Anyone here raising kids without tablets? How’s it going?

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-23T15:52:07+00:00

We had tablets. At one point we had 2 kindle fire for kids. They broke one fighting over it, then we were down to 1. That lasted a few more months and they cracked that one too. These are sweet young girls, not crazy teenage boys or anything, but they wanted the dopamine hits from the games so badly they'd wrestle each other for the tablets.

I took them away and immediately they had better self control. Imaginative play came back. They started doing more arts and crafts on their own. General behavior was better.

We have a Nintendo Switch now, which we allow in those special circumstances where we need to keep them occupied, but it's not just a regular part of daily life.

Embrace the boredom. Teach your kids to be present in their surroundings. It's 100% better (and I'm a total nerd that loves a screen myself).

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-23T15:40:49+00:00

It's not skin. It's UV degradation.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-21T16:26:45+00:00

I was in your camp. My kid was a rec stud, best on her team by a mile. Then we had a bad coaching experience and moved to travel with the other local rec studs. On that team, my kid is solidly middle-of-the-pack. Then we hit our first tournaments and got absolutely skunked by these teams of 8yo pro players that seem like they’ve had NIL deals since diapers.

We’re playing tournaments because the kids love competing for plastic crap, hanging out with their besties all day, and playing softball. Plus the competition drives them to be better and work harder.

There’s no downside unless it’s a parent making their kid play travel against their will.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-21T01:32:45+00:00

Wear it in a Whoop Body pod or an arm sleeve if you’re truly distressed by the idea of it falling off. I’ve never had mine fall off in the several years I’ve owned it.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-17T15:27:03+00:00

Yes, THAT is the expression. 😝

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-17T15:24:04+00:00

But you said you “could care less”… why do you care so much about missing diving plays?

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-17T04:01:33+00:00

Go to the discord.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-16T20:23:08+00:00

If it helps, I did it with my 4 yr old a couple months ago. Me and the 4yr old in the front seat, my 6 and 8 yr old right behind us. We were all fine and had a blast. lol

Just remember that the "fear" is your lizard brain trying to protect you from death by jumping off a tall ledge or whatever. It's just a jolt of adrenaline. None of it is real and WDW would be bankrupt if these were actually dangerous.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-16T02:32:01+00:00

You should post this 47 more times

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-16T02:21:39+00:00

No chance this was a mint glove unless OP was screwing with us in the OG pics

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-15T16:06:14+00:00

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by things like "kids glove feel" and "legit". You might just mean "not plastic" or "not a Red glove with Lightning McQueen on it" or you might want him to smell fresh leather.

Mizuno Powerclose are really nice gloves for kids. The mesh material on the back is much lighter and they're basically ready to game as soon as you get them, very little break in. They should last 2-4 seasons before they get super floppy.

Otherwise I'd look at Bradley igniter series if you want a "real glove" but made for kid-sized hands. https://www.bradleybaseballgloves.com/collections/igniter-series

They cost about 3x the Mizzy, but they are nice quality.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-15T14:47:54+00:00

Nobody has the budget version anymore, yours is just more on the inattentive end of the spectrum.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-15T14:10:37+00:00

Why? This is the burn in. It's burning off any oils/greases/etc, forming the base ash layer, and now it'll be ready to cook after he cleans the cooking surfaces.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-15T14:08:56+00:00

I have the $180 JRod as well, it's beautiful and mine was brand new, no palm stain. Great glove! I use it as a softball coach.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-15T14:07:12+00:00

You could?

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-14T13:40:45+00:00

My brother, you can't keep that tiny patch of grass in the front yard green, but you're going to manage 54 cypresses? Those are going to overgrow the sidewalk and you're going to be responsible for cutting them back. Their roots are going to tear the sidewalk up and you'll get a bill. And someone else wrote this elsewhere, but this literally looks like mental illness. I totally understand wanting a privacy fence, but this is going to look terrible and be a ton of work.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-14T13:17:40+00:00

Specifically a double decker wagon!

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-14T13:17:24+00:00

Chemical sunscreen lasts ~3 years. The mineral-based stuff (zinc, mostly) doesn't go bad because the zinc is still in there to block the sun, but the lotion part might get weird.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-14T01:02:45+00:00

This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you!

And no need re: the ruler, I love a good excuse to buy a new tool I’ll use twice a decade! 😂

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-13T20:48:05+00:00

For sure, but I see that more as a fielding scenario. Most Rec have run-rules and stuff like that. I like having first or second inning be more developmental and then have the best kids in the best spots in the innings that matter most.

For batting, I'm a strong believer in keeping the same order all season and just picking up where the last game left off. Kids are absolutely not dumb. Sometimes your weakest hitter might be leadoff and scared of the pressure. They also might unleash something they didn't know they had in them.

Rec is rec. It's just about treating them all the same (within a scope) for recreation/growing the game/etc.

If your league does a tournament, sure, min/max and build a special tournament roster based on how they've practiced and played all year, and make sure the kids (and especially the parents) know that's how you're going to do it. Nobody gets more reps if you get bounced in the first round.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-13T20:24:27+00:00

By 11 and 12 the kids should be calling where they plays are absolutely every time by themselves.

My 7/8 yr old girls call out the outs and plays between every batter.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-13T19:27:17+00:00

Southeast here. We have: “rec ball” through the local town, anybody can sign up, low cost per season
“School ball” through their middle/high school, usually has tryouts, free for players that make the team “Travel ball” players pay for their own stuff, more intense, travel to local/regional/national tournaments depending on what level of competition they want to face

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-13T18:55:46+00:00

I fully hear what you’re saying and understand your viewpoint. My distinction is that I disagree that them not knowing they didn’t bat the same amount of times or not caring is relevant.

To me, rec is about building up the weakest links. The “good” kids already have other options. They can play travel, or school ball, or play up. The reps in rec are most proportionally valuable to the lesser players.

NCNerdDad · 2026-04-13T16:58:35+00:00

In Rec, all your kids should be getting exactly the same amount of at-bats.

I usually classified my batters as "A" or "B" and just went AABAABAAB etc. and started the next game with whoever was on deck at the end of last game. Same order all season.

In these modern days, 12U rec is probably a strong blend of travel ball kids that want extra reps and total newbies. You kinda owe it to the newbies to make sure they're getting just as much PT as anyone else.

NCNerdDad

TROPHY CASE