#parenting

#parenting

It's Christmastime, which means peace on Earth and goodwill toward others. But do ALL others deserve such generosity? What if one of those other people is your adult daughter? And what if your daughter, the cruel wretch, decided not to invite you to her wedding? Well, if you're 59-year-old Laura Wellington, you do what any right-thinking American would: You create multiple social media accounts with the handle "Doormat Mom" that are dedicated to publicly dragging your child into the gutter with you:

My wife "Anna" and I have a 3-year-old daughter, "Bree," who is terrified of dogs. Four months ago, my in-laws adopted a little ankle-biter mutt that barks and nips at anyone who isn't them. The last time we visited, Bree was so scared we had to take her home. Now my in-laws are insisting on bringing the dog with them when they come for Christmas. I don't want Bree to be terrified during what should be an enjoyable time for her.

I explained that by letting her believe in Santa all these years, I had helped her enjoy the holidays even more. I told her it was a responsibility shared by all older kids and adults worldwide - to never break the illusion, so younger children could experience that same magic. And now that she was old enough to know the truth, she was also old enough to carry that responsibility.

Recently, I came across this post on the popular Ask Reddit page from user ViolatingBadgers that I thought was too cute not to share. In it, they asked people "who grew up in emotionally healthy families" to share "something you thought was normal growing up that you now realize was actually very special." The results were so wholesome and such a positive read that I thought they had to be shared. So, here are some of the best:

Children can take Christmas far more seriously than we imagine. For adults, the "naughty or nice" idea is a throwaway line we can repeat without thinking. For a seven-year-old, however, it can feel like a contractual clause with terrifying consequences. I hear many parents, including one parent of a seven-year-old this year say their child is suddenly frightened that Santa won't come because they "haven't been good enough".

I have a daughter and a son, and I don't want them to ever think like, 'Oh, Mommy's insecure,' or, you know, like, 'My mom doesn't like...' I always want them to think I'm happy with myself and, like, because they get their self-esteem from their parents, you know. So yeah, it's important to me to, like, show up with confidence,

My spouse "Jaime," like their entire family, has naturally perfect teeth. I am not so genetically blessed, and if I hadn't had heavy-duty braces from fifth through eighth grade, my teeth would be horrifically jacked-up. Our 10-year-old daughter, "Sara," unfortunately seems to have gotten her teeth from my side.

As a divorced mom, one of the hardest parts of the holidays is facing Christmas morning knowing that I will not have presents under the tree unless I buy them and wrap them for myself. And as my kids get older, they've started to notice that I'm not unwrapping much on Christmas morning. But while they're old enough to want to shop for me, they're not old enough to go out and do it by themselves.

She had been out to dinner - on a party bus! - with other moms for a good friend's 40th birthday party. In the meantime, the kids had a ball with their "hands-on 'Super Dad,'" Stephanie explains. Nick took the kids - Gwen, 10-year-old Clayton and 3-year-old Penelope - out for dinner, milkshakes and a movie. Gwen wrote about discovering her mom back home in the morning. "When I awoke, I was shocked!"

After a run-in with a new coworker at the laundromat, Cass (Asia Kate Dillon) has a drunken hookup with Kalli (Louisa Krause). Kalli seems to take an immediate trusting to Cass, and after Cass tells her their side-gig is nannying, Kalli asks if they can watch her daughter Ari (Ridley Asha Bateman) while she goes out of town for work.

If I'd thought my job was done after only one talk, my very shy, introverted daughter would never have come to me during a very scary time. She felt off 'down there' and told me. I knew that she had a new partner and I knew they were probably having sex; I was having sex at her age. So while she was a little vague, I knew that she'd come to me for a reason.

I'm with you. It's a phase; it'll pass. What's the hurry? Indeed, "impatient" is an interesting word to describe how your husband is feeling about your child's eating. I am pretty sure he knows that eventually PB&J will lose its appeal ( especially if your 3-year-old eats it at every meal for weeks on end) and your son will want to expand his culinary palate.

Don't lie to your wife. And absolutely don't ever suggest your children lie to her. Come clean but without being mean. Her parents don't have to suck (or steam too many vegetables) for you to start a family holiday tradition of your own: Christmas at home, just the four of you-why not? It may be too late for this year, I grant you (I do wish you hadn't waited until December to realize you didn't want to spend Christmas away from your own home-or,

As far as I was concerned, Australia's world-first social media law aimed at preventing children under 16 from accessing social media apps was already a success. But this week, as the ban took effect, my son wasn't so sure. Access to his accounts remained largely unchanged. Many of his friends were in the same position. Across the country, the rollout has been uneven, as social media companies try to work out how to verify kids' ages.

not because he was in trouble but because the parents had called the school to complain about their son's scuffed water bottle and wanted it replaced. They asked for $23. I wrote a check and was tempted to add a snarky comment, but I didn't. Yes, my son should keep his hands to himself, but the water bottle is still functional. My son apologized.

About three years ago, I was picking my daughter up from school and started chatting with parents about how arduous it is to run the kids' social lives. One mom said that she felt like an executive assistant for her daughter. There was a lot of frustration and angst toward the kids, and as a dad of three, I understood it.

My Gen Alpha daughter was born in 2016, but sometimes it feels like she's growing up in a different universe entirely. Her world is one where Roblox trends spill straight into our living room and where her understanding of "aesthetic" comes less from glossy magazines and more from avatar outfits. She'll discover a new style- preppy, coquette, baddie-while running around Obbys or shopping virtual boutiques, and somehow by the end of the week those trends have migrated into her real-life wardrobe debates.

My husband and I spoke to his teachers, looked at dance blogs, and learned as much about the ballet world as possible. He could try many options, such as summer intensives, competitions, attending an academy associated with a company, or applying to a college with a dance major. Most of these options meant sending away a kid much younger than 18 years old - something that scared me.

So, on the foundation of anxiety and depression, fear of the unknown, need for control and stability, avoidant tendencies, competitiveness, perfectionism (i.e., needing to know everything to feel secure), and the obsession with discovering root causes (or essences), gifted children are often fixated on life's deeper questions.

"Not only is it 'over,' it was never a thing," an insider told People. "Aoki is learning to navigate her private life in a public sphere. And that can be difficult. However, Kimora was concerned to see her daughter in that kind of relationship due to what she herself went through. When Amanda asked Kimora what her "reaction" was to Aoki and Vittorio's romance, the mom of five replied, "I let my kids make their own mistakes...

Cultural shifts and changing standards have seen more and more families fall out - but is there a better way to deal with parental or sibling difficulties?

Since we started dating, and way before we had kids, my husband has always been the one to bring the holiday spirit to our home. From getting me my first ugly sweater to buying a tiny tree to fit in our Brooklyn apartment, he loves the holidays and wants to lean in fully. I, on the other hand, kind of don't care.

On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen are doing a double listener question episode! First up, a parent is OVER their current television show rotation. The 'Rents give recommendations for shows in the eight-year-old to fifteen-year-old range that aren't overly preachy or totally mindless. Then, they sympathize with a parent dealing with a clingy sixteen-month-old who won't stop screaming and going full Hulk-mode every time a tiny thing goes wrong.

This is a tough time to be a kid in our society. Adults are behaving badly everywhere, from the nightly news to the holiday dinner table. Anger has become the go-to dialect of choice in politics and infiltrates our living rooms and our minds-including those little minds that are playing with their trucks under the coffee table during 60 Minutes. Righteous indignation is the new patriotism. Everyone is upset about something. And the kids are watching.

A viral video resurfaced this week, leading many citizens of the internet to ask the brave question: Should children be seen or heard in public? Reposted to X, the video (which was previously shared by both the New York Post and featured on A&E's "Customer Wars" in 2024) featured a woman confronting another group of patrons for having a baby with them, insisting that they were "idiots" for being there at a bar/restaurant in Austin, Texas.

Most of my weekday mornings follow the same script. I pull into the drop-off line outside of my twins' elementary school, double-check their backpacks and take a sip of my coffee from my bright pink Yeti cup before it cools. But on a rainy November morning, sitting in the slow-moving line of cars, I found myself deep in thought. Before the doors opened, my twins, 6, reached for my hand, so we could do our quick handshake

"Currently struggling with a kid who has no desire to do well in school and doesn't care they fail," the parent wrote. "Shows no desire to get to school on time. It's impossible for them to get their schoolwork done on their own and do not take initiative until I have to intervene. Doing this daily is becoming impractical (the days I don't intervene - nothing gets done) and I am hoping for the day they have the sense of urgency to take ownership."

While waiting for a delayed flight to take off, the couple was determined to be able to sit together on the flight. Natalie and her daughter, River, were a couple of rows ahead of Nick. Both Nick and Natalie were in middle seats. Presumably, River was on Natalie's lap. Natalie explains that she asked the man in the window seat next to her to switch seats with Nick. He declined.

Birthdays are usually depicted as happy celebrations with loved ones gathered, a cake, gifts, laughter, and, if it's a child's birthday, games and balloons. Even when resources are low, as they are for many people these days, something-no matter how minimal-is often done. If you look on social media, you see all the photos of these eventsl, with everyone smiling and close.

You know that saying about how we should never judge someone because we have no idea what's going on in their lives? I honestly feel like that advice should be used every single time we interact with another mom. Not because we need to excuse them being rude or justify them being snappy at preschool pickup, but because we need to give every mom some grace, no matter the situation.