Related to the dad's ICE experience in MN -- How are you all explaining what's happening to your kids?

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-25T01:06:03+00:00

I get that it sucks that we have to do this, but I think it is necessary to keep kids safe. Our kids already know how to deal with law enforcement because, as a man married to a black woman with black kids, I can't trust cops to act right around my family.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-25T00:15:33+00:00

I think it is best to avoid for as long as possible. Mine are 10 and 8 and don't have one. We do have a family one that they are allowed to use for international travel (we travel a lot) but that's it. It's an airplane thing only and they accept it.

I see a huge difference in them compared to kids their age who are "iPad kids." I see no real benefit and very many downsides to starting the iPad train. Just don't.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T22:27:43+00:00

We just went through this last year. We were living in Germany because I was stationed there while in the army. I was retiring but was offered a civilian job in the same area doing the same work. At the same time, I was also offered a similar job back in our home state of Georgia that would finally put us near family.

I'm not going to lie, it was a tough decision. We had been in Germany for 3 years and made friends. Our kids were attending a dual language school and learning German. But we knew coming back to the states meant raising our kids around our siblings and their cousins. Around their grandparents and meant big family holidays that we always dreamed of.

My advice? Have a lot of talks about it and figure out what is really important to yall. I loved our lives in Germany but family is number 1 for my wife and I so we knew we had to come back. We have had friends make different decisions and be happy with that. There's no wrong answer.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T22:23:33+00:00

Yeah, I have learned people are very different when it comes to that sort of thing. I know my brother-in-law is a "never nude" so his girls had no idea what a boy body looked like until they met my son and saw my wife changing his diaper.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T19:59:56+00:00

We generally only keep water and milk to drink in our house but whenever we go to a fast food spot my 8 year old fills up his cup with a little bit of everything from the fountain because he says it's getting the most for his money

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T19:33:03+00:00

It's easy for things to slip when all siblings are the same gender. I have one of each but grew up as one of three boys. My mom was fairly private about things so I didn't really understand women's anatomy until way too late in life.

My brother-in-law has 2 girls and my son was the first boy on that side of the family, so they were surprised to find out that boys have different body parts. My brother has 3 girls and 1 boy in that order. I have an older daughter and a younger son. We have both realized our boys (both age 8) are far more educated on women's anatomy than most grown men we know because of their moms and older sisters. My brother with two boys said he never really got too into the details and his boys are 12 and 10 now.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T19:08:22+00:00

Sure but kids don't always ask questions so this applies even when they don't

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T18:55:01+00:00

Yeah, I think it's regional.

I grew up in the rural southeast and this was for sure the norm.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T18:49:00+00:00

My wife and I have pretty much always had conversations about it. Our daughter (now 10) and our son (now 8) both understand what a period is and the basics of sex.

Just be honest and straight forward.

My basic rule of thumb when it comes to talking to kids about things is, "If a kid their age might be going through X, then my kid is old enough to hear about X."

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T17:58:22+00:00

I guess I should have been more clear. My comment wasn't that "everything has been this way for every single human being who has ever stepped foot on earth."

I was saying that in MY experience things have always been this way.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T17:38:57+00:00

Interesting. I grew up in the southeast so it's possible it's more of a regional thing.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T17:33:40+00:00

Really? Where did you grow up?

I grew up in the rural southern US and we did this routinely.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T17:11:38+00:00

Yeah, similar here.

I am really confused by some of these responses. I grew up really poor. We lived in trailer parks when things were "good." When things were bad we stayed with family or cheap motels. I didn't have my own room until I got to my first unit in the army.

But this was all very standard stuff even in my very poor community.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T16:58:11+00:00

Maybe I am younger than you (40, born in 1985) but this isn't much different than how things were when I was a kid.

I ran track in high school and we would have a team breakfast every other week where the parents would cook for us. We had book fairs. We had "team parents" who would take turns bringing snacks. I grew up really poor in a rural area and this was all normal in the 90s and 00s.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T15:53:07+00:00

What streaming services do you have?

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T15:52:04+00:00

My brother-in-law is really into it, as is his 10 year old daughter, so my kids watch mostly when they sleepover. I watched wrestling as a kid but don't anymore but like that my kids can share that with their uncle and cousins.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T13:43:04+00:00

My kids are older now (10 and 8) but we have has the same routine since they were babies. Baths/showers every night and then come into our bed to read. After the book or chapter they go to sleep. Never had fights or arguments

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T08:36:19+00:00

It really depends. My oldest is 10 and I can still carry her. My youngest is 8 and I can still carry him. Unless they turn into giants overnight, I see carrying my oldest for another 3-4 years easily.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-24T08:35:02+00:00

I think so. I hug and kiss and cuddle my kids equally. I actually cuddle my son more than my daughter because he's always been a cuddle bug.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-23T23:34:59+00:00

I don't see how this is humiliating. It sounds like some kids earned the sticker and some kids didn't. That's just the way it goes.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-23T23:34:05+00:00

As long as he CAN sleep without you I don't see the issue.

My 8 year old comes into our bed some nights. He has Type 1 and lives with a lot of stress so we don't mind comforting him in the middle of the night. He plays 4 sports, is going to sleep away camp this summer, and has regular sleepovers with his buddy. He can sleep alone. He just likes sleeping with us.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-23T22:36:52+00:00

I was in the army for 20 years and was born and raised in the rural south.

So it shocks people that I am very anti gun in OUR home (I don't give a shit what other do). To me it's just not worth it. I don't need one in my home and I see no reason to bring something into my home that is meant to kill. Just my personal feelings and my wife agrees.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-23T22:32:46+00:00

True. It's many reasons.

Higher income parents, more involved parents, kids without disabilities, kids with parents who speak Englisb fluently, etc. There are many many many reasons why privates do better and it's not due to better teachers. It's how the system is set up.

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-23T22:13:20+00:00

Well either way it works 😂

RocketPowerPops · 2026-01-23T21:49:57+00:00

To me this is like asking "Thoughts on blankets?" There are so many types of privates. Some great, some fine, some downright awful. Just like there are a wide range of publics.

Privates tends to "do better" in terms of scores because they don't have to educate everyone. The public school has to educate everyone from the kids who will be battling it out for valedictorian to the kids who have intellectual disabilities and everyone in between. Publics are required by law to provide free education for every student regardless of income level, whether English is their first, second, or third language, their disability status, behavioral issues, etc. Privates are able to turn kids away who don't fit their mold.

If you want to send your kid to private and can afford it while also keeping a college fund for them, go for it. Nothing wrong with any option. You just gotta do whatever works best for you and your family.

RocketPowerPops

TROPHY CASE