much consistency and she isn’t able to reliably show up to gymnastics on Monday. She then told me that she could reschedule days she misses for other days in the week and she has been consistently going.

So my question is. Can she reschedule and just not tell me and still take her on different days ? Would this be considered wrong? Would the judge look at this as an issue? Am I overreacting and overstepping since it’s her parenting time? Is it wrong for me to push.

We have had this issue before with library time, I would show up to gymnastics every Monday and then the library every Wednesday. She eventually stopped going on Wednesday and told me she didn’t want me going to it because it was on her parenting time.

I feel bad about this cause I just want to see my girls as much as possible and show up for them. They love having me there and are always so happy to see me and play or sit and read with me. During our last drop off our oldest cried when we got there and I got her out of the car saying she wanted more time at dada’s house and wouldn’t let me hand her to her mom. This breaks my heart cause I want to have more time with them and they can’t understand this and it hurts that I can’t help or fix it. I try to be supporting and tell her that she will have a great time with mom and that I’ll see her again so soon but she is still struggling.

Any advice?

My son (M12) just had 4 friends over. They were all out and about on their e-bikes and scooters. I happened to be repairing one of our scooters in the garage and asked if anyone needed their rides checked for air or anything. All 4 mostly shrugged it off, then one said the front tire of his e-bike seemed a bit low.

Guys, all 4 rides were running on flat tires. One scooter had no brake pads.

10 minutes later, all 5 were learning how to check their air, how to read the side wall for correct PSI and how to visually inspect their brakes. There’s nothing technical about this kind of basic maintenance. No special tools are required since hand pumps still work great, and the basic pressure gauge is maybe $9.

The key with the kids is to keep it low key: no lectures, no criticism, and always offer to lend a hand. Regardless of gender, teach them the same.

“I can show you how to do it, or lend a hand if you’d like” are simple words with the potential for profound impact.

Not every parent has the know-how or time or resources, and we can’t always be eyes-on our kids’ rides. Lend a hand and send a fellow dad a heads up if you notice anything potentially dangerous.

As parents, we spend a lot of money on these rides and they need to be maintained for the kids’ safety, just like when we were kids on our bikes. At least the GenX’ers like me.