5AF Parenting Thread

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:40 am

DGIII, not quite a year after fracturing three metatarsals during a baserunning drill during baseball practice, fell off the artificial mound while scrambling to cover home and really sprained his ankle. Three days later he can't put weight on it.

Since it was the same foot as his metatarsal fractures, we took him to an urgent care for x-rays. Nothing broken, according to the doctor there, but my boy is in a lot of discomfort.

Not much swelling, and it does feel better (just the ankle sore, not the top of the foot) - is this just a bad sprain? Or could it be something more serious? He's going to the pediatrician today, but they won't be able to do much.

Postby **shmenguin** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:46 am

the world's worst school for pre-K strikes again.

the teacher wants to reward children by allowing them a phone call to their parent. the f***? we work. that's why they're in your poor excuse for a school. nah - i can't fly to atlanta for that sales presentation. my daughter might be calling during nap time. sorry boss.

and she already floated this idea past the kids and guess what - they loved it! no sh*t. big shocker. thanks for asking them first.

Postby **meow** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:59 am

You don’t want to talk to your kid on the phone? The hells the matter with you?

Joking

Postby **shmenguin** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:01 pm

You don’t want to talk to your kid on the phone? The hells the matter with you?

Joking

there's a sidebar here that's fairly meaty. the whole, "yes it's the weekend and this is precious time with my growing children. but i've had a long week and i just want some peace and quiet" thing where you balance time with the kids vs time for self-care. it's something i certainly haven't figured out.

but f*** this school, as well

Postby **shafnutz05** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:07 pm

If you've ever cleaned out a Keurig that sat for a few weeks, you'd never make anything meant for your child with a device like that.

The thought of cleaning out a baby formula Keurig is gag-inducing.

Postby **meow** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:49 pm

You don’t want to talk to your kid on the phone? The hells the matter with you?

Joking
there's a sidebar here that's fairly meaty. the whole, "yes it's the weekend and this is precious time with my growing children. but i've had a long week and i just want some peace and quiet" thing where you balance time with the kids vs time for self-care. it's something i certainly haven't figured out.

but f*** this school, as well

I went through a...funk...where I valued my alone time more than time with the kids. Almost from a combination of being overwhelmed and a some selfishness. Once I worked through that, I’ve been infinitely more happy, a better father, and a better husband.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:59 pm

I went through a...funk...where I valued my alone time more than time with the kids. Almost from a combination of being overwhelmed and a some selfishness. Once I worked through that, I’ve been infinitely more happy, a better father, and a better husband.

Hey man...I went through a similar period. It's normal. I still enjoy my alone time, but my daughter is at the age now where she is a blast to hang out with (when she isn't going into her final form

).

When I am playing outside with her, I will do just about anything she wants to do. Yesterday, we were rolling down the hill over and over again (with me in jeans). I'm constantly climbing up on her swing set because one of her favorite games is having me "save" her when she is hanging on from going down the slide. I think a big part of this is that I'm kind of a kid at heart, and playing with her gives me a chance to play those dumb childhood games that I obviously otherwise wouldn't do.

Regarding shmenguin's post...holy hell, that is one of the worst policies I've ever heard of. It also sounds like a surefire way of creating issues, where kids (who otherwise wouldn't think about their parents too much during the course of the day), will suddenly be overcome with wanting to see their parents because they talked to them on the phone. Terrible idea.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 1:08 pm

Good posts meow and shaf. I too had trouble adjusting to no alone time. Perhaps that has to do with me getting married at 32, having my first kid at 36, and being more or less an introvert. It also helps when I come home from work and the first thing my kids do is drop any toy they have and scream "Daddy!!" and run into my arms for a hug and kiss. I can tell there's a huge change of attitude when I spend quality time with them.

A coworker of mine said he never realized how selfish he was until he became a dad. It takes a lot of work and effort, but it is damn worth it.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 1:12 pm

It's hard not to be a little selfish given how much time and dedication kids require for the first few years of their lives.

Postby **shmenguin** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 1:32 pm

I went through a...funk...where I valued my alone time more than time with the kids. Almost from a combination of being overwhelmed and a some selfishness. Once I worked through that, I’ve been infinitely more happy, a better father, and a better husband.
Hey man...I went through a similar period. It's normal. I still enjoy my alone time, but my daughter is at the age now where she is a blast to hang out with (when she isn't going into her final form ).

When I am playing outside with her, I will do just about anything she wants to do. Yesterday, we were rolling down the hill over and over again (with me in jeans). I'm constantly climbing up on her swing set because one of her favorite games is having me "save" her when she is hanging on from going down the slide. I think a big part of this is that I'm kind of a kid at heart, and playing with her gives me a chance to play those dumb childhood games that I obviously otherwise wouldn't do.

Regarding shmenguin's post...holy hell, that is one of the worst policies I've ever heard of. It also sounds like a surefire way of creating issues, where kids (who otherwise wouldn't think about their parents too much during the course of the day), will suddenly be overcome with wanting to see their parents because they talked to them on the phone. Terrible idea.

The circle of professional educators in my life cane to the same conclusion. A phone call is just going to make them beg to go home.

This is a babysitter posing as a teacher looking for ways to make the day go faster. On my dime. Yay.

Postby **tjand72** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 4:10 pm

How and how often is that cleaned?

The dry powder and water are kept separate until it's mixed in a washable funnel. The funnel pops off and you wash it each day. The powder hopper, mixing/sifting blades, and water reservoir are washed once a month. It's really a 10 minute job.

I've used it for about 7 months, and I haven't had a problem. Nothing growing...yet. I hate the smell of formula, but there's no smell either.

Postby **MWB** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:36 pm

the world's worst school for pre-K strikes again.

the teacher wants to reward children by allowing them a phone call to their parent. the f***? we work. that's why they're in your poor excuse for a school. nah - i can't fly to atlanta for that sales presentation. my daughter might be calling during nap time. sorry boss.

and she already floated this idea past the kids and guess what - they loved it! no sh*t. big shocker. thanks for asking them first.

Every part of that is awful.

Postby **shmenguin** » Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:12 pm

i don't know if my daughter's favorite song is ACTUALLY Safety Dance or if she's just saying that because it's what I want to hear. I guess I'm just glad it's part of our lives.

Postby **meow** » Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:36 pm

Coaching 3-4 year old soccer is hilarious. I see other coaches trying to do drills and work on skills. My kids are learning how to yell when they shoot...

Postby **shmenguin** » Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:47 pm

World’s worst preschool update.

They watched a PG movie the other day. Because there are no G movies in the whole universe apparently.

Then they had a lockdown drill. And instead of keeping it a little vague and deferring to the parents to explain why they were doing it, the teacher decided to let them know they were practicing hiding in case a mean man came into the school. Freaking hell. Just do the drill and keep it confusing. We’ll handle the debrief at home. They’re 4 and 5 years old.

Postby **meow** » Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:55 pm

Time to find a new preschool

Postby **MWB** » Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:18 pm

World’s worst preschool update.

They watched a PG movie the other day. Because there are no G movies in the whole universe apparently.

Then they had a lockdown drill. And instead of keeping it a little vague and deferring to the parents to explain why they were doing it, the teacher decided to let them know they were practicing hiding in case a mean man came into the school. Freaking hell. Just do the drill and keep it confusing. We’ll handle the debrief at home. They’re 4 and 5 years old.

Beyond dumb.

Regarding movies, G movies are damn hard to find now. Almost everything is PG.

Postby **MWB** » Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:32 pm

I posted some of this is political thread, but someone at a basketball tournament showed a gun after a 6th grade game and parent argument.

Anyway, fast forward a couple days... one of the parents from my team called the news in charlotte (2 hours from incident) and had her kids go on and be interviewed about the incident. Why do that?

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Wed Mar 21, 2018 11:20 pm

I saw that tonight and totally forgot you posted about it.

Postby **MWB** » Wed Mar 21, 2018 11:27 pm

I can’t imagine ever telling my kids, hey, you just experienced this bad thing... I know, let’s get you on the news to talk about it. And I’ll also share a little game footage without telling any of the other parents it’s going on the news.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:20 am

I can’t imagine ever telling my kids, hey, you just experienced this bad thing... I know, let’s get you on the news to talk about it. And I’ll also share a little game footage without telling any of the other parents it’s going on the news.

Simple...if you are a tremendously selfish parent that wants to leverage your child for sympathy, FB likes, etc...you do this. I'm sure the Mom shared the interview on FB and is self-pleasuring to all of the sympathy that she receives from her dopey friends.

World’s worst preschool update.

They watched a PG movie the other day. Because there are no G movies in the whole universe apparently.

Dude, there are better options out there. I know at this point she's almost in Kindergarten but damn, that place is bad. Regarding the G vs. PG thing, that's still why I like Disney over any of the other studios. The Dreamworks kid's movies tend to be more mean-spirited and edgy. Trolls is a good example of that.

Postby **eddy** » Thu Mar 22, 2018 7:10 am

Coaching 3-4 year old soccer is hilarious. I see other coaches trying to do drills and work on skills. My kids are learning how to yell when they shoot...

I made it one year and retired the whistle. They were 5-6 year olds so that made it a little different and I'm not going to lie, it felt great to yell at other people's kids, but man, controlling 3 kids of my own is enough. My wife is still going strong 6 years later and coaches travel soccer, not sure how she does it after watching 6 kids all day. Sounds like you have to right approach

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Thu Mar 22, 2018 10:16 am

I had my first gripe with our daycare on Tuesday. As my wife is packing up the kids, my oldest son is given a lollipop from a kid's birthday party. OK, not my favorite thing to happen, but whatever. My youngest starts to scream and cry that he didn't get one. In front of my wife, a daycare worker gives him a bag of gummy candy. Said she doesn't like seeing kids cry. Eh, what? You work at a daycare, kids cry all day. You're telling me you placate them all day by giving them candy? Not cool.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Thu Mar 22, 2018 10:34 am

By and large, I really like the teachers at my daughter's school, and feel like we picked a good one. That said, any time you are dealing with child care, you have to remember that these are often unskilled folks making $10/hour. Any time you are working with that sort of pay/skill level, you are inevitably going to get a higher percentage of bad apples that have to be weeded out. Thankfully, our school has done a good job with that, and the teachers they do have are mostly great.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Thu Mar 22, 2018 11:45 am

That was my thought too, shaf. But as a parent, I reserve the right to be completely single minded and irrational when it comes to the care of my children.

Did you see the movie Bringing up Bebe? While I don't agree with everything the French do in regards to raising their kids, I thought their approach to daycare was interesting.