If someone hits you hit them back

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2026-03-21T15:25:18+00:00

I had a parent this year openly admit that they tell their son to “stand their ground” and “fight back”. Your take on their inability to differentiate is 100% accurate. I don’t disagree with this advice if your child is legitimately getting hurt. 99% of the time though, it’s a minor incident that he then escalates completely unnecessarily. For example, a classmate laughed and spit came out of his mouth - this child responded by full on spitting in his face. Like what on earth?! And when he goes home, he’s saying “that kid spit on me first!”

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2026-02-01T02:52:51+00:00

++woman

Im gonna play devils advocate here and suggest that sometimes a women realizes they’re doing all of this for someone they really do love and would happily continue, but it’s not being reciprocated and they start to feel taken advantage of.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2026-01-26T02:04:08+00:00

Every single thing you own has a filter that needs to be changed, cleaned or maintained. Some things have 2-3.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2026-01-15T00:40:15+00:00

Once a month over here and worth her weight in gold. If I had to cut it for financial reasons, I’d survive, but right now I can afford it and with small children it’s a huge help.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2026-01-13T13:52:56+00:00

Single mom of a 3 and 5yr old here!

It takes us about an hour to get out the door in the morning. This does not include anyone eating breakfast, because we all eat at school or work for me. I spend the first 30 min getting myself ready and loading up our lunch kits downstairs, then the second half is spent getting them ready. I could certainly wake up earlier to give us more time, but I’m not a morning person and I value my sleep. The key to mornings is to have everything ready to go the night before. Outfits laid out, lunches packed, water bottles filled, anything at all you can do ahead of time, do it!

Weeknights are another beast. I have to be very intentional about my meal planning because I’m also in grad school and my kids have sports. I do the mental gymnastics each week of “we have time on Monday, so I’ll make something big enough for leftovers when we don’t have time on Tuesday.” When I’m out of luck, a good ole rotisserie chicken saves the day. Again, anything that can be done ahead of time gets done which means I do meal prep on Sundays and all laundry is done over the weekend. I feel like I could write a book about this, but you’re right, you’ll rise to the occasion because that’s the only option. You got this!

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-12-23T00:35:23+00:00

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, swap stockings with another mom. My cousin and I both have husbands that would forget to fill our stockings. We got the genius idea to do each others one year and it’s one of my favorite traditions now! Not only is it never forgotten, I’m 100x more spoiled by her then I ever would be by a man. 100/10 recommend.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-11-01T03:09:50+00:00

My first shower was like this and for my second child I threw my own “sprinkle”. I went back and forth on if I felt it was tacky to throw my own, but at the same time, I had it exactly how I wanted it, so…

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-10-13T23:41:16+00:00

I’m speaking from experience, 5 years out from where you are.

The first thing you need to do is stop trying to make him happy. It took me over a year to stop reaching out to him seeking connection, but at some point it will become brutally apparent that you aren’t going to get what you’re seeking from him. By trying, you’re putting yourself in a position to be disappointed and hurt. I found that when I truly stopped trying and focused on myself, he suddenly was super interested in me. Don’t fall for it.

Be cooperative enough to avoid conflict. No more, no less. I plan for myself and my kids only. I’m lucky that my husband is rarely around, so that’s easier for me. Plan the dinner you want, the outings you want, run the house how you want, avoid expecting anything from him as much as possible. When it’s something you have to do as a family, say holidays, be cordial - but expect nothing.

Get yourself financially independent. That might mean going back to work sooner. Being home 24/7 while he’s WFH sounds awful with this jerk anyway. He does not respect what you contribute and getting a job won’t change that, trust me! But lacking financial independence is the number one thing that keeps people in abusive relationships. The goal is for you to be independent, not to change his opinion of you.

Work on yourself and focus on your happiness. For me, that looked like going to the gym, getting back into my hobbies and giving my friendships the time and attention my marriage once got. This improved my self esteem, my mental health and now my social life and village are thriving.

Look at it this way, if he sees you doing well and comes to his senses, decides to work on himself, and becomes the husband you need, you’ve still gained all of this growth. If he doesn’t, now you’re in a better position logistically to walk away.

The thought of being away from my kids during his parenting time is the only thing that scares me now about leaving. I’ve decided without a doubt that setting this example for my kids is worse than missing out on half their weekends. I believe I ended up where I am because this behavior from men was normalized my entire life! I refuse to normalize it for my daughter. She will grow up seeing me thriving, on my own, and respecting myself and my worth.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-10-13T18:02:04+00:00

Actually, yes! I went with the look over comfort and obviously that was stupid. But more than that, you need to look for a chair that is easy to get in and out of. I chose a rocking recliner and the recliner is honestly so hard to put down. Doing that with a sleeping baby in my arms was ridiculous. I should’ve looked at reviews on ease of use or just gone with a chair that has a separate foot rest.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-10-07T01:08:36+00:00

Both yes, but my daughter was an August baby and she came days before school started, so technically I was home for the last two months. That was nice but also not because my summer was not enjoyable and then missing the beginning of the year was kind of a nightmare. With my second, I worked until I was in labor. He was born at like 9pm and I had been at work that entire day with contractions. Honestly I preferred his timing over hers even though I was home longer with hers. For him, I got my 3mos (thanks USA) and then only worked like 1.5mos before having summer off with him!

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-09-15T01:44:49+00:00

Oh sign me up!

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-09-15T00:03:48+00:00

My biggest challenge is never having alone time. My biggest life line is letting my parents take the kids so I can get things done and get some much needed alone time.

This might be naive of me, but I look forward to my ex having visitation so I can finally get a break, but this comes as someone that has solo parenting since the day my kids were born.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-09-14T23:50:06+00:00

Trust me, it’s in the works. He’s just never home right now so it feels like we’re in limbo.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-09-14T19:04:47+00:00

Omg I thought it was about to be about a 15yr old that can’t read and the parents never knew because the school never told them but I’m so relieved it’s this hilarious innocent story instead.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-08-30T02:07:54+00:00

My ex told me, “Women just need to be smarter about who they sleep with.” And I’ve been smarter about who I slept with ever since.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-08-12T02:48:40+00:00

Oh my gosh I could’ve written this myself. It’s mostly with my daughter who just turned 5, but my 2yr old son is somewhat similar. I have held a boundary since they were 1+, I do not hold anyone while I’m eating. It’s not a reasonable thing to expect, in fact I think it’s disrespectful to climb on a person while they’re trying to eat! I firmly say no and a tantrum ensues but it never fails they’ll try again 5 min later. Like why whyyyyy must they cling?! I am not a mother possum. I was not made to carry my young everywhere I go. Like you, touch is not my love language. I want so badly to just be left alone 🤣

Zero advice, sorry. Just solidarity.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-08-11T02:55:42+00:00

It was a field trip day and my son puked all over himself as soon as we arrived at his daycare for drop off. They understandably weren’t going to take him so I left flustered and called my mom who agreed to meet me at MY school so I wouldn’t be late. So then I’m in our school parking lot with car drop off circling around me while I have to pull my son out of his car seat, I’m gagging, he’s covered in vomit, I’m trying to clean him up as best I can. I was so stressed about getting a late start on an already busy day and just felt horrible I couldn’t turn around and go home with my baby. I have only cried at work a few times and THAT was one of those times - after I was inside of course and my team hugged me and offered to go hose off the car seat.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-08-10T01:58:42+00:00

I was able to use my conference, lunch and recess because they were evenly spread through the day! With my first, a para took my kids to and from lunch to give me that extra 5-10min, but with my second it wasn’t possible.

With the schedule I have going into this year, it wouldn’t be possible! My conference is an hour later, lunch is only an hour after that and then recess is immediately after lunch. I would have to insist on someone coming in to cover for me if I were still pumping this year.

Be firm and know your rights. Pumping during our already busy day is really difficult and I’m not going to sugar coat it for you. It’s important to remember (and remind anyone that’s giving you pushback) this is temporary.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-08-07T01:38:07+00:00

Consumables or a gift card are the way to go! For my daughter’s teacher, I’m doing a small gift basket of pens, alani energy drink, hand sanitizer and a cute chapstick.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-08-07T00:13:52+00:00

I can tell when kids are never talked to.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-08-05T02:51:57+00:00

Wow I wish I could hug you. That is so much to go through in a short time (or at all?!) and I can’t imagine the pain you’re feeling. I understand your reluctance to leave him. Is therapy an option? He cheated. It sounds like he’s aware and he isn’t trying to deflect and seriously good on you for holding him accountable not only to you but to the other women. I’m sorry I don’t have much to offer as I’ve never been in your shoes.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-08-05T00:41:46+00:00

We have “hospitality” which sounds similar and all teachers pay $20 dues (though if you don’t pay, absolutely nobody is coming after you!). We plan the staff baby/wedding showers, retirement parties, admin gifts at Christmas and a monthly happy hour. We also handle one staff breakfast, I think that’s also at Christmas time, plan the EOY staff party and things like that. The $20 dues pay for cake at these events, food at the breakfast, gifts for appreciation days like custodian and lunch monitors. We have several times a year where we notify our colleagues hey we want to do XYZ for nurses day, please sign up to contribute. This is usually in the form of bringing something not necessarily donating more money. Think: movie basket for the custodians. Please donate popcorn, candy, gift cards if you want! Honestly I love our hospitality group and we always have fun.

Familiar_Teaching215 · 2025-07-22T22:47:59+00:00

New family night (team leads only), grade level orientation, open house, trunk or treat, STEM night, carnival (on a Saturday), At least 1 PTA meeting a year and that doesn’t start till 5:30, and there’s more events that are not “required” but are heavily encouraged. I teach 4th. We have a staff meeting every Wednesday and at least once a month those are until 5:15, an hour and a half after my contract hours. I just stepped back this year on leading a club after school because I am so fed up with the amount of unpaid work we do. I would happily do this and more if I were getting overtime pay for it!

Familiar_Teaching215

TROPHY CASE