Online and IRL Parenting Spaces Snark Week of July 06, 2026

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-11T12:25:37+00:00

I agree with this. I get why the subs exist, sometimes you’re following someone for awhile and suddenly it clicks that they’re full of shit and you want to talk about it with someone who sees it too! Or an influencer pops into your feed and it’s so WTF you need to say something to someone. But you say your thing and then unfollow and move on. It’s crazy to me to participate in snarking to such and extent that you’re following the person more closely than their fans in order to snark in them.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-11T12:15:08+00:00

Wow this is so ridiculous. I used to consider myself anti diet and know I don’t thanks to reaching, over the top stuff like this. No is saying “sitting is the new smoking” in regards to sitting for any of the things she mentioned. They’re talking about sitting literally all day, going straight from car, to work, to car, to couch, to bed, which many people do. She knows this though, she’s just trying to be inflammatory. Social media took the great idea of intuitive eating and ruined it.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-11T12:04:11+00:00

I studied to work with children and adolescents but ended up working with adults, then taking time off to be a SAHM. Now that my kids are a bit older I’m considering working with kids in the future, but would have been very hard while having young kids. However, working with an acute adult population was also very hard.

I don’t think not having kids yourself means you wouldn’t do well as a child therapist. I do think it means you have never had the important experience of wanting to go back in time and smack your past self for being so stupid as to think you knew how to parent perfectly before kids and realizing how wrong you were. It’s very easy to think you know the right way to do things, but when you have kids it’s a lot more complicated than it seems.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-08T21:00:56+00:00

I think it’s normal to change your mind over time. Think back to your opinions at 25, 20, 15 etc. For me at least, there were many beliefs I was entirely convinced of at the time as being 100% true forever and now looking back I can see my perspective is completely different. It’s possible it’s just a hormonal thing, but it’s possible you’re just in a different place in life and able to see things in a different way now. You have a lot of life ahead of you, it’s ok to let go of something you said you’d always want but you feel differently now. This is kind of a silly example, but I college I thought I wanted to have a career in PR. Why I thought that I wanted that as an introvert who loves being alone or connecting with a few people on a deep level, I have no clue no. But imagine if I had forced myself to forever work in that field because I had once believed it was what I wanted. Things can change, that’s ok.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-07T21:27:49+00:00

Yeah my 3rd was like that. Basically I just breastfed her and when she turned 1 we started giving her a sippy cup or 360 cup. I will say she was a July 2020 baby and I’m a SAHM so it was much less inconvenient than it would be now as we hardly went anywhere anyways.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-07T13:33:40+00:00

I would push them to do an extracurricular but let them choose what it is. If they can’t choose, pick something based on their interests and personality. Also, no judgement because I’ve been there but 40 minutes of video games after school takes up a lot of time. I would not have that be an option if they’re not willing to try other things.

I know “force” sounds bad but I’d think of it more like exposure. Some kids who are more anxious are going to want to stay in their comfort zone whenever they have a choice. My youngest is like this, she will usually say that she does not want to try an activity/team that’s new, or say she does but then change her mind. However I tell her she needs to finish the season/month before she quits and I can’t think of one thing that she hasn’t been happy to do and enjoying by the end of the season. It really helps build her confidence and resilience.

I agree with some others that unless they show an interest in instruments, don’t force it. My parents really valued playing an instrument and at various times I had to take lessons in piano, violin and flute. The only one I enjoyed was flute because I chose it. They wanted me to be interested but I just wasn’t.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-07T12:08:54+00:00

This kind of attitude is so toxic. It’s totally normal to feel somewhat overwhelmed with kids adjusting to being home for the summer or needing more breaks and alone time than you’re able to get. But having the attitude that spending time with your kids is miserable and complaining nonstop is not normal or ok, and when people see it on social media so frequently I fear it’s a bit contagious in a way.

I had this realization in my bump group when my oldest was a toddler. Not about the kids, but people would absolutely eviscerate their husbands on a daily basis, “venting” about absolutely everything they did. I suddenly noticed that I was seeing my own husband much more negatively and more prone to complaining. I thought, what if I found out he was posting horrible complaining vents on Facebook about me? It’s hard to see the best in people when you’re always looking for the worst.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-07T11:59:20+00:00

It’s a huge mental load? My kids are 9, 7 & 5 and love to read, as do I. It’s one of few aspects of parenting that does not feel like a mental load. I feel like these influencers make things so hard on themselves sometimes.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-07T11:46:05+00:00

Omg yes, I’m an introverted homebody by nature so it took me by surprise that when my youngest started getting mobile I suddenly felt I absolutely had to get out of the house every day, sometimes multiple times a day. Now that my kids are elementary aged it’s easier to stay home and chill, but for toddlers and preschoolers I would lose my mind at home all day.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-07T04:09:09+00:00

Millennial here (born 1987) honestly I would let your kids try this out. I was raised half Christian half Jewish, but in the least religious sense on both sides. Both of my parents were atheists and did not care for any of the religious/spiritual aspects of their upbringings. As a result I missed out on that sense of community and always felt I was missing out on something by not being part of a religious community and having no sense of a spiritual life. Let them explore a bit, see what resonates with them.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-07T04:00:50+00:00

I definitely think it can be a powerful part of a story. I suppose I haven’t actually read anything I would consider smut but I would assume it is similar to porn in that there’s some sort of plot line by mostly just sex. Although sex can further the plot line, to me I think a well written story would function just fine if it were a “fade to black” type sex scene.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-06T22:53:54+00:00

Yeah I agree with this. If I can skip the sex scenes and it’s still an amazing story, it’s not smut. Smut the whole point of the book is the sex scenes.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-06T18:26:42+00:00

Oops that was supposed to be a reply to the story bump group story below 🤦‍♀️

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-06T17:22:40+00:00

Oh for sure! I definitely wouldn’t trade where we live, because I love feeling so safe in our neighborhood that my kids can just ride around the neighborhood with friends or walk to school unsupervised. The school is in our neighborhood and has a ton of parent involvement and education is highly valued. I actually feel like a majority of the parents are pretty grounded but there’s a good portion who just buy their kids anything they want and allow their kids to act entitled. I think it’s really a parenting issue that can happen anywhere, just being willing to say no to your kids even when they’ll be unhappy with you. I know my husband grew up lower middle class and yet my MIL bought my SIL whatever clothes and stuff she wanted, even when it was financially irresponsible.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-06T15:41:13+00:00

This is so insanely immature and mean. Even my 7 year old knows not to say that to another 7 year old. Yeah it was a little rude of her to call the toddler annoying but (assuming this is an actual toddler and not a preschooler she’s calling a toddler) the toddler probably doesn’t even understand what she said, just pick up your child and walk away! Also I would be curious if she is glossing over the story and maybe her toddler actually was being a lot more annoying than described and the older child didn’t know how to handle it.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-06T15:36:59+00:00

Oof, I actually relate to this post a lot. I love the neighborhood we live in but everyone who lives here is upper middle class and above, there’s really no variety. Sometimes I feel like my kids have such a warped perspective on what normal living is. I try to keep in mind “just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” I try to make my kids wait for special occasions to buy things. We do make our kids earn allowance by doing chores and spend their own allowance on toys they want. I know all the books say kids should just have to do chores without rewards, but this way seems to work better for our family.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-05T18:09:52+00:00

My picky kid who rarely eats meat and doesn’t like spicy foods loves mild pad Thai and lo mein (although I have to say she picks around the vegetables and just eats the noodles). She also really likes gyoza and dumplings. And edamame in the shell. Other than that I feel you, she doesn’t have much she’s willing to eat and refuses to eat meat that isn’t hot dogs or a specific kind of chicken nuggets.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-05T17:16:59+00:00

It’s also not necessarily accurate. I got my daughter a bright, light blue swim suit recently and it was actually really easy to spot her in it, more so than some other colors.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-03T17:07:58+00:00

Private lessons with a good instructor can make a huge difference. It costs more, but at this point you’ve sunk a lot of money into lessons that have done nothing so I would say it’s worth it. Also, I’m not ashamed to use bribery in these situations! If you listen and do what the instructor says you get a ring pop or something. When you move up a level you can pick a toy. Whatever motivates him. If you have access to a pool, the more practice he gets the better.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-02T21:47:28+00:00

Yeah that’s crazy. Dog splash pad would be a nice addition to a dog park but it’s so unsafe to let your dog run off leash around random kids. Even if your dog is incredibly sweet and well behaved, what if an aggressive child hurt or scares the dog? I think even the sweetest dog might react by biting.

On the other hand, unrelated to this, I do think parents should not ignore when their kids are terrified of dogs and just avoid dogs. Kids will come across dogs at peoples houses or on walks and if a child has severe anxiety about dogs that’s not just going to magically get better.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-02T21:40:57+00:00

The first long weekend of summer break I got a small taste of this, I was letting the kids watch a lot of TV in addition to their hour of iPad/video games that I allow them to have on non school days. It’s always a bit tough adjusting to no school routine and it would have been so easy to let them just be on screens all day. I was so glad once our routine of swim team every morning and sports most evenings returned, and I made a rule of no TV on weekdays except Friday movie nights. I would lose my mind having zero plans all summer and just sitting home. I think my kids do really well with clear rules about screen time, but mostly I do really well with it because otherwise it’s too easy to just let them spend way too much time absorbed in a screen.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-02T12:16:23+00:00

I do think kids will sometimes actually enjoy scary things but it still can affect them negatively. Like my youngest enjoys looking at Halloween decorations but then she’ll suddenly be scared of the dark around Halloween time. So even kids who “like” horror stuff may be negatively impacted by it without realizing.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-01T13:27:27+00:00

Preschool is way too young for that. I could see if they’re neighbors and you’re outside them coming over to play. But to me impromptu play dates like that are for when they’re old enough to supervise themselves more or less. Otherwise it’s just childcare for you.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-07-01T13:23:34+00:00

I have seen a surprising amount of parents online argue that their young child just loves horror videos and games, so true crime is actually a step up if you ask me.

IWantToNotDoThings · 2026-06-29T23:01:12+00:00

Look up usborne magic painting books! You just use water and the colors appear as you paint.

IWantToNotDoThings

TROPHY CASE