The Parenthood Thread

[jasejase]

Earmuffs JJ... maybe she doesn't like the effect it has on her sex drive....?

[twisty]

it may make her too level. i know a few people that hate taking their anxiety meds because nothing changes when they are on it. always feel the same, no emotional spikes at all. i guess that weighs on you after a while.

[jasejase]

yep. slightened affect is a bitch

[JJBerk]

Thanks for the ideas. No ear muffs needed [emoji6]. I'll retread through this and then talk this week. @Twisty you make a good point about too level. @jasejase, you too. Could be. We'll see how it goes. She's home safe and sound which makes momma super happy. We'll work through the rest this week.

[andrew.anderson]

How has the school closure affect how folks parent their kids?

 

I know many folks are now managing I know folks are conducting school at home (not to be confused with homeschooling) but there is a separate thread for that topic.

 

Have your parenting techniques changed as a result of spending more time with your spouse and kids?

[Penguin]

Not much change here, but toddlers and toddler activities are not affected much by school closures.

 

I remain willing and available to beat the unruly children of parents who lack the willingness to deliver beatings to shitty kids in need of beating.

[jasejase]

How has the school closure affect how folks parent their kids?

 

I know many folks are now managing I know folks are conducting school at home (not to be confused with homeschooling) but there is a separate thread for that topic.

 

Have your parenting techniques changed as a result of spending more time with your spouse and kids?

 

It's been interesting, as my wife and I both work (now from home mostly) full time.

 

Parenting techniques..... not sure that they've changed. There's more tension at times, ESPECIALLY in the beginning. Lot more overall stress, trying to figure out distance learning programs, expectations, work shit, etc. Our kid is pretty well balanced, but he reverted back to having a meltdown once in a while. We've nipped that in the butt though. He doesn't ever show stress very much, as he buries it deep inside and it manifests later. Like mom and dad probably. lol. He says that this hasn't effected him, but it has to. The lack of social engagement alone as an only child, has to have some kind of impact here.

 

LIttle league starts 6/20.

[Dishwasher]

The drunk midget 2yo is definitely more clingy since the pandemic. He's not used to having Dad around as much as I am. Otherwise it's a pretty good opportunity to have more family time. My commute was about 90 minutes a day, now that's 90 more minutes of kid time since I'm working from home. I get to have lunch with the kiddo, which is neat.

 

Pandemic seems like it's forcing families to reconsider being 2 income households as someone has to make sure the kid doesn't burn the house down. Wife is new graduate with an elementary teaching degree, she's having a tough time getting an interview since I don't think these schools have any clue what they're doing yet.

[jasejase]

I've worked from home since he was born, so that's about the same (though I'm away less, as appointments are less now). My wife has always worked from home 1-2X a week, which is now daily. It's visibly clear that he's losing out on being with his friends. Whether he realizes is or not....

 

Schooling has been a challengef or the last 3 months, and will continue. They're already talking about the likelihood of next year being split between distance learning and in a classroom. He's a bit of a smarty pants, so he's already nearly a grade level ahead in the online learning measures (STMath and Lexia). So keeping him engaged over the summer while not learning even more will be challenging. Especially since most of the kids in his class appear to be struggling. I see the first month or so of the next school year being a massive refresher. We don't want him to get bored, but don't necessarily want him to stop learning either. He's not interested in skipping a grade. We shall see. I've read something that basically predict that these three months of distance learning could equate to an entire academic year being lost for many. Horrible.

 

As far as teaching opportunities for your wife, once the school districts figure out their game plan (many will have one in place by the end of this month), she may see some opportunities pop up. One of the options out there for many districts will be to keep school classrooms open, while social distancing. Meaning that they will need more class room space. So you may see gyms used as classrooms, etc, to possibly create more classes of less kids. More classes could equate to more teachers. There are a lot of variables here inclusive mainly of budget and space.

[andrew.anderson]

It's been interesting, as my wife and I both work (now from home mostly) full time.

 

Parenting techniques..... not sure that they've changed. There's more tension at times, ESPECIALLY in the beginning. Lot more overall stress, trying to figure out distance learning programs, expectations, work shit, etc. Our kid is pretty well balanced, but he reverted back to having a meltdown once in a while. We've nipped that in the butt though. He doesn't ever show stress very much, as he buries it deep inside and it manifests later. Like mom and dad probably. lol. He says that this hasn't effected him, but it has to. The lack of social engagement alone as an only child, has to have some kind of impact here.

 

LIttle league starts 6/20.

 

I've worked from home since he was born, so that's about the same (though I'm away less, as appointments are less now). My wife has always worked from home 1-2X a week, which is now daily. It's visibly clear that he's losing out on being with his friends. Whether he realizes is or not....

 

Schooling has been a challengef or the last 3 months, and will continue. They're already talking about the likelihood of next year being split between distance learning and in a classroom. He's a bit of a smarty pants, so he's already nearly a grade level ahead in the online learning measures (STMath and Lexia). So keeping him engaged over the summer while not learning even more will be challenging. Especially since most of the kids in his class appear to be struggling. I see the first month or so of the next school year being a massive refresher. We don't want him to get bored, but don't necessarily want him to stop learning either. He's not interested in skipping a grade. We shall see. I've read something that basically predict that these three months of distance learning could equate to an entire academic year being lost for many. Horrible.

 

As far as teaching opportunities for your wife, once the school districts figure out their game plan (many will have one in place by the end of this month), she may see some opportunities pop up. One of the options out there for many districts will be to keep school classrooms open, while social distancing. Meaning that they will need more class room space. So you may see gyms used as classrooms, etc, to possibly create more classes of less kids. More classes could equate to more teachers. There are a lot of variables here inclusive mainly of budget and space.

 

 

We have 5 kids so I haven't thought much about the only child getting bored. Does your son do any online video engagement as part of DL schooling? What about Zoom, Face-time, or whatever with his friends? Our kids do some variation of video chat with friends multiple times a day which helps them stay connected and helps their friends as well.

[jasejase]

He does, however our school system doesn't let them do virtual online meetings as a class until they are in second or third grade... Not sure if its a state rule, or local. He is able to record videos and leave them for his classmates, respond to other kids videos via video, etc. Just not live videos.

 

We start baseball in two weeks. I think we're going to go forth with it. As long as the curve doesn't drastically change

[andrew.anderson]

He does, however our school system doesn't let them do virtual online meetings as a class until they are in second or third grade... Not sure if its a state rule, or local. He is able to record videos and leave them for his classmates, respond to other kids videos via video, etc. Just not live videos.

 

We start baseball in two weeks. I think we're going to go forth with it. As long as the curve doesn't drastically change

 

So he is young, first grade? I missed that. Video calls with grandparents / cousins? He is young enough the lack of social interaction for a few months wont be that traumatic. Good that sports are starting soon though.

[andrew.anderson]

The drunk midget 2yo is definitely more clingy since the pandemic. He's not used to having Dad around as much as I am. Otherwise it's a pretty good opportunity to have more family time. My commute was about 90 minutes a day, now that's 90 more minutes of kid time since I'm working from home. I get to have lunch with the kiddo, which is neat.

 

Great that you are able to get more time with the kid. To bad everyone is stuck at home or you and the family could go on family outings.

 

Pandemic seems like it's forcing families to reconsider being 2 income households as someone has to make sure the kid doesn't burn the house down. Wife is new graduate with an elementary teaching degree, she's having a tough time getting an interview since I don't think these schools have any clue what they're doing yet.

 

 

Do you think the job opportunities for educators will increase when schools reopen? I haven;t been monitoring employment opportunities fro educators but it seems as schools reopen and they decrease class size they will likely need more educators.

[jasejase]

So he is young, first grade? I missed that. Video calls with grandparents / cousins? He is young enough the lack of social interaction for a few months wont be that traumatic. Good that sports are starting soon though.

 

Locally, it's just my mom. We've been meeting up in outside settings for walks, etc for a while now. I hate facetime, but we do it once a week or thereabouts with her.

 

Rest of the family is scattered across the country. We've been in touch and have seen some of them. Safely. Some of our family members live in areas where there are virtually no cases.

 

A lot of friends are starting to ask to get together. We shall see. Once baseball starts, I guess whats the use of avoiding people. lol. There needs to be a cost benefit with social distancing. He's adapting to the current way of life now, but im not sure that's great either.

[Dishwasher]

Great that you are able to get more time with the kid. To bad everyone is stuck at home or you and the family could go on family outings.

 

Yeah we're going on family bike rides and doing family garden projects. Honestly it can be a little too much family time if you know what I mean.

 

 

Do you think the job opportunities for educators will increase when schools reopen? I haven;t been monitoring employment opportunities fro educators but it seems as schools reopen and they decrease class size they will likely need more educators.

 

That is our hope. I would think that social distancing is going to necessitate smaller class sizes, and more teachers. That being said our governor also just cut our elementary education budget by $200 million (Missouri, doesn't need more dumb kids, but that's a topic for a different thread), so I'm sure that's creating more issues for already cash strapped districts.

 

How are you coping with 5 kids? Are you okay? Do we need to send help?

Edited June 10, 2020 by Dishwasher

[Penguin]

My son is still able to go to daycare. Even days that I’m home, or the wife is home he goes.

 

He’s now at the stage where he very vocally objects to things he doesn’t want to do. Last night it was going to bed. Then a few hours later going back to his own bed. Then a few hours later the same. 95% of the time he gets to pound sand and cry it out, cursing his callous parents who have made it their cruel policy to also want to be able to sleep at night. I indulged him last night after the third attempt at 0200 to put him down, again, he grabbed his blanket and pillow and ran down the hall to our room. It was so damn funny I let him win.

 

This morning he was furious when my wife made him get up. That’s what happens when you spend all night not sleeping and protesting instead. Little hooligan.

[jasejase]

 

we always had a great sleeper. Even at 7, he will get up earlier than we want sometimes, but he knows he's not allowed to leave his room until whatever time we preset the night before. Usually 8-820.

[Dishwasher]

My kid won't go to bed without his tape measure. He cries when we take it away. I do not care.

 

[jasejase]

Oh boy.

[JJBerk]

Love reading all this. My beautiful gal is a teacher in Charlotte NC and will be 25. I miss her every single day. She hopes to move back here some day. My fingers are crossed.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[jasejase]

She still doing the music thing?

[Dishwasher]

Alexa, how many gallons of LSD were consumed during the making of Thomas the Train? Edited June 18, 2020 by Dishwasher

[Penguin]

A lot.

 

As a professional in the RR industry I’m amazed at the horrible safety record of the Brendam Bay RR. Derailments, lost trains, authority violations and collisions every day. No one air testing cars, no inspections of any kind, no one observing hours of service, constant speeding. That RR is a shit show.

[ehsnils]

How do you lose a train?

I can understand losing individual cars by accidentally putting them on the wrong train.

[Dishwasher]

Potty training is going well. The 2yo is incentivized not by candy, but by using the “biiig” lawnmower, which is far and away his favorite activity. He would have us mowing our lawn daily if he could.

 

For the record he showed interest in potty training and so that’s why it’s happening, I know a lot of people say wait till 3, but he took the lead on it so I’m not going to shut it down.

Edited June 18, 2020 by Dishwasher