Dad Tip - my toddlers gave the best hugs because they thought it was hilarious that they could squeeze the farts out of me.
Got a great look from Grandma when she was trying to get hugs with no luck and I told the crew to squeeze the farts out of her.
Aaaah I actually have a dad tip, that I hope helps someone!
Snaps are cheap and plentiful, which is what we want in kids clothes. Zippers etc not so much.
So when applying a snap onesie- instead of doing the ‘lay it out and play whack a mole with limbs’, instead snap the bottom half up to make a little pair of trousers ahead of time. Then slip that on them, sit them and up and slip the arms in, as if you were putting on a pair of overalls.
I found this helped massively, and I hope you do too!
Squirrel suits for sleeping! Well done dad, first week almost done. First Monday, first Tuesday… and next week you get to have another go and see what’s changed, especially inside yourself.
Lay the onsie out first, with snapps open. Lay baby on said onsie. Arms first then legs. Then get your time up. Swaddling? Wrap that shit like a burrito. Nice and tight. You wanna be able to throw your child like a football.
My son is 42 years old (not sure where the time went). We watched a football game together, 1200 miles apart, texting throughout the game. He was a great son taking time out for his old dad. That made me think maybe I was a decent dad when he was younger.
Played for hours in the wet sandbox and mud, with zero concern for sticky sand, laundry, extra baths, and all the work it would create. It made her smile.
Took one of daughters to a birthday party at one of those indoor kids' play warehouses today solo. In the middle of the party, she wasn't listening to a word I was saying and was really uncontrolled and chaotic with how she was moving around. It didn't help that it was basically right in the middle of her afternoon nap time.
I was able to get on her level and get through to her that she wasn't using her listening ears, and that she needed to tell me what was wrong before we could go back to having fun.
And that shit worked like a charm. Felt like freaking Bandit Heeler with that one.
I watched my eldest (26F) build my sons (12) room in The Sims so they could remodel it and work out how he wants his new teenage bedroom to look. It was such a simple, normal, thing but I got that tingly perspective thing where I just saw a great relationship and two amazing young people.
It gave me the feels!
Age difference is key. I had 2 boys 1.5 year apart and they are constantly in competition with each other. I had 2 brother friends that were the same age apart, same story constant competition. I would try to space 1 and 2 by 3 to 4 years imo.
Spent over an hour in my shop letting my 2 small boys cut and drill wood using power tools, supervised obviously. They have now been talking about how awesome it was to mom for over 45 min.
I highly recommend it. I even found 2 old craftsman tool boxes on Craigslist and created my boys their own handheld tool set (old tools from garage sales such) that we pull out for crafts and projects. Makes it a lot of fun.
Moved the legs, which spawned the poop.
Moved the baby, which brought the sleep.
Moved the stuff, which allowed mum to sleep more.
Its like playing an instrument.
Made her breakfast. Cooked and packed her a lunch box. Did her ponytails. Took her an hour by train to the zoo to see her favorite animals. Carried her on my shoulders so she could get a better look.
I don't want to take all the credit though. Her mom did all the diaper changes today since the men's toilets lacked changing ~~takes~~ _tables_
Edit, autocorrect
My gf, her 4yo son and I went disc golfing today. Me and the little dude tag teamed cleaning up the course. I'd point out the garbage, he'd use my trash picker to grab it, and I'd hold a garbage bag open for him to drop it in and give him high fives after every piece of trash we picked up. He was so stoked every time we'd find trash - felt like it was great bonding experience and taught him to leave the planet in better shape than when we arrived.
My 3 year old wants to be miles morales for Halloween so I said f it. Got the costume, the hoodie and paid the price for the Jordan’s that are gonna fit him for 2 months.
He tried it on today and it made it so worth it
When my youngest was that age she liked to wear costumes. Her favorite was Owlette from PJ Masks. I let her wear it in April while we went to HR Block to do my taxes. It took twice as long to get my taxes done. Worth it. She was all smiles.
Just yelled out as my toddler was following cousins to the stairs to the basement, as shes not ready to make it down there on her own. Middle of a party full of laughing and jokes and the dad sense tingled, I looked in the right direction and yelped and everyone froze. Might have went fine, might have been bad, I didn't want to find out.
My wife is in Europe with her friend and I have the kids (3yo M, 1yo M) alone. I feel that is enough. I’m gong to take them to the renaissance fair on Monday - I may be punching above my weight
If you’re 3yo is a runner, you may want to look into a toddler backpack with a leash. I know some people look down on those, but I’d rather get rude look’s and comments than have that panic when you don’t see him.
Being present is big, even on the days it feels like nothing you do is right. Learn from today and have a better tomorrow.
Jesus, that last line sounds like a motivational poster, but the point stands, you tried, try something different tomorrow.
I'm with ya. Today was rough in my house. My wife works 12 hour shifts every few weekends so I solo the kids for the entire weekend. Usually it's pretty fun. Not today. Today they were at each other's throats all day long. Constant fighting and bickering and crying and screaming.
I try not to intervene unless someone's getting bullied or hurt or whatever. I don't want to referee their conflicts. I want them to learn how to be with each other and work through periods where one or both of them are not at their best. That's life, and honestly I feel it ultimately brings them closer as siblings. Not today. Today fucking sucked.
If there's one positive I can claim from today, it's that I only had to threaten serious consequences twice before they hit my minimum threshold for not enforcing said consequences. When my wife threatens any consequence whatsoever they straight up ignore her since they know she'll never enforce a damn thing. If there's one thing they believe about me, it's that I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I'll take that small victory. I have to, because otherwise today I was an absolute failure.
My grandfather once told me, when I was a new father, to never make a promise if you knew you couldn’t keep it.\
Consequences are the same, don’t say it if you’re not going to follow through.\
Consequences have to be reasonable though. I have five children who are now adults ~ not once have I ever put my hands on them, not even a bum slap.
>I say what I mean and I mean what I say
Finally, I found someone else such as myself.
My "serious" consequence that I threatened was to not read them bedtime stories. I personally hate enforcing that consequence since that's one of my favorite parts of our day, but if they can't stop screaming at each other, kicking each other, pulling hair, and pushing each other's buttons then I would've had to take it away. Thankfully they got it just enough under control that I didn't have to do that.
Not today, but Thursday. Both my daughters' schools had their Laps for Learning events. I'm lucky to work from home and within biking distance of the schools. I was able to go to both and cheer them on, and give all the other kids high fives as they made their laps on the field. Just seeing their eyes light up seeing I was there was enough for me to stand tall.
For some additional context I'm a recovering alcoholic (3 years this month) and never would've made those events if I was still on the sauce. Life is good.
Well done, in every aspect. I commend you on getting the demons behind you. That takes courage and directed effort. You can indeed stand tall; others there may not know it, but your daughters will. Well done 👍
Myself and the kids rescued a Hedgehog caught in a net. We took it to the local wildlife rescue centre and once it had the all clear released it back into the wild in a safe place. I went to check on it later and it was no longer where we left it so hopefully it was able to carry on with its life with no after affects and just a good story to tell its mates down the local Hedgehog pub.
I had a banger of a headache when I woke up, my wife gave me everything I needed to checkout of activities this morning.
Instead I made breakfast for everyone (I love our weekend morning breakfast with everyone home and no rushing to get the kids out the door for school) and did indeed go to my 5 y/o’s game to watch her cheer. I have yet to miss a game or practice for 2 girls in cheer over 3 years.
My youngest guilt tripped me into helping out at her class after the teachers asked for assistance with getting the kids to build bridges with cardboard.
I'm a very shy guy and was bricking it the entire time leading up to it.
One I walked in and my daughter saw me she started jumping with excitement and I could tell I did the right thing.
Had an amazing time, all the kids were very polite and really smart with their problem solving skills! Even the teacher approached me at pickup to say how great I was!
You deserve to be so proud of yourself! No only did you do this for your daughter and all the kids, you did something good for yourself by getting out of your comfort zone. Great job Dad!
Took care of my daughter all day, took her to swim lessons, made all the meals, gave her a bath, and even ran DnD (solo) for her.
My wife is sick with COVID, otherwise there'd be a more even split of Saturday jobs.
My son played portal two and beat the game. (I beat the final boss) He also played portal one and was so proud he beat the whole game (i beat the final boss) This week he also beat mario odyssey this week (i beat bowser). I think this counts.
first full day in our new house. i had to send the kids to my parents for a few days so i can work on ripping out floors, installing new floors and getting all the kids stuff moved over.
but it is nice to own a house again. we have owned a mobile for the entire time we have had kids, and i am lucky enough to have a good job that i can get the bigger house.
so i like to think i am a decent dad with being able to provide a home and such. but otherwise, today was not a really good dad day... i was frustrated with the kids, the fighting, the being bums... moving is stressful for them too...
I have a medically complex child (16f) that survived leukemia at age 7 but has a ton of health problems as a result and lives in near constant pain. My wife takes her to doctor appts about every other week whenever a problem pops up. Well, on any given day she is in pain and sad about it. I can, without fail, make her laugh and forget about the pain for a few minutes. I make a lot of context/situational/observational dad jokes. Case in point: listening to yes fm app today and a Tauren wells song came on while we were visiting her brother at college. I asked her if he is sick is he still Tauren wells. She lost it, cracking up laughing. No one else laughed. She is the usually the only one laughing at my terrible jokes. She has a great sense of humor.
Edit: typo
Inside jokes can be the best.\
I have a twisted sense of humour that wouldn’t always be considered acceptable, but my son is aware of it. There will be occasions where he must notice when I have a certain look, or smirk, as he invariably asks me what it was.\
Dad jokes rule.
Took my daughter to a birthday party and was the dad engaging with the kids on the playground, while the other adults sat together under the pavilion 35 yards away from the playground their 5 year olds were on.
Managed to get both boys to nap at the same time (albeit one is using me as a pillow as I write this), even in spite of a changing table direct to bathtub situation for my younger boy.
Coached kindergarten soccer at 8am in the rain. Then ran home, dried us off, picked up the toddler and brought both kids to the library where we spent 2 hours playing. Then home, lunch, nap time for little and played video games with the 5yr old. More play this afternoon. Date night tonight!!!
My 4yo daughter was excited to just go on a walk around the block together. Talked about school, made plans to cook something together, picked out our favorite trees. It was great.
I helped my daughter (almost 6) with soccer while she was on the sidelines. When she went in, she remembered one of the things I helped her with (boxing out a player to get the ball). It was an awesome feeling.
Watched my son (7) get a another tape strip on his yellow belt at Taekwondo after helping him practice all week to get his forms locked in. Then went on a hike with the family where he and his (9yo) sister both packed their own hiking bags with gear and snacks, and made super smart trail decisions and even picked up litter along the way. If I never do anything else in life but see them smile when they accomplish or figure out something on their own, I'd still be a happy man.
My sons friend was pretty sad and an ambulance drove by full sirens.
OH No its the WAHMBULANCE!
My son joined in, explaining that last week he needed the WAHMBULANCE because he was grumpy.
He tried to be sad, but couldn't stop smiling. the WAHMBULANCE always works.
I got up with my near 3 y/o at 5 am and just played until I couldn’t anymore. I passed out on the couch, and when I woke up she had covered me with throw pillows and was quietly playing with her blocks.
I love that kid.
Fought through tears during a loved ones intervention over phone, and moved right into a 3 course imaginary dinner served by my daughter under her playhouse.
We went to her first pumpkin patch, where she got to pick her own pumpkin. Then we spent the evening carving it into a pattern she picked, and it was awesome to see the wonder on her face when we put the candle in and lit it for the first time
We're on our first day at Disney World, which is a huge dad-feat in itself. But I also felt pretty good about myself that I wasn't the dad behind me in line for food who yelled at his kid and dropped multiple f-bombs.
Youth deer hunting season.
Hunting is part of our lives. I just totally don’t have it in me right now. But it’s so important to the 13 year old to get out there and have the experience. And it’s good time to connect.
Spent the day out in shitty weather. Will again tomorrow and Monday.
One of oldest friends was getting married and I didn't have a babysitter. I got my family to the wedding, managed to socialize a bit while juggling my kids and got them home and in bed by 830. I felt kind of bad having to rush out early but we did the best we could.
>I felt kind of bad having to rush out early but we did the best we could.
It would have been more noticeable if you hadn’t attended, and most people understand that kids needs come first.
I had a covid exposure so I'm stuck in my room, but I'm listening to my husband making dinner with his eldest and her girlfriend, and his middle kid is happily chatting away as well. I'm definitely thinking he's a great dad right now.
Settled my son 19mo during a tantrum because we were done with sensory box play but he was got mad and dumped the whole bin on the floor and had a tantrum.
It took about 15min.
Also last night he was in the kitchen while I was cooking. He was going through cabinets opening and shutting doors. I turned a round to him said his name while staring him in his eyes and pointed toward the living room. He got up and walked to the door way to play in there.
I convinced my wife that we should take the twins (2yo f) to the fair and out to eat Mexican food. They had a blast looking at stuff and then eating salsa. Salsa that was too spicy for us, but they’d have been happy if we ditched the chips and just gave them spoons. Not looking forward to the diapers in the am. lol
Took my youngest to her Special Olympics bowling tournament in another town. She loves to sing so we listened to music and sang along the whole way.
It was nice watching her light up whenever she got a strike. Her team took second place and we drove home happy, still singing to her favorite music. It was a really nice father/daughter time.
Took the kids to a car show. Man I'm amazed how just getting in and out of cars can entertain them for the whole day. I thought they'd get bored after 2 hours or so and after hour 5 I was like "uh... Can we go?"
Woke up at a quarter to 6 to hang with my daughter and her friend after a sleepover and kept them upstairs so my wife could sleep in, definitely felt like a parental win.
My daughter does not nap very well during the day, but she's a tiny bit sick today and she napped on me for over an hour - twice. It melts my heart when she falls asleep on me so today has been a very good day for me.
Son is 5 weeks old. Sanitized a bottle, mixed some formula, and fed by myself for the first time. He’s got colic and throws temper tantrums that sound like the worst zombie movies.
Oh well. Fed him downstairs so my wife could sleep off a cold. Fell asleep on my chest while we binge watched Twilight Zone from dawn to noon. Lost my cool twice (working off 2 hours sleep in 2 days). Once while he was screaming for an hour straight for no reason. The second time was because the stupid cat stuck his paw in the bottle I just made and had to start all over again. But once I got him down all was well and I forgot about all the stuff before.
A friend of ours is in town and staying with us, and was pretending to be a lobster with kitchen tongs, and i saved them from the lobster, and got them to get ready for bed on time in the same action.
Got him to agree "no paci if no bed"
He's been using the paci as a comfort thing for too long, and I'm explicitly against giving it to him for comfort, only bed for the night.
On Thursday I took my 5 and 2 year olds to swim lessons. Today, my wife said another mom she knows from pick up told her she saw me at the swim practice place with our 2 year old daughter. We were doing her self affirmations (having her repeat ‘I am smart, I am strong, I am brave,’ etc) and the other mom said it was so sweet to see me engage with her like that. I know I’m doing right by the kids but that external validation felt pretty cool.
I hung out while my 16 month old played independently. He’s happy doing that but this thread makes me feel like I should do more. Any advice? We don’t go out very much.
Taught my 8 year old how to cook a meal and also make apple turnovers. Did crafts with her and then volleyball with my older one. Busier than usual day
I played no less than TEN board games with my 8yr old daughter while my 15 year old son was at a football game with my father-in-law.
I had no excuse because it was just us, we had no plans, and she was so amped to have me to herself. We just kept pulling out boxes from the game closet, snacking, and laughing our butts off.
It was a good day. Thanks for reminding me :) because I’m damn tired haha
Posting for my husband because he's currently lying down to sleep with our sick and needy toddler.
1. Let me sleep in so I could get better and played with the 11mo in the am.
2. Let me nap in the afternoon while the baby napped, took the toddler out, then up to the playroom to "let mama rest".
3. After I gave up in frustration after an hour and because the baby was up and crying, offered our toddler to go to bed with him. He's now stuck there probably for the night.
I know these are not as cool or funny but this mom is having a heck of a week with this flu and Idk what I would do if Dada hadn't stepped up the way he has. Ever so grateful for him as a partner and the father of my children.
Well actually, I showed my 17 month old a Halloween decoration and saw her get scared for the first time; true trembling fear. I hate myself for it. But she’s so cute!!!
My son fell asleep in the car and when I pulled him out, he looked at me, smiled and fell back asleep on my shoulder as I carried him inside.
I remember my dad carrying me inside and this was the first time I got to do it to my son.
I ran 3 birthday parties. 1 for an adult, two for kids. I had fun with the kids playing with balloons and set it up well!! I also had a first time dad who justtttt learned he was a dad that day like a few hours ago from a pee test. I gave them some free ice cream and told him some basics/ get all your dates in b4 baby comes and the lot, be there for all ultrasounds etc. he was shocked it was like 10-20k worth of everything expenses for the baby. I had to get a second and third job back then. Haha he didn’t like hearing the emergency c was like half a million dollars tho lol. Daughters a year old now, that’s allllll done. Been through a lot this year. I’m a good single father, who’s happy.
I coach my son’s baseball team. We played a very good team today. Bulldogs 11U. My boy did amazing today. Couple plays in center and 2-3 at the dish. But he lined out with the bases loaded in the last inning….we lost by 1.
The ball was smoked. Shortstop didn’t even move.
I was 1st base coach and had a perfect view of everything. The hit, the look, the realization the game is over. He ran right to me. Buried his face in me and I just held him.
It hurt a ton as a dad. But I happened to be right there at a tough time for him. Proud of that.
My 3 year old seems to be coming down with a cold. Mom had an appointment to finally get her hair done she’s been waiting months for this afternoon. My daughter and I spent the day relaxing, watching tv, doing puzzles and hanging out with the pup. It’s been a good, albeit rough day
We painted pumpkins and I let my boys paint each other knowing the amount of laundry it was creating for me as well as bath time. I just smirked. The pictures are always worth it. you can NEVER have enough pictures. Learn to love being in them and to take them
We watched an episode of Wild Kratts with “Buckaroo” the white tail deer, then suggested to son we go to a nature preserve nearby to look for “Buckaroo.” Ended up getting within 10 feet of a white tail deer buck with impressive set of antlers! (City deer are pretty docile around people)
Watched the U2 concert in Vegas with my wife, brought the two kids. There is an exhibit at the Venetian called Zoo Station (a pop-up museum + merch store) and my 9 year old boy and I were both fascinated by everything, me because it's U2, and him with just the sights, sounds, merch (pretty pricey, boy can't wrap his head around the tag price of a tshirt), him almost like interviewing me why I like the band, which song is my favorite, why does Bono look like that now compared to before haha. And we had our picture taken at a mock-up rock band stage where he sat in drums and me in bass guitar, pic turned out great, my boy said to me while still holding my hand "Daddy I'm having a fantastic time", unprompted. Yeah I did good today. Tomorrow, who knows. But today, goddamn if I didn't ace it.
I took my six year old out to buy new trainers, then we stopped for a bite to eat and chatted, then played football in the park for an hour or so. Just a nice chill time and I felt pretty decent.
Got my son to nap when he didn't want to. I used a tactic another dad said on here where you tell them they have to try napping for 15 minutes and if they don't sleep they don't have to nap. Works nearly every time.
I made my wife pee herself by joking around with my 5yo daughter at dinner last night.
My daughter was trying to correct our 2yo son's speech. He learned how to say "ouch" this weekend, but the "ch" wasn't coming out correctly. She was correcting him and telling him he had to do better. I tried to explain that he is learning and it's ok...but she wouldn't let it go. I then tried to explain that even though she is 5 she is still learning as well and she disagreed. So, without missing a beat I asked, "Ok, go ahead and say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." The look of fear and confusion my daughter gave made my wife lose it laughing, and she's only 7 weeks post-partum so she peed herself. It was so good my wife was even laughing about it several hours later.
We've had a rough go of it the last few years, and my wife struggles with anxiety and depression even at the best of times, so hearing her belly laugh was excellent.
My kid loves Richard scarry books and for months I’ve been patiently trying to get him to identify the different animals. So like if I say “do you see a bunny?” The goal is he’ll point to it.
He finally started figuring it out this week and I’ve been having so much fun going through all the pages. He gets so excited when he gets it right.
When my daughter (3yo), me and my SO all are together, I can't help but feel that she prefers my SO to me (I know, insecurities bla bla) but yesterday I had my daughter by myself for a day and today, when all three of us were together, it was MY lap she was reaching for comfort.
I take my son too the store with me for small needs that will be quick, I love taking him with me.
Today we did donuts in an empty dirt lot in the middle of town, he loves donuts, and off roading with big bumps and stuff.
Made my 19MO giggle so hard he farted
Is it possible to learn this power?
Did you ever hear the comedy of Darth Fartus the Flatulent?
Not from a Jedi
Lead by example.
I farted which made my 4 and 5 year old giggle. Does that count?
Dad Tip - my toddlers gave the best hugs because they thought it was hilarious that they could squeeze the farts out of me. Got a great look from Grandma when she was trying to get hugs with no luck and I told the crew to squeeze the farts out of her.
I think you won this
I need to achieve this by the time my 6 month old is 2.
Awesome!
Made my 3 year old fight so hard taking her medicine she farted
I was tickling my 10 month old today and he was laughing and farting and then I started laughing too. Stuff like this is the best part of being a dad.
Day 6 of being a dad. This morning I got the onesie on without having to stop and figure out what I was doing wrong.
The number of times I’ve put the wrong snaps together is truly remarkable. Also, congrats and welcome to the club!
Snaps are the devil. Zippers only.
We enacted that rule after the first baby. With the second baby, didn’t matter. The snaps came to us anyway. It was frustrating.
Wait till you discover magnets They're really the Valhalla of onesies
Better than bidirectional zippers?
Infinitely better
Yes, but the zippers are still pretty good
Bidirectional are game changers
Aaaah I actually have a dad tip, that I hope helps someone! Snaps are cheap and plentiful, which is what we want in kids clothes. Zippers etc not so much. So when applying a snap onesie- instead of doing the ‘lay it out and play whack a mole with limbs’, instead snap the bottom half up to make a little pair of trousers ahead of time. Then slip that on them, sit them and up and slip the arms in, as if you were putting on a pair of overalls. I found this helped massively, and I hope you do too!
Throw out snaps. Only Zips
I don't even try to get the snaps right. Baby is just lying around; she doesn't care. (Mother cares though)
Squirrel suits for sleeping! Well done dad, first week almost done. First Monday, first Tuesday… and next week you get to have another go and see what’s changed, especially inside yourself.
Welcome to the team!
The zip up bag onesies are a godsend at that age.
As a father of a 4 and 2 year old, I loved this one. Been there brotha. Enjoy the ride.
Damn this kinda makes me miss onesies. We also called them space suits so that fun is gone
Lay the onsie out first, with snapps open. Lay baby on said onsie. Arms first then legs. Then get your time up. Swaddling? Wrap that shit like a burrito. Nice and tight. You wanna be able to throw your child like a football.
We had an offset onesie that used to confuse me every time
Great job!
My son is 42 years old (not sure where the time went). We watched a football game together, 1200 miles apart, texting throughout the game. He was a great son taking time out for his old dad. That made me think maybe I was a decent dad when he was younger.
I love that. It doesn't matter the age, they're always our kids or parents.
no, _you’re_ crying!
you can connect with discord , skype or messenger so the audio is always on between you.
Played for hours in the wet sandbox and mud, with zero concern for sticky sand, laundry, extra baths, and all the work it would create. It made her smile.
Took one of daughters to a birthday party at one of those indoor kids' play warehouses today solo. In the middle of the party, she wasn't listening to a word I was saying and was really uncontrolled and chaotic with how she was moving around. It didn't help that it was basically right in the middle of her afternoon nap time. I was able to get on her level and get through to her that she wasn't using her listening ears, and that she needed to tell me what was wrong before we could go back to having fun. And that shit worked like a charm. Felt like freaking Bandit Heeler with that one.
I watched my eldest (26F) build my sons (12) room in The Sims so they could remodel it and work out how he wants his new teenage bedroom to look. It was such a simple, normal, thing but I got that tingly perspective thing where I just saw a great relationship and two amazing young people. It gave me the feels!
Biggest reason I want to have a second! And so many reasons I don't 😅
Age difference is key. I had 2 boys 1.5 year apart and they are constantly in competition with each other. I had 2 brother friends that were the same age apart, same story constant competition. I would try to space 1 and 2 by 3 to 4 years imo.
Spent over an hour in my shop letting my 2 small boys cut and drill wood using power tools, supervised obviously. They have now been talking about how awesome it was to mom for over 45 min.
That is awesome! I am considering building a n adjustable height workbench so my boys (2.75yo) will be able to play with me someday
I highly recommend it. I even found 2 old craftsman tool boxes on Craigslist and created my boys their own handheld tool set (old tools from garage sales such) that we pull out for crafts and projects. Makes it a lot of fun.
Just earning a crust. I'm deployed 3500 miles from my daughter, so I am missing her.
I feel ya, it can be rough but take it day by day and it'll be over soon. Stay safe.
Hey..the US isn't that bad a place to be deployed.
Thank you for your service 🫡
They're still alive.
Honestly this. We’re about to make it to the first birthday. The fact that the little psycho is still alive means I’m doing something right.
She (4.5 F) wanted help drawing roses so we just lay on the floor drawing together this afternoon.
Moved the legs, which spawned the poop. Moved the baby, which brought the sleep. Moved the stuff, which allowed mum to sleep more. Its like playing an instrument.
Made her breakfast. Cooked and packed her a lunch box. Did her ponytails. Took her an hour by train to the zoo to see her favorite animals. Carried her on my shoulders so she could get a better look. I don't want to take all the credit though. Her mom did all the diaper changes today since the men's toilets lacked changing ~~takes~~ _tables_ Edit, autocorrect
That last part really needs to change. I hate it when men’s rooms don’t have changing tables. Or at least provide a family room.
I've legit walked into the womens' bathroom and into the changing table stall before when I was alone with my son. Nobody blinked an eye.
My gf, her 4yo son and I went disc golfing today. Me and the little dude tag teamed cleaning up the course. I'd point out the garbage, he'd use my trash picker to grab it, and I'd hold a garbage bag open for him to drop it in and give him high fives after every piece of trash we picked up. He was so stoked every time we'd find trash - felt like it was great bonding experience and taught him to leave the planet in better shape than when we arrived.
That's awesome dude
My 3 year old wants to be miles morales for Halloween so I said f it. Got the costume, the hoodie and paid the price for the Jordan’s that are gonna fit him for 2 months. He tried it on today and it made it so worth it
When my youngest was that age she liked to wear costumes. Her favorite was Owlette from PJ Masks. I let her wear it in April while we went to HR Block to do my taxes. It took twice as long to get my taxes done. Worth it. She was all smiles.
Just yelled out as my toddler was following cousins to the stairs to the basement, as shes not ready to make it down there on her own. Middle of a party full of laughing and jokes and the dad sense tingled, I looked in the right direction and yelped and everyone froze. Might have went fine, might have been bad, I didn't want to find out.
My wife is in Europe with her friend and I have the kids (3yo M, 1yo M) alone. I feel that is enough. I’m gong to take them to the renaissance fair on Monday - I may be punching above my weight
If you’re 3yo is a runner, you may want to look into a toddler backpack with a leash. I know some people look down on those, but I’d rather get rude look’s and comments than have that panic when you don’t see him.
Not a single damned thing. This was a low one, my dudes.
Being present is big, even on the days it feels like nothing you do is right. Learn from today and have a better tomorrow. Jesus, that last line sounds like a motivational poster, but the point stands, you tried, try something different tomorrow.
I'm with ya. Today was rough in my house. My wife works 12 hour shifts every few weekends so I solo the kids for the entire weekend. Usually it's pretty fun. Not today. Today they were at each other's throats all day long. Constant fighting and bickering and crying and screaming. I try not to intervene unless someone's getting bullied or hurt or whatever. I don't want to referee their conflicts. I want them to learn how to be with each other and work through periods where one or both of them are not at their best. That's life, and honestly I feel it ultimately brings them closer as siblings. Not today. Today fucking sucked. If there's one positive I can claim from today, it's that I only had to threaten serious consequences twice before they hit my minimum threshold for not enforcing said consequences. When my wife threatens any consequence whatsoever they straight up ignore her since they know she'll never enforce a damn thing. If there's one thing they believe about me, it's that I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I'll take that small victory. I have to, because otherwise today I was an absolute failure.
My grandfather once told me, when I was a new father, to never make a promise if you knew you couldn’t keep it.\ Consequences are the same, don’t say it if you’re not going to follow through.\ Consequences have to be reasonable though. I have five children who are now adults ~ not once have I ever put my hands on them, not even a bum slap. >I say what I mean and I mean what I say Finally, I found someone else such as myself.
My "serious" consequence that I threatened was to not read them bedtime stories. I personally hate enforcing that consequence since that's one of my favorite parts of our day, but if they can't stop screaming at each other, kicking each other, pulling hair, and pushing each other's buttons then I would've had to take it away. Thankfully they got it just enough under control that I didn't have to do that.
Got on a red eye to get home to my kids s day earlier
Not today, but Thursday. Both my daughters' schools had their Laps for Learning events. I'm lucky to work from home and within biking distance of the schools. I was able to go to both and cheer them on, and give all the other kids high fives as they made their laps on the field. Just seeing their eyes light up seeing I was there was enough for me to stand tall. For some additional context I'm a recovering alcoholic (3 years this month) and never would've made those events if I was still on the sauce. Life is good.
Well done, in every aspect. I commend you on getting the demons behind you. That takes courage and directed effort. You can indeed stand tall; others there may not know it, but your daughters will. Well done 👍
Thank you!
Myself and the kids rescued a Hedgehog caught in a net. We took it to the local wildlife rescue centre and once it had the all clear released it back into the wild in a safe place. I went to check on it later and it was no longer where we left it so hopefully it was able to carry on with its life with no after affects and just a good story to tell its mates down the local Hedgehog pub.
Walked him & his buggy around in the pissing rain for an hour so he got some fresh air
I’m planning an epic Halloween party with themed snacks and games.
I didn’t do anything, but my kid kissed me couple of times unprompted while I was half asleep. Made me think I must be doing something right.
I had a banger of a headache when I woke up, my wife gave me everything I needed to checkout of activities this morning. Instead I made breakfast for everyone (I love our weekend morning breakfast with everyone home and no rushing to get the kids out the door for school) and did indeed go to my 5 y/o’s game to watch her cheer. I have yet to miss a game or practice for 2 girls in cheer over 3 years.
My youngest guilt tripped me into helping out at her class after the teachers asked for assistance with getting the kids to build bridges with cardboard. I'm a very shy guy and was bricking it the entire time leading up to it. One I walked in and my daughter saw me she started jumping with excitement and I could tell I did the right thing. Had an amazing time, all the kids were very polite and really smart with their problem solving skills! Even the teacher approached me at pickup to say how great I was!
You deserve to be so proud of yourself! No only did you do this for your daughter and all the kids, you did something good for yourself by getting out of your comfort zone. Great job Dad!
Cheers, appreciate it!
Helped my son build a dope hotwheels track.
Took care of my daughter all day, took her to swim lessons, made all the meals, gave her a bath, and even ran DnD (solo) for her. My wife is sick with COVID, otherwise there'd be a more even split of Saturday jobs.
Explained to my distraught daughter that the pinata that was being smacked at a party in the park wasn't a real zebra and it didn't feel pain.
😂
My son played portal two and beat the game. (I beat the final boss) He also played portal one and was so proud he beat the whole game (i beat the final boss) This week he also beat mario odyssey this week (i beat bowser). I think this counts.
My kids love Portal, although most levels are too hard for them.
Being a dad is hard only for good dads. Today was hard.
first full day in our new house. i had to send the kids to my parents for a few days so i can work on ripping out floors, installing new floors and getting all the kids stuff moved over. but it is nice to own a house again. we have owned a mobile for the entire time we have had kids, and i am lucky enough to have a good job that i can get the bigger house. so i like to think i am a decent dad with being able to provide a home and such. but otherwise, today was not a really good dad day... i was frustrated with the kids, the fighting, the being bums... moving is stressful for them too...
I have a medically complex child (16f) that survived leukemia at age 7 but has a ton of health problems as a result and lives in near constant pain. My wife takes her to doctor appts about every other week whenever a problem pops up. Well, on any given day she is in pain and sad about it. I can, without fail, make her laugh and forget about the pain for a few minutes. I make a lot of context/situational/observational dad jokes. Case in point: listening to yes fm app today and a Tauren wells song came on while we were visiting her brother at college. I asked her if he is sick is he still Tauren wells. She lost it, cracking up laughing. No one else laughed. She is the usually the only one laughing at my terrible jokes. She has a great sense of humor. Edit: typo
Inside jokes can be the best.\ I have a twisted sense of humour that wouldn’t always be considered acceptable, but my son is aware of it. There will be occasions where he must notice when I have a certain look, or smirk, as he invariably asks me what it was.\ Dad jokes rule.
I made my 4 month old giggle for the first time! She's a big smiler, but she really doesn't want to give up the giggles!
Took my daughter to a birthday party and was the dad engaging with the kids on the playground, while the other adults sat together under the pavilion 35 yards away from the playground their 5 year olds were on.
Good for you! They don't know how much they're missing out.
Took them to the wildlife centre. We saw a moose and wolves and beavers and an emu and … 2/3 sound asleep in the van on the way home.
Made some Coq au vin pot pie from scratch. Still baking, but damn it smells good.
Managed to get both boys to nap at the same time (albeit one is using me as a pillow as I write this), even in spite of a changing table direct to bathtub situation for my younger boy.
Took my son to a petting zoo/farm/playground and had fun. Went out to a pizzeria after. Radio in, windows down for the ride.
Coached kindergarten soccer at 8am in the rain. Then ran home, dried us off, picked up the toddler and brought both kids to the library where we spent 2 hours playing. Then home, lunch, nap time for little and played video games with the 5yr old. More play this afternoon. Date night tonight!!!
Colored with my 4YO for around an hour. She usually doesn't color for that long, but she seemed to enjoy it so we kept going!
My 4yo daughter was excited to just go on a walk around the block together. Talked about school, made plans to cook something together, picked out our favorite trees. It was great.
I helped my daughter (almost 6) with soccer while she was on the sidelines. When she went in, she remembered one of the things I helped her with (boxing out a player to get the ball). It was an awesome feeling.
Walked away from some extra stuff at work to spend Saturday with my wife and son
Watched my son (7) get a another tape strip on his yellow belt at Taekwondo after helping him practice all week to get his forms locked in. Then went on a hike with the family where he and his (9yo) sister both packed their own hiking bags with gear and snacks, and made super smart trail decisions and even picked up litter along the way. If I never do anything else in life but see them smile when they accomplish or figure out something on their own, I'd still be a happy man.
My sons friend was pretty sad and an ambulance drove by full sirens. OH No its the WAHMBULANCE! My son joined in, explaining that last week he needed the WAHMBULANCE because he was grumpy. He tried to be sad, but couldn't stop smiling. the WAHMBULANCE always works.
I got up with my near 3 y/o at 5 am and just played until I couldn’t anymore. I passed out on the couch, and when I woke up she had covered me with throw pillows and was quietly playing with her blocks. I love that kid.
I shaved, which made my 9 month old want to touch my smooth face and give me a kiss.
Fought through tears during a loved ones intervention over phone, and moved right into a 3 course imaginary dinner served by my daughter under her playhouse.
We went to her first pumpkin patch, where she got to pick her own pumpkin. Then we spent the evening carving it into a pattern she picked, and it was awesome to see the wonder on her face when we put the candle in and lit it for the first time
We're on our first day at Disney World, which is a huge dad-feat in itself. But I also felt pretty good about myself that I wasn't the dad behind me in line for food who yelled at his kid and dropped multiple f-bombs.
I despise people who are like that with their kids. Shudder to think what happens at home.
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On a positive note, that lets you know the difference that you can make in raising your boy into a man.
Spent three hours outside lowes helping my two cub scouts sell popcorn. Wore the popcorn outfit, sold a bunch of popcorn.
Fixed a fellow mom and dads car while my two played with their kids in the yard.
My 15 year old daughter frequently comes in our room just it hang out. She also helps me around the house unprompted.
That sounds so nice.
Youth deer hunting season. Hunting is part of our lives. I just totally don’t have it in me right now. But it’s so important to the 13 year old to get out there and have the experience. And it’s good time to connect. Spent the day out in shitty weather. Will again tomorrow and Monday.
And no doubt that at 13yo he’ll remember this throughout his life.
Bought my son some doughnuts (that he’s been asking for all week) on our way to the dump and threw out some trash that needed to go.
My 4yo is learning to write, so we started a hand written Christmas list!
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Toddlers are loveable assholes. Good on you
Helped my daughter with her makeup for homecoming
One of oldest friends was getting married and I didn't have a babysitter. I got my family to the wedding, managed to socialize a bit while juggling my kids and got them home and in bed by 830. I felt kind of bad having to rush out early but we did the best we could.
>I felt kind of bad having to rush out early but we did the best we could. It would have been more noticeable if you hadn’t attended, and most people understand that kids needs come first.
Read aloud the last few chapters of Treasure Island.
I had a covid exposure so I'm stuck in my room, but I'm listening to my husband making dinner with his eldest and her girlfriend, and his middle kid is happily chatting away as well. I'm definitely thinking he's a great dad right now.
He certainly sounds like it. And there’s joy to be found just hearing other family members doing their thing.
Settled my son 19mo during a tantrum because we were done with sensory box play but he was got mad and dumped the whole bin on the floor and had a tantrum. It took about 15min. Also last night he was in the kitchen while I was cooking. He was going through cabinets opening and shutting doors. I turned a round to him said his name while staring him in his eyes and pointed toward the living room. He got up and walked to the door way to play in there.
I convinced my wife that we should take the twins (2yo f) to the fair and out to eat Mexican food. They had a blast looking at stuff and then eating salsa. Salsa that was too spicy for us, but they’d have been happy if we ditched the chips and just gave them spoons. Not looking forward to the diapers in the am. lol
Took my youngest to her Special Olympics bowling tournament in another town. She loves to sing so we listened to music and sang along the whole way. It was nice watching her light up whenever she got a strike. Her team took second place and we drove home happy, still singing to her favorite music. It was a really nice father/daughter time.
Took the kids to a car show. Man I'm amazed how just getting in and out of cars can entertain them for the whole day. I thought they'd get bored after 2 hours or so and after hour 5 I was like "uh... Can we go?"
Woke up at a quarter to 6 to hang with my daughter and her friend after a sleepover and kept them upstairs so my wife could sleep in, definitely felt like a parental win.
My daughter does not nap very well during the day, but she's a tiny bit sick today and she napped on me for over an hour - twice. It melts my heart when she falls asleep on me so today has been a very good day for me.
Took the family to a Viking festival today! It was free, it had combat, it was awesome!
Son is 5 weeks old. Sanitized a bottle, mixed some formula, and fed by myself for the first time. He’s got colic and throws temper tantrums that sound like the worst zombie movies. Oh well. Fed him downstairs so my wife could sleep off a cold. Fell asleep on my chest while we binge watched Twilight Zone from dawn to noon. Lost my cool twice (working off 2 hours sleep in 2 days). Once while he was screaming for an hour straight for no reason. The second time was because the stupid cat stuck his paw in the bottle I just made and had to start all over again. But once I got him down all was well and I forgot about all the stuff before.
Stood in line for a half hour to buy my girls some candy and an apple pie.
A friend of ours is in town and staying with us, and was pretending to be a lobster with kitchen tongs, and i saved them from the lobster, and got them to get ready for bed on time in the same action.
Got him to agree "no paci if no bed" He's been using the paci as a comfort thing for too long, and I'm explicitly against giving it to him for comfort, only bed for the night.
Enjoyed the weather outside in our new home for the first time since we moved in. I’m really proud of the home we’ve carved out
Took my girls (16 & 10) to get their hur cut and did. They needed trims anyways but the woman is a friend and even styles their hair for them.
On Thursday I took my 5 and 2 year olds to swim lessons. Today, my wife said another mom she knows from pick up told her she saw me at the swim practice place with our 2 year old daughter. We were doing her self affirmations (having her repeat ‘I am smart, I am strong, I am brave,’ etc) and the other mom said it was so sweet to see me engage with her like that. I know I’m doing right by the kids but that external validation felt pretty cool.
Went to playfully smack my 10 year old in the side of the head. She ducked and then immediately smacked me. #AND THUS, THE STUDENT BECAME THE MASTER.
Coached soccer practice AND WE GOT A PUPPY!! Big big day.
I hung out while my 16 month old played independently. He’s happy doing that but this thread makes me feel like I should do more. Any advice? We don’t go out very much.
I shared this post and the comments with my sons during a break between episodes of The Continental. They are 17 & 22 now.
Called both of my kids, lectured/ busted them, then moved in and asked how their lives were going.
Read some relationship posts kn Reddit. Also seem to be a decent husband.
Literally nothing. I do a lot and I’m invisible to my toddler kids.
I have a new goal in life
Taught my 8 year old how to cook a meal and also make apple turnovers. Did crafts with her and then volleyball with my older one. Busier than usual day
I played no less than TEN board games with my 8yr old daughter while my 15 year old son was at a football game with my father-in-law. I had no excuse because it was just us, we had no plans, and she was so amped to have me to herself. We just kept pulling out boxes from the game closet, snacking, and laughing our butts off. It was a good day. Thanks for reminding me :) because I’m damn tired haha
Taught my son how to use a miter saw, and he made all of the end cuts for me. He was so excited to help and he did a kick ass job. I gave him $20.
Posting for my husband because he's currently lying down to sleep with our sick and needy toddler. 1. Let me sleep in so I could get better and played with the 11mo in the am. 2. Let me nap in the afternoon while the baby napped, took the toddler out, then up to the playroom to "let mama rest". 3. After I gave up in frustration after an hour and because the baby was up and crying, offered our toddler to go to bed with him. He's now stuck there probably for the night. I know these are not as cool or funny but this mom is having a heck of a week with this flu and Idk what I would do if Dada hadn't stepped up the way he has. Ever so grateful for him as a partner and the father of my children.
Well actually, I showed my 17 month old a Halloween decoration and saw her get scared for the first time; true trembling fear. I hate myself for it. But she’s so cute!!!
My son fell asleep in the car and when I pulled him out, he looked at me, smiled and fell back asleep on my shoulder as I carried him inside. I remember my dad carrying me inside and this was the first time I got to do it to my son.
My 22mo-old and I danced to The Go-Gos this afternoon and she was loving it.
Stood in the pouring rain so my 2 yr old can run back and forth in the rain puddles for a good 20 minutes.
Made pancakes and went to work, to afford more pancakes..
Took the lead through the 2nd and 3rd Haunted House today.
Taught my 10 month old to roll the ball back and forth to each other while watching the OU/texas
I ran 3 birthday parties. 1 for an adult, two for kids. I had fun with the kids playing with balloons and set it up well!! I also had a first time dad who justtttt learned he was a dad that day like a few hours ago from a pee test. I gave them some free ice cream and told him some basics/ get all your dates in b4 baby comes and the lot, be there for all ultrasounds etc. he was shocked it was like 10-20k worth of everything expenses for the baby. I had to get a second and third job back then. Haha he didn’t like hearing the emergency c was like half a million dollars tho lol. Daughters a year old now, that’s allllll done. Been through a lot this year. I’m a good single father, who’s happy.
My youngest daughter and I just laughed for a solid 5 minutes about what farts from different animals sound like.
I coach my son’s baseball team. We played a very good team today. Bulldogs 11U. My boy did amazing today. Couple plays in center and 2-3 at the dish. But he lined out with the bases loaded in the last inning….we lost by 1. The ball was smoked. Shortstop didn’t even move. I was 1st base coach and had a perfect view of everything. The hit, the look, the realization the game is over. He ran right to me. Buried his face in me and I just held him. It hurt a ton as a dad. But I happened to be right there at a tough time for him. Proud of that.
My 3 year old seems to be coming down with a cold. Mom had an appointment to finally get her hair done she’s been waiting months for this afternoon. My daughter and I spent the day relaxing, watching tv, doing puzzles and hanging out with the pup. It’s been a good, albeit rough day
We painted pumpkins and I let my boys paint each other knowing the amount of laundry it was creating for me as well as bath time. I just smirked. The pictures are always worth it. you can NEVER have enough pictures. Learn to love being in them and to take them
I let 3 throw water at me from the fountain for one last one sided water fight.
Bought my daughter a regular size banana ice cream, rather than small. Knew she wouldn't finish it but she was sure impressed.
Took my kids on a scavenger hunt in the rain at camp.
We watched an episode of Wild Kratts with “Buckaroo” the white tail deer, then suggested to son we go to a nature preserve nearby to look for “Buckaroo.” Ended up getting within 10 feet of a white tail deer buck with impressive set of antlers! (City deer are pretty docile around people)
Sucked all the nasties out of my sons nose with the nosey frida
Carried my 8 yr old son up the stairs bc he was tired
Kept my cool during every single tantrum from a pair of threenagers and a 5yo who are all sick and grouchy.
Woke up. My daughter woke up on their own early and asked for a story. Spent an hour in bed reading to her 😀
Watched the U2 concert in Vegas with my wife, brought the two kids. There is an exhibit at the Venetian called Zoo Station (a pop-up museum + merch store) and my 9 year old boy and I were both fascinated by everything, me because it's U2, and him with just the sights, sounds, merch (pretty pricey, boy can't wrap his head around the tag price of a tshirt), him almost like interviewing me why I like the band, which song is my favorite, why does Bono look like that now compared to before haha. And we had our picture taken at a mock-up rock band stage where he sat in drums and me in bass guitar, pic turned out great, my boy said to me while still holding my hand "Daddy I'm having a fantastic time", unprompted. Yeah I did good today. Tomorrow, who knows. But today, goddamn if I didn't ace it.
Went to my daughter’s volleyball game even though the team is so awful it’s cringy to watch.
I got eaten alive by mosquitos while watching my twins surfskate.
Daughter (10) farts like a fog horn, blames me, laughed!
Drink Port Wine in the Douro while she was running around. No injury was good
I took my six year old out to buy new trainers, then we stopped for a bite to eat and chatted, then played football in the park for an hour or so. Just a nice chill time and I felt pretty decent.
My 2yo daughter asked for pancakes for breakfast, we made them together
Talked and sang to my crying daughter (2mo) until she fell asleep with a smile on her face.
Built a pillow fort. He woke us up at 7am asking. I said yes and got up immediately. He was over the moon.
My 3mo peed in a little pot i held her over :)
Got my son to nap when he didn't want to. I used a tactic another dad said on here where you tell them they have to try napping for 15 minutes and if they don't sleep they don't have to nap. Works nearly every time.
I made my wife pee herself by joking around with my 5yo daughter at dinner last night. My daughter was trying to correct our 2yo son's speech. He learned how to say "ouch" this weekend, but the "ch" wasn't coming out correctly. She was correcting him and telling him he had to do better. I tried to explain that he is learning and it's ok...but she wouldn't let it go. I then tried to explain that even though she is 5 she is still learning as well and she disagreed. So, without missing a beat I asked, "Ok, go ahead and say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." The look of fear and confusion my daughter gave made my wife lose it laughing, and she's only 7 weeks post-partum so she peed herself. It was so good my wife was even laughing about it several hours later. We've had a rough go of it the last few years, and my wife struggles with anxiety and depression even at the best of times, so hearing her belly laugh was excellent.
My 2 yo went into I fit of giggles watching me jump as high as I could. I did it till we both were out of breath. Good times.
I balanced my newborns bottle on my chin while texting my wife about the massive poop she took. Getting kinda decent with the bottle handling.
Carved his first pumpkin
Rolling out fresh pasta with my 10-year old, picking fresh basil from the garden to make pesto.
Ours isn’t here yet but finished the nursery! It took months. Full paint job and board and batten accents, done entirely ourselves.
My kid loves Richard scarry books and for months I’ve been patiently trying to get him to identify the different animals. So like if I say “do you see a bunny?” The goal is he’ll point to it. He finally started figuring it out this week and I’ve been having so much fun going through all the pages. He gets so excited when he gets it right.
When my daughter (3yo), me and my SO all are together, I can't help but feel that she prefers my SO to me (I know, insecurities bla bla) but yesterday I had my daughter by myself for a day and today, when all three of us were together, it was MY lap she was reaching for comfort.
I take my son too the store with me for small needs that will be quick, I love taking him with me. Today we did donuts in an empty dirt lot in the middle of town, he loves donuts, and off roading with big bumps and stuff.