Parents Stressing Over Kid Behavior

“Let me be first to say that this is mainly all my feelings and needing third party moms/parents to weigh in, and nothing impacts the 4 year old yet. long post ahead about kids leaving kids out. The question is, what would you do? My 4 year old has been invited to a roller blading party by Bestie A. He and bestie A, B, and C have played together since babyhood, and he’s the youngest of them by a year. Bestie A and C learned to roller blade early, Bestie B has started to learn it this year, and so”

“So it's a long story but basically today I found out my daughter is planning to spend a LOT of money on a gift for myself and her stepdad. Like, I'm guessing in the $500+ range. We're thinking it's a tv. Neither of us are comfortable with that, as she only works like 10-20 hours a week minimum wage. But we don't know how to express this to her without making her upset. She's very much a 'gifter' as far as love languages go. Any suggestions on how to gently approac”

“We got invited to two birthday parties for my 4 years old’s schoolmates. Both of them on Friday afternoons at like 12:30. Is this a normal thing now? My wife and I both work full time so we’d really have to maneuver our schedules to make either of these. I just think it’s an insanely inconsiderate thing to do to other parents, let alone for your child. submitted by /u/infinitytomorrow [link] [comments]”

“"Family visits usually go well for our 3-year-old until everyone says goodbye and then keeps talking for another hour. By that point he has eaten, looked at the books I packed, colored for a bit, and followed the dog around. He is tired of hearing “do not touch that,” and I am running out of things to offer, so the phone usually comes out. We have started leaving a few familiar things at Grandma's instead of carrying a full activity bag every time. It helps, especially when he can use t”

“I dont want/need anything or to do anything for my birthday (48) this weekend. I'm super content just having a normal no fuss weekend of watching my boys (9 & 7) play fall sports, have a happy hour on the beach and chill. I'm living the dream all that sounds great. I shared this mainly with my wife and some extended family but she keeps prodding me to want to do something...saying "I had been trying to do nice stuff for your birthday"... Then just do it I'm not stopping”

“Kids love their friends and routines so much, have you thought about how you’ll create a similar environment for them on the goal? My kids love trips and parties but ultimately loves home the most.”

“Please tell me everyone is not out here verbally abusing their kids. My kiddo was invited to their first school-friend party and the parent started screaming at their kid while we were in the bathroom and cussing and calling them names. I'm assuming they thought everyone was outside.. No one in my family or friends group has ever acted like this but this was our first party outside our usual family/friends group so now I'm like ugh is this how other parents act?? Will not be sending my k”

“We threw my son a birthday party for his 5th birthday with all his school friends invited last year. This year I’m not sure I want to do another party as I found it very stressful to organise and growing up I didn’t have a party every single year (I think this is more of a modern thing?) Anyway I asked my son if he would rather have a party this year with all his friends or if he’d rather have a day out at theme park with mummy and daddy. He got very upset at this and couldn’t decide saying he w”

“What’s your take on kids birthdays and the goodie bags for take homes? We are hosting my 4 year olds tomorrow and I am debating running to the store or not. I usually don’t like all the junk in them but I also don’t want to be seen as rude if we don’t offer something. Are they essential or worth skipping ? submitted by /u/Fancy-You-8509 [link] [comments]”

“First of all, I'm not actually going to do anything to embarrass him (13). This is a huge social step for him that I wouldn't sully. I've just been chatting with my friends about hypotheticals it and we're cracking ourselves up. I thought you might have some more creative ones. So far we've talked about things like ordering a cake with a unicorn on it, making them read way-too-young children's books for an hour, and telling them to go to sleep at 6 while "rock-a-bye”

“I have two sons 12 and 14. My younger son is super in to gift giving. When his older brother’s birthday came around he spent time picking out a gift and spent his own money and all that (like $50). His brother was appreciative. But when my younger brother’s birthday came around all my older son did was a card with a funny joke in it and I felt my younger son was disappointed. Not sure where to go from here. Should I encourage my older son to be a bit more sensitive and thoughtful towards his bro”

“Curious if people threw their baby a 1st birthday party and if so what did you do? I want to do something special for my baby but also don’t want to overwhelm her with a big party and everyone smothering her (we have a family of smotherers) submitted by /u/Wise_Complex2313 [link] [comments]”

“Ok, just a bit of backstory before I get to the issue at hand! In our family every other year we do a non-traditional birthday party where we take our birthday kid and 2-3 friends on an outing around town that includes an activity and dinner. This year is our outing year so next week my husband is taking my son who’s turning 11 and two of his closest friends (the third just let us know he can’t make it) to an escape room and a nice pizza restaurant after. It wasn’t an issue at all for him to fig”

“Just doing a rant. When did giving gift bags on your own kids birthday become a thing? What's the point? Do we just hate each other and want other parents to suffer? My kids have been to school less than a month, and they've brought 4 or 5 gift bags home each. Despite the school sending out notices every year asking parents not to send them to school. Then they argue over who got what, and then I end up throwing everything out anyways because it's always cheap dollar store things tha”

“I know we all have different income levels, but about how much do you spend on your child's birthday each year? What kinds of birthday parties/activities do you do? How old are your children? My daughter is turning 11, and she is thinking of getting a hotel room with us (her parents) and a friend or two. The hotel is a special hotel with theme rooms and is very expensive. I personally love the idea - less stress for me. My husband is concerned about her not having a party, and spending that”

“I'd love some advice from other parents, especially those with kids around this age. My 9-year-old ordered something on Amazon using my phone yesterday. I had a fever and wasn't feeling well, and I was dealing with her hair at the time. She was using my phone and ended up ordering something without asking me. When I found out, she said it was an accident and offered to give me $25 from her own money to pay for it. What's really bothering me, though, is that she didn't tell me rig”

“I have mine write my daughter bedtime stories. She’s besties with Harry, Ron, and Hermoine right now.”

“Don't comment if you're anti sleepover. I have an 8 yr old boy and 10 yr old girl. 8 yr old boy gets GRUMPY AF when he's up too late. Especially since one of his buddies turns all the lights on at 7am sharp no matter the time they went to bed. **Do you let bedtime go? As long as no one is hurt or whatever, let em go to bed at 1am and later? **Do you tell them it's time to go to bed and enforce that? I encourage them getting ready for bed, then have them contain playing to 1 room”

“My son is turning six this fall. I'm planning on having a party in early December because his birthday is right before Thanksgiving, and I want to avoid the holiday weekend. This will be his first real birthday party (we've celebrated as a family, but that's it). Thing is, I've never hosted a kids' party before, and I haven't hosted ANY parties in years due to general burnout. I'm a little nervous about this. He wants the theme to be glow in the dark. I'm planning”

“I was at my in laws recently, I have a 6 year old and 3 year old. My in laws aren't well off but always give something small to my kids at every visit(2x a month). It can be as little as just a candy bar or on more special occasions toys/clothes. Well grandpa was away and came back with a simple small toy for both of them. It was those plastic ball toys that light up when hit hard enough. He got her a pink one and a green one for my son and they have a slightly different design. Immediately”

“Mostly here to rant - My daughter just had her first birthday yesterday (how?!) and we hosted a party with friends and family to celebrate. Now, we are far from a “no electronic toys” family. She has the Fisher Price DJ table, which she loves, and we did just get her a Toniebox for her birthday, but we definitely choose toys that promote creativity, problem solving, and imaginative play a majority of the time (and she does, too). Well, to my horror at least half of the gifts she got yesterday ar”

“I'm having a bit of a dilemma with my daughter. More of her friends are starting to use Instagram and I don't want her to feel excluded just because I've decided social media is bad. At the same time, I really don't like the idea of handing her a phone where she can suddenly spend two hours watching random Reels from people she doesn't even follow. The weird thing is that I don't actually have much of a problem with the social part. If she wants to message her friends, fo”

“Google voice for texts and phone calls. I ask the parents to text me first and I will call them as soon as I can. It is one way to keep a good boundary”

“My birthday is 10/30 and there’s a concert happening 10/31 at one of my favorite venues out of town that I’d really like to attend. My daughter is 13 and wants to go trick-or-treating. Usually her dad and I alternate years, but we both went with her last year. I know that she wants to trick-or-treat with her friends but I usually follow along Am I the worst mom ever for wanting to go out for Halloween instead of going trick-or-treating with her? I know that the years are limited. The concert is”

“Never tell parents what all kids have access too. Just what their child has access too. If they ask about head phones (example) say yes I offer him headphones, don’t say you offer all kids headphones.”

“Reposted since my last one got deleted I might be overthinking this, but I want to put my best foot forward so I thought I'd come to reddit for some opinions. Kiddos (3/4) are invited to their first birthday party for a friend (turning 4) Birthday kids parent requested Dora toys, and as it happens my kids were gifted the big Dora the Explorer playset last year. We have all the pieces, and its in great shape, since my kids almost never play with it. Would it be okay to wrap it and regift it?”

“Hello! New to this group and I have a few questions. We are doing my child’s party at a jump place. We did the same thing last year, and several of the invited kiddos brought siblings, who ended up being added onto the party cost at $25 per child. We’re hoping to avoid that this year, but I’m not sure how to word this on the invitation without sounding wildly tacky/cheap. My question is, if one of your kids were invited to a party like this, would you be taken aback by a message on the invites a”

“'m a single mom (45) of 2 girls, 18 and 15 I had bought them tickets to see a concert at the savemart center. Do yall think its ok to let them go to this concert by themselves or should I have to go with them? submitted by /u/diz55 [link] [comments]”

“Baby will be 20months at Christmas, budget is limited so I can’t buy everything at once. I have a list of things I want to get but what would you prioritize for Christmas vs a birthday? We won’t throw a party for birthday so mom and dad will be the only ones buying anything. I also have a target coupon I want to use this month for something she can play with now not sure which to pick for that. Little people Barbie dream house Tiny land play kitchen and food Little tykes pedal car or truck Nuby”

“Most parties we've gone to are for 1-3 pm, but I only have access to my venue until 2:30 pm. It'll be mostly kids around the same age. Would you choose 11-1 or 12-2? We'll serve lunch so that won't be an issue but I know nap times around that age can be tricky. submitted by /u/Simscapades22 [link] [comments]”

“Parents of teenagers, how much money do you think is reasonable for a 13-year-old to spend occasionally treating friends? My son usually takes lunch from home, but we keep some money in his school cafeteria account in case he wants to buy something. School just started and during the first ten school days, he spent approximately $118, mostly buying snacks and ice cream for his friends. He said some friends ask him to buy things, and he sometimes feels pressured because he wants to maintain the f”

“Is this a good or bad idea? Please share your thoughts. Recently, my partner brought up an idea to implement with our kids - a jar that we add a puff to every time child does something good (listens to directives, takes positive initiative, etc). I was thinking that a puff would be removed for undesirable behavior (such as not listening to directives, being mean to his brother, etc). My partner is not sure that last part is a good idea because he thinks it takes away from the positive aspect of”

“Hi - I am not sure how reasonable I’m being, so looking for other opinions. If you’re a mom of a 16 year old boy who went to a party with his friends, has an 11:30 pm curfew and texts you at 10:00 to ask if he can spend the night (with a different friend, whose parents you’ve never met), what do you do? - Sure, go have fun!! - Maybe, let me talk to the parents for a couple mins first. What’s their number? - No, curfew is 11:30. submitted by /u/Treacle-Bright [link] [comments]”

“Anybody else annoyed as hell when you hear this? I just want to bring my 5 year old boy to do some fun stuff with him like go to the arcade, swimming, swing the baseball bat etc… and wife keeps insisting I bring our 18 month old with us. Is this normal? Anybody else annoyed at this? submitted by /u/abdussalem [link] [comments]”

“My nephew (3, 4 by wedding time) is pretty misbehaved. He more or less ruined mine and my fiancé’s engagement party by running around, banging expensive items in my fiancé’s family’s house (expensive percussion equipment), and not listening. We spent the whole party chasing after him and essentially babysitting him. Parents weren’t much help either. Couple weeks ago he kept running away at the beach, going to the food stand and stealing food. Overall, he doesn’t listen and is bad with other kids”

“We have one son and don’t plan on having another, and I’m curious where other parents —especially parents of only children — draw the line between giving your kid a great childhood and actually spoiling them. For example, sometimes we’ll be at the store and buy him a little car or something small. It’s never to stop him from whining or crying — he’s usually really good when we’re out, and we genuinely enjoy surprising him. We also make a point not to buy him something every single time, but I st”

“My kid that’s around the age of 10 makes some harmless YouTube videos. My wife and I have to approve them, and they contain nothing inappropriate. Stuff like opening a pack of cards, video of his Nee-doh collection, baseball related stuff, football highlight etc etc. There is NOTHING in these videos that is in any way appropriate. Last night, him and his cousin made a video of them putting vanilla ice cream inside of a a fruit rollup. It makes the fruit roll up harden and crack when you bite int”

“TLDR: is returning a mini beach bag purchased as a kind gesture for my daughter when we were shopping for her friend’s birthday a fair discipline for behaving completely unappreciative, ungrateful, and entitled? ———- I let my daughter have a “yes” day Friday where she could pick out 2 things she really wants to do for the day that didn’t include also shopping for her best friends birthday, who is also taking her on a week long beach trip. Out of the different things she wanted to do, she picked”

“I hate that I use my phone so much, but I do (I'm working on it. But I have ADHD, get very easily distracted, and my work makes it unavoidable for me to be disconnected from my phone for long). This has made it harder for me to set good limits with my kids, and things got really out of hand over the summer My husband sent me this and reading it felt like such a weight lifted https://raisehumansnotusers.substack.com/p/you-dont-have-to-fix-your-own-screen especially this: Most of us didn’t gro”

“Having a few different emotions here, wondering if others felt the same way. First, hearing about other moms I know planning their child’s birthday party - where do you get the time and energy to do all this? And not to mention $? This reminds me that I don’t have a solid support system who could help me prepare and host a party - another thing I’m still grieving is the lack of a support network. I’d love to host a party but I have no idea how to do that while having to take care of my child - n”

“Hello fellow parents who need to deal with tablets. I don't want to have total control over his tablet, my 9 year old is relatively responsible and Id like to still show trust and boundaries. However, I'd like to do 2 simple things, first is block the play store (to prevent him from downloading 30 random apps a week) and the second is to lock the tablet after 2 hours. Ive searched everywhere online, looked at every setting, is this not possible on a tablet? Seems like very basic function”

“when we traveled with little kids they would split you up. Then they would play the pass it on game. You tell the ticket agent my 4 year old is sitting alone and he says tell the gate agent, the gate agent says tell the flight attendant and the flight attendant looks at you like why didnt you already take care of this. We got the the point we would fly Southwest if we could because they had open seating and it was already a zoo so a bunch of kids fit right in.”

“Is there any relatively cheap activities that he enjoys but do not get to do very often? Or something you not really enjoy that much? If you do it with him, it probably will mean more than normal. Otherwise, making a good meal (don't need to be fancy) or his favourite dish (maybe reach out to his family and hear if there is some family recipe etc that would mean a lot) shows care. If the weather is nice and you live near the beach or a park, a piknik can be nice.”

“What’s the appropriate age to give my child a phone, or a tablet? She’s not born yet, but like lots of kids these days I don’t want her to be glued to the internet or brain rotted when she is here. submitted by /u/Numerous_Witness437 [link] [comments]”

“My wife and I have a 9 yr old son and a 5 year old daughter, and we’ve always had one little rule that I’m curious if anyone else does. If we’re at a restaurant, hotel, or pretty much anywhere in public, we don’t ask questions for our kids. If they want more water, they ask. If they have a question about the menu, they ask. They order their own food and buy their items. If they want to know if something is possible, we encourage them to walk over and ask themselves. (We’re always nearby and with”

“I'm having a birthday party for my 1st grade. We invited the whole class to our home since my child requested it and I think we have the space to accommodate a big party. I also assumed not everyone would be able to make it. I used Evite to send out invitations and have the rsvp set to show number of adults and kids. I explicitly sent the invite with the name of the classmate and not just the last name or the parents name. Half the class has rsvp'd and a couple of the families that we kn”

“I was catching up with a friend who is also a 40s dad of a young kid, and somehow we got to the topic of values and our kids. He talked about how he’s been intentional about teaching values to his kid. Things like writing down house “laws”, reiterating values in the daily dinner table discussion, and generally seeming to be on top of making sure his kid gets the message. Now, I’d like to think of myself as a moral person who demonstrates good values in practice, but admittedly I’ve never even th”

“We're throwing a birthday party for our daughter who's turning two in a couple weeks and I'm wondering about the etiquette surrounding opening presents. We said no gifts necessary but I know that some friends and family will bring one anyway. My question is, what is the practice surrounding opening presents these days? When I was little I remember during every birthday party (including my own) there would be a moment where everyone sits down and watches the birthday girl/boy open pre”

“Mother of 4 here, ages 9, 8, 4, and (almost) 2. I am constantly teetering on the edge of pitching the TV and the games. We have a Nintendo switch, and a handful of gameboys and the Playstation 2 I had as a kid. We also have a TV and watch movies occasionally and shows on Paramount. Here's the difficulty. It is impossible for the kids to hear "no games." I feel like we're pretty consistent on rules. Video games happen after dinner and until an hour before bed. Sometimes we watch”

“Seriously, it's been over a year of potty training - of sticker charts, potty watches, books, treats, threats, every possible program, tip, and trick the Internet, pediatricians and both sides of the family have to offer. He's the size of a 7 year old, so wrestling him into the bathroom isn't an option any more. He didn't go to preschool last year because of this, but we signed him up for this fall because he needs a year of preschool before starting kindergarten. Still pisses an”

“I don’t know what I’m doing. I haven’t even been around kids much in my life. I wasn’t raised around kids, my friends don’t have kids, there are no young children in my family. Is this normal? Things he does/says… Says he doesn’t love me or his mom or other intentionally hurtful things. He does this to other extended family too, often unprompted. Screams as loud as possible when he gets hurt or frustrated. Just like two or three giant screams. Even over very small things and things that didn’t r”

“My 9 year old daughter was devastated when she noticed she lost her Hello Kitty Plush she just spent her own $10 on earlier in the day. We were in a busy place, she set it down, came back 20 minutes later and it was gone. I can easily go and buy a new one. Or should not replacing it teach her responsibility keeping track of her own things? We certainly had the discussion of responsibility after the incident. She’s an empath and was crying uncontrollably about losing her new best friend. su”

“I have an almost 7yo who really wants to roam the neighborhood and play with their friends. They have a Gizmo watch so I can call, text, and track their location. The issue is that the older kids don’t always stick with them and aren’t the best example and we’ve lived here less than 2 years so we don’t know the neighbors well yet. I can’t really judge from my own experience because I have a younger brother close in age. My kiddo’s younger sibling is an infant so the buddy system won’t be relevan”

“Our family has gone really quickly from 2 kids to 6 kids in our family and my 8 yo is doing a lot of ‘how cute is other kid’ and ‘is other kid cuter than me’. I’m a superlative parent so I’ve been saying she’s the cutest smartest prettiest and when she asks the questions above I say, ‘other kids cuteness has nothing to do with yours’. But how can I answer these questions so they stop being asked; so she stops wondering; so she stops being a comparer. submitted by /u/Hi-Catch-2177 [li”

“Do you think it’s worth it to have a 4 seater wagon for 3 kids under 4? Do you use it often? What brands do you like? I’m hesitant to spend so much on a Wonderfold after having bought a Mockingbird stroller that we barely use but we love our Babytrend wagon and other than baby-wearing, I feel like a 4 seater wagon is the best option. Do you like the radio flyer? What age/weight did your kids age out of fitting in the wagon? submitted by /u/AnonymousExcellence [link] [comments]”

“So… terrible mum warning… I did not allow him to dive into the lake with the ducks. He is 16 months old! We decided to enjoy the sunny weather by the lake. Well, our son just wouldn’t accept to not follow the ducks into it. No amount of redirecting helped, he would move around and try to get at it and when we would stop him he would scream his lungs out. We came home (sigh). How was your Saturday fellow parents? submitted by /u/MamaofMiaa [link] [comments]”

“I have a REALLY hard time playing make-believe, and that’s all my 5yo likes to play with Barbie’s and dolls. I don’t know why I hate it so much, because I used to like playing with dolls and Barbie’s as a kid. Although I mostly dressed them up I think and didn’t actually “play” make believe but regardless. A lot of parenting advice on reddit says you can have them do stuff you like instead, so I’ve been trying that. But I can tell it makes her pretty sad and it’s killing me. I want to get better”