Yea, I work into the night. This allows me to take care of the mornings, and the evenings are my spouse. I take care of the kids mostly on the weekends to give her some time off. I think we may have to bite the bullet and find room in our budget for a cleaner and a babysitter
Typically, physical violence towards boys is seen as normal, expected and necessary. As violence is seen as the natural realm of males. While girls are perfect flowery princesses that must be protected. At least until puberty when everyone* who is not their parent seems to regard every teen girl as an incubator.
*: People who uncritically abscribe to traditional misogynistic conceptions of gender.
Bah. I love my friends’ kids but I’m not above joking that the dad should abandon his family when he can’t hang out. Or tie them to a stake in the backyard when he can’t get a sitter. Absurdity is funny when it’s obvious that it’s absurd.
I’ve never used corporal punishment, and I never will. Our worst case punishment is time-out (1 minute per year old). I still remember hearing about her reaction from her grandmother. The sheer horror on her face, when she discovered that nanny knew about time-outs!
Even timeouts generally aren’t needed. It’s been over half her lifetime since we last used it. Her respect and love for us is more than enough to enforce good behaviour. We actually have to be careful, the smallest bit of upset from us creates a disproportionate reaction in her. Knowing she’s disappointed mummy or daddy hurts her more than any amount of beating with fists (open or closed) could achieve.
Just to add.
If people do advocate (even jokingly) for spanking, I take it seriously. I point out I am using the best scientific knowledge we currently have, to achieve the best results for her. If they don’t immediately back down, with their tail between their legs, I point them at something like this :
I do try and be kind with the older generations however. They didn’t know better, and often we’re doing the best they could. That’s no excuse for not adapting their advice to the times however.
I won’t say I have a solution for you, but I can at least offer solidarity. It’s been lonely for me too and it’s a good year if I see friends more than a few times… I will say, try to stay healthy for yourself. You may hit some low times, plan ahead, and make decisions you won’t regret. And remember that you are in a marathon, this is going to take a while, pace yourself.
Thank you. I’m already a pretty big introvert and I don’t mind the physical exhaustion, but damn, I didn’t realize that even I would become starved for conversation at some point. It’s good to know that I’m not alone
I’ve felt like this before for sure. Best advice I can offer is to try your best to include your kids in your hobbies. Sure if your hobbies were doing drugs or getting blackout drunk at the clubs, then you’ll probably not be able to bring your kids. Though if you like golf/woodworking/video games… something like that, pack up the diapers and bottles or snacks or whatever and bring them with you. Babies sleep proportionately to how much formula they drink and older kids will eat up any menial task you give them to “help”.
Give it a try. It might not be the exact experience you had before, but you may be pleasantly surprised.
I definitely fully intend to do this (I like washing the cars, which I’m sure they’ll love) but right now they’re 1 and 2, so it’s hard. I’ll have to look into hobbies that babies can do too
Great advice! And sure, if OP’s hobbies are base jumping or something else not exactly kid friendly, there’s always the opportunity to explore some new interests that the can include the kids in.
Most importantly, including your kids in your hobbies, or finding new ones together is a really rewarding way to strengthen bonds and create long lasting, positive memories for them.
I don’t remember the lessons smacked into me as a child, but I did learned to avoid them by being pleasing and anxious about doing something wrong. Corporal punishment only serves the purpose of giving a feeling of control.
Played with a knife then she got mad at me for taking it from her. Then got even more mad when I tried to explain to her why it's dangerous. She's 3 years old
I’ve had a conversation or two that went like that. Weird strangers telling me I should be kicking my kids ass. And they say it in front of my kids too.
If you’ve got parents around you telling you your kids are floating turds I’d have a good hard look at how you’re parenting. Or hey if everyone around you is insane maybe it’s just everyone is insane…
Consistent parenting, with follow through on consequences is obviously the best way. But some parents never provide expectationa or consequences and those are the kids the get the “they deserve a good smack” from the grandparent comments
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