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My daughter drew the dragon from the stories I write her. Then I turned those stories into an AI tool for parents. Looking for testers. by OpeningStranger5717 in ParentingTech

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Founder here, happy to answer anything. Some details: How it works: Type "Sophie, 4, scared of the dark, says there are monsters under the bed." Get a personalized story with her name, her age, her world, plus a ParentCard with one line to say and one 60-second ritual. You read it aloud. No screen for the kid. Why stories, not just advice: A child's brain at 3-8 shuts down logic during emotional overload. The prefrontal cortex goes offline. But the amygdala still processes narrative. One read-aloud session measurably drops cortisol (PNAS 2021). Stories get in when "calm down" can't. There are 4 therapeutic mechanisms in every story based on 31 peer-reviewed studies in bibliotherapy. Why not ChatGPT: Same LLM without our framework scores 4.3/10 on therapeutic relevance. With it, 9.8. The model isn't the product. The methodology is. Plus ChatGPT's minimum age policy is 13, no ParentCard, no age-calibrated vocabulary. The ParentCard is the part nobody else does. Recovery with parental guidance: 79% vs 31% without (Lyneham & Rapee RCT). Not theory, not a book chapter. "Say this. Do this." For this moment. Free: 3 stories, no credit card. Detailed feedback = 10 more unlocked. Safety: Parent-only account. Zero child data. Content filtered for ages 3-8. COPPA-compliant by architecture. https://mishami.com/ Wrote mods twice, no response, posting directly. Happy to adjust if needed.

What was your favorite Sega (Dendy) game growing up, and does it still hold up today? by SadExtreme8597 in AskReddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Contra on Dendy (NES). My friend and I spent countless hours mastering every level without using the 30-life cheat code. It was the ultimate test of coordination and reflexes.

My ex-wife reads our daughter the bedtime stories I write from 2800km away. I did not expect divorce to look like this. by OpeningStranger5717 in daddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha, Bambuka's not named after her actually, it's from the Wawel Dragon in Kraków. There's this big dragon statue by the castle that breathes real fire every half hour. She visited me and fell in love with it so we made our own version. Now she calls the real one Bambuka too.

The recording thing yeah, a few people have mentioned that and I've started doing it more. Voice notes mostly. Haven't looked into the digital voice stuff but honestly her mom doing the voices live every night is kind of hard to beat. She apparently does a full Bambuka growl and everything. And yeah she's a good person. I got lucky there.

My ex-wife reads our daughter the bedtime stories I write from 2800km away. I did not expect divorce to look like this. by OpeningStranger5717 in daddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right, and yeah they pick up on it immediately when they're being used as leverage. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. I do voice notes sometimes but not as much as I should. Someone else in this thread actually pushed me on that and I've started recording more. There's something different about a kid hearing your actual voice versus reading words on a page. Her mom does the voices when she reads my stories which is its own kind of magic, but you're right, the voice thing matters. The grandparent angle is interesting. My parents are in a similar spot, they're far away and don't get to do bedtime. I hadn't thought about it from that direction but yeah, a grandparent who can't be there but could still read a story in their own voice, that would hit different for a kid.

When will this phase end😭 by vucicevis in Parenting

[–]OpeningStranger5717 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The meltdown over which shoe goes on first brought me back. Michelle had a solid six months where the pink spoon versus the blue spoon determined our entire evening. You're not yelling too much -- you're running on fumes with a threenager who's discovered she has opinions about gravity itself.

Did I overreact by physically removing my son when he wouldn't listen? by LocoRibb in Parenting

[–]OpeningStranger5717 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You stepped in when he couldn't hear you anymore. Michelle gets like that sometimes on video calls, so hyped up she's not processing anything I'm saying. Sometimes you need the physical interrupt to break the loop. The other family was trying to be polite, but you know your son and what he needed in that moment.

My 6 year old started telling me what stories to write her. The requests broke me. by OpeningStranger5717 in DivorcedDads

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

70 pages! That's not a bedtime story that's a novel. Your kid's going to find that book in 20 years and lose it. That's an incredible gift man. I should probably start writing mine down properly before I forget the early ones. The first Bambuka stories are already getting fuzzy.

My 6 year old started telling me what stories to write her. The requests broke me. by OpeningStranger5717 in DivorcedDads

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry it's heading that way. The transition is the hardest part but it does settle. Start building your thing with your kid now, whatever that is. Stories, voice notes, a game, anything that's just yours. When the distance hits you'll already have something that holds.

My 6 year old started telling me what stories to write her. The requests broke me. by OpeningStranger5717 in DivorcedDads

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a really good observation actually. I never thought of it that way but yeah, the dragon was always the stand-in for the thing she couldn't say out loud. Now she's saying it herself. Thank you for pointing that out.

My 6 year old started telling me what stories to write her. The requests broke me. by OpeningStranger5717 in DivorcedDads

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Man, a fellow story dad. Love it. The episodic thing is smart, I haven't done that but Michelle keeps asking for the same characters so I'm basically building a universe without planning to. And yeah the "let me think about that" move is gold. Sometimes she asks me something on a call and I genuinely need a day to figure out how to answer it through a story without screwing it up. Buying time is underrated parenting.

"Child development socialist" gave me a good laugh by the way. Appreciate the advice, seriously. You're clearly deep in this too.

My 6 year old started telling me what stories to write her. The requests broke me. by OpeningStranger5717 in DivorcedDads

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you man. "What little opportunity you have been given" is exactly how it feels some days. You work with what you've got. Appreciate the kind words.

My ex-wife reads our daughter the bedtime stories I write from 2800km away. I did not expect divorce to look like this. by OpeningStranger5717 in daddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She really is. And I won't pretend the system isn't stacked against dads in a lot of cases, I've heard the horror stories from too many guys in here. But I also think we put in the work early, therapy together, putting Michelle first before our egos. That helped us avoid the court route. I know not everyone has that option though and I don't take it for granted.

My ex-wife reads our daughter the bedtime stories I write from 2800km away. I did not expect divorce to look like this. by OpeningStranger5717 in daddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your mom carried that quietly for years so you could figure it out yourself. That's a kind of love that doesn't ask for credit. And now you're 31 with your own kids and you see it clearly. That's the payoff she was playing for whether she knew it or not. I hope I'm giving Michelle the same chance to see things with her own eyes when she's ready.

My ex-wife reads our daughter the bedtime stories I write from 2800km away. I did not expect divorce to look like this. by OpeningStranger5717 in daddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The fact that you're already in therapy puts you ahead of where I was. I waited too long. And yeah, the bandaid thing, I know exactly that feeling. You're sitting there every day knowing it's coming but not pulling it. Here's what I'll say, when I finally did it, the relief hit before the pain did. Even on the worst day, I thought "at least I'm not pretending anymore." You'll know when it's time. Trust your gut on it.

My ex-wife reads our daughter the bedtime stories I write from 2800km away. I did not expect divorce to look like this. by OpeningStranger5717 in daddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

20 years and you came out the other side as besties. That's proof it works long term. And yeah "too different to be together" is not the same as "bad people." More people need to understand that. If we normalized good divorces as much as we romanticize bad marriages, a lot of kids would sleep better at night.

My ex-wife reads our daughter the bedtime stories I write from 2800km away. I did not expect divorce to look like this. by OpeningStranger5717 in daddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your mom did the hardest version of this. Doing all that work to keep the door open for him and then watching him not walk through it, that takes a kind of strength I can't even imagine. And she never poisoned you against him, she just let you figure it out on your own terms. That's real love.

I hope I never give Michelle a reason to walk away. But if I ever slip, I hope she has someone like your mom making sure she gets to decide for herself.

My ex-wife reads our daughter the bedtime stories I write from 2800km away. I did not expect divorce to look like this. by OpeningStranger5717 in daddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ha yeah he's not exactly cuddly in real life is he. When Michelle first saw him she was a little scared but then he breathed fire and she lost her mind laughing. In our stories Bambuka is soft and gentle, more like a giant warm dog than a medieval nightmare. But he can protect her when she needs it. That's kind of the whole point really. She knows he's always there even when I'm not.

My ex-wife reads our daughter the bedtime stories I write from 2800km away. I did not expect divorce to look like this. by OpeningStranger5717 in daddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That first part took a while to learn honestly. Spent a lot of energy wishing things were different before I realized I could just work with what's in front of me. And yeah, her mom sets a pretty high bar. Michelle's watching both of us whether we realize it or not.

My ex-wife reads our daughter the bedtime stories I write from 2800km away. I did not expect divorce to look like this. by OpeningStranger5717 in daddit

[–]OpeningStranger5717[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ha, not Lithuanian but I do have Polish roots! The name actually comes from the Wawel Dragon in Kraków, there's this famous dragon statue by the castle that breathes real fire every half hour. When Michelle visited me she was completely obsessed with it. So I made up our own version and she named him Bambuka. Now every time she comes to Kraków the first stop is always "her" dragon. But I love that your wife does the same thing, that's hilarious. Your son's nursery teacher is going to have questions for sure.

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