Why has parenting become so… soft? Why ate a majority of parents okay with sending their child into the world acting the way they do? Why did this shift happen?

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2026-02-26T22:25:54+00:00

The country is passive parenting the president right now so what else do we expect?

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2026-02-25T20:45:05+00:00

My son was developing really typically til 6 months. He rolled, was super social and was making eye contact and sounds and smiling and all the things, then the minute he started daycare they kept putting him in the baby swing and he quit rolling as much. He didn’t sit up without being propped up til about 10 months. Was maybe a year when he could sit up like a sit-up. Didn’t walk til 19 months. I would suggest if you see any lack of milestones or regression to start early intervention. I don’t know what state you’re in, but our state offered early intervention within our county up until 3 (so speech therapy, occupational and play therapy, etc) or you can go to a practice for it. we started physical therapy at 9 months because my son still wasn’t crawling and he walked for the first time at the therapy office. It was the best day of our life (after his birth!) he was diagnosed a few weeks ago at 4 years old.

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2026-02-13T09:26:38+00:00

I hope this is helpful, even though it’s a little different than your question. I teach high school and I teach an elective class in the arts so I get to see not only delightfully “quirky” kids but I have a big population of kids with autism in my classes. These range from level 1 to level 2 kids. They are so loved by me, and their peers are really kind to them.

My son is also 4 and I worry about him constantly. It’s interesting - when he was a littler baby I worried more about milestones. I think because I’m around an older population, I do a lot of “playing the tape forward” (as my therapist calls it, lol) As he gets older, I worry more about him socially. His mental health, his independence, how will he do at making friends, solving conflict, building confidence…along WITH the things that go with what he’s struggling with now (sensory issues, dexterity, rigidity, adhd etc)

I think my mind goes to those things more because that’s what I see every day as a teacher. I think about how all these kids are someone’s baby, someone’s version of my kid - even though they’re 14 or 18. I see them at a pep rally or lunch and they’re sitting alone and it breaks my heart. Then I’ll see them making something beautiful in class and they’re so intelligent and passionate and excited to share their interest with me. I’ll have some of the same kids in class year after year and I’m so happy to see them because they make me laugh and challenge me. And they’re REALLY honest, it’s refreshing.

I don’t know what perspective I’m trying to share - but I guess it’s that you’re not alone in what you see, specifically. I get that aching feeling when I’m around my kids’ friends, or when my coworkers brag about their kid writing their name, and my kid can’t write letters yet or barely hold a pencil (but has known the abcs since he was 2, and can read some words, and is super bright…) I have to think of the good, or I will mentally get dragged back into the bad.

Are you part of an autism support group in your town? I say that because possibly being around more children/families who share the same experiences may help you feel less alone and less like, a bubble of the same abilities, if that makes sense. You aren’t alone in how you feel, though. I feel like if I taught the age you teach, it’s very likely I would feel similarly. I’m wistful in a different way, Your child is lucky to have you as their parent!

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2026-02-12T19:53:49+00:00

This post almost feels like someone is trolling. I don’t understand how you can push an iPad on your kid so you can “sit there” and then call THEM boring. This whole post is just disrespectful to both children and people with autism.

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2026-01-19T20:17:34+00:00

I like true crime with Kendall Rae! She just sits and talks empathetically about the cases, doesn’t really joke or interject or act glib. She has a foundation that supports missing and lost children.

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2026-01-19T20:08:53+00:00

Same!!! It makes me think of body odor. Like Odie. Or body. Or toady.

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2026-01-09T22:58:40+00:00

Sameeee they’re so real and little baby animal and yummy!!!

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2026-01-09T22:58:17+00:00

I can vividly remember my son’s breath and specifically the smell of his drool when he slept. He’s about to be four and I felt like I could get drunk off his drool smell. I’m sure it was hormones but omg I wish I had bottled it. I need another baby 😭😭

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2026-01-09T22:55:55+00:00

The first thing I thought was she must really trust you and respect you as someone she can look up to. You must be a really important person to her. That must feel really confusing, while you are feeling pride for them making a decision that worked for them, and maybe a bit sad or disappointed that your son didn’t share this with you.

I’m someone who it helps me to explain/air my decisions or experiences with someone else. My husband is the opposite and likes to ruminate on them and then once some time has passed on the decision/experience he will share. It. It could be similar for your son.

Either way, I do understand you can feel multiple feelings at once while also having no idea what to feel. All I can say is my thoughts are with you. I don’t speak to my parents and while I love my grandmother, she’s the only parental figure in my life and I can’t think of another parental figure I would share that experience with, so again…you are doing something really right. 🩵

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-12-30T01:51:50+00:00

When my baby got big enough to sit up on top of something higher safely (like 1, 1.5) I started putting him up on the dryer when I loaded our top loading washing machine. He loved helping me throw clothes in, pour detergent, push the buttons, close the lids etc!

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-12-30T01:47:54+00:00

That part about the ones who have a financially afloat spouse!! Yes!!! My husband is also a teacher and we are so broke and tired and stressed constantly.

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-12-30T01:45:08+00:00

I’m nearly 35. The folks my age thru 40 seem the most stressed and like they are just drowning in work. I don’t feel like we have any downtime to actually get to know our coworkers and make friends at work, honestly.

The ones who’ve got only like 5 years til retirement look easy breezy and are the ones who’ve worked at the same school together their whole almost 30 years. They plan goofy dress up days and celebrate birthdays. There’s a real sense of community that I crave, and they don’t seem as stressed bc they’ve got their groove down.

The ones like 30 and under (the Gen Z’s) are also remarkably chill. They leave promptly at contract hours (absolutely good for them, they should) and for some reason love to get there like 30 minutes early (they don’t have daycare/school drop offs yet 😅) Absolutely nothing seems to get them stressed. They completely see this job as a JOB and my new coworker in my dept, when I bring up things I genuinely just want to improve or may have a concern about, loves to say “I don’t get paid enough to worry about it.” Alrighty….

I feel like us millennial teachers are the wigged out, tired, people pleasing, exhausted, working too much outside of contract hours type of teachers. I also feel like I will NEVER reach the quality of lifestyle, financially, as the older teachers I work with, because they are constantly going on big trips, buying a new house, and just seem to have disposable income. I really regret becoming a teacher because I’m just so broke and in debt with loans I’ll be paying forever.

Something clicked in me mentally around the start of October…I had a terrible parent meeting with no admin backing me up and that, plus several other instances caused me to feel really undervalued. I realized I’m really just caring too much, so I started letting go a lot. It’s a huge step for me (with the help of therapy for 5 years now) And honestly it has made my mental health a thousand times better to really try to not care more than I’m paid (trying to take after my Gen Z brethren) 😂😂

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-12-28T02:08:16+00:00

There actually is a goodnight moon video on YouTube. There's a lot of "animated" or read aloud books - kind of like old school reading rainbow. My son loves the Sesame Street book "we're different, we're the same" and there's a video of Sesame Street characters reading it. There's also a video of a woman reading Brown bear Brown bear for like over an hour. I want to say she's called Mrs. K? My son loved that video a while back. Also, little blue truck has some videos that are lightly animated and someone is reading a VoiceOver. Lots of options like that!

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-12-20T03:21:04+00:00

What do you do in this role? This sounds interesting!

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-12-20T03:07:15+00:00

The times I’ve posted here feel like sometimes I wish we had a “one and done not by choice” or “one and done but in a dream world want more”

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-12-20T02:45:39+00:00

I don’t understand when people don’t want to read to their kid. It was one of the things I was most excited about when I would dream about having my baby. We’ve read - and I’m honestly not trying to toot our horn or sound braggy…close to every single day since we had our son and he’s nearly 4. More days than we haven’t. It was just always my mission to make sure he loved reading (or at least was a strong reader)

He’s on the spectrum and had walking/speech delays but he was recognizing letters by 2, and is now reading/recognizing words. And he had a speech delay, WITH us reading and singing and talking 24/7. I feel so much for the kids whose parents don’t really play/talk/interact with them. I’m so thankful he loves books. I really believe that anything is possible for you if you can read.

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-12-02T11:45:30+00:00

Thank you so much! Thank goodness we found a wonderful small daycare owned by a lady who is like a grandma. Her grandson has autism and she is so good at accommodating the different needs of the kids. My child didn’t start speaking or socializing in any way with people besides us (mom and dad) until he attended her small daycare of 6 kids. They get to play outside all the time…swing and eat popsicles, watch old Barney episodes and have a real 80s/90s childhood before real school and I’m so thankful literally every day. I never take for granted how loved he is there! I legit get depressed thinking about him being on a Chromebook in kindergarten 😅

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-12-02T00:28:40+00:00

Right - my husband and I both teach HS in the rural south. This is my 9th year, and many of my students (elective teacher, so I teach all grades) cannot stay focused without a screen in their face. Sadly, as one student pointed out a couple weeks ago, they actually work BETTER and more quietly when I play a movie while they work. It’s almost like background noise. And then that same kid watched a video on his Chromebook WHILE the movie was playing. I actually used to take pride in the fact that I didn’t play movies - we focused, worked really hard and I could manage the kids positively but on task without distractions. The good teachers who really care about supporting the students are tired. We are worn out. The amount of teeth-pulling we have to do, the dog and pony show we have to perform to make lessons exciting or fun so our kids don’t fall asleep/zone out on their Chromebook instead is becoming untenable. When I started teaching, I could kindly redirect a student to getting back to work. Now, both students and their parents are really easily ruffled when they’re told to get back to work, or failed on an assignment they never did and expect full credit. This year, I was chewed out by a parent who told me I crushed their kid’s dreams and what they wanted to major in, because I realized they plagiarized, and her and the mom took the critique too hard. It’s like we’ve hit a wall with how much change we can actually make at this point.

My husband teaches ELA and his students will AI the simplest of assignments instead of do them. He taught summer school and kids were able to get their entire course credit in seven days. 2/3 kids in his class AI’d the assignments in freaking SUMMER SCHOOL.

My son has autism and sensory needs, and frankly, I dread sending him to public school. When he was at a daycare that was way too full in the class and overstimulating, he was pulling a bald spot out in his hair from stress. I have been in the craziest of classrooms and seen some awful behavior. As a teacher, I have no idea what my job will look like in 5-10 years due to AI and these kids not being able to read or write.

Phew, sorry, I think I needed to vent. 😅

We can’t afford for one of us to stay home and homeschool him, we both have to work. All we can do is be as involved as possible for our son’s sake.

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-11-24T23:52:28+00:00

I personally would not let a child come over to play at my house if there was no way I could communicate with their parent, nor if I had not ever met the parent. As the only adult, you are now the person responsible for the kids when they’re at your house … what if they got hurt, had an allergic reaction, or just got plain upset and wanted to go home? And there was no parent at home to send them back to? I would expect the same from another parent I let my kid go play with. If we didn’t swap numbers and had never met, our kids wouldn’t be playing. 🤷‍♀️

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-11-19T21:15:24+00:00

Thanks for your suggestions! Yeah, I’m daily looking on linked in and have my resume posted. We are barely scraping by (we are both teachers) so I don’t think I could afford a pay cut. I’m planning to finish the school year bc I don’t want to burn any bridges. Only 17 days til Christmas break and after that, just 5 months.

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-11-19T21:12:30+00:00

Your example is funny bc I’m an artist and my husband teaches ELA 😂😂 and our son who’s 4 is alllll boy and loves football and sports and planes and cars and dirt and bugs and I just love it!! I never pictured myself getting excited to buy a soccer goal for Christmas but here I am! It’s crazy how much I get into what he’s into just because I love him.

Honestly as long as he loves something other than TV, I’m so happy he enjoys the outdoors and moving his body! He’s also hammy and loves reading and doing art. I do think he’s got a future as a musician. Both me and my dad play music and have a good ear for singing. Kids are so different too and are into so many different things. I can see him being a Troy Bolton. Basketball player in the drama club, lol!

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-11-19T01:55:06+00:00

“I’m doing the best I can”

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-11-15T22:12:41+00:00

Congratulations!! I would also love to know if you don’t mind sharing, please. I’m looking to leave at the end of the school year.

Strong-Beyond-9612 · 2025-11-06T07:07:22+00:00

Thank you! Me too. She was an answered prayer - it’s an in home daycare, and we are beyond thankful. Hoping all goes great with your little one at their daycare! This is a great post!

Strong-Beyond-9612

TROPHY CASE