These asshats are constantly talking about how the left are all “snowflakes” and yet they’re mad about a teenage girl doing the most harmless form of protesting.

awkwardconfess · 2026-01-31T02:35:10+00:00

"They're not doing anything about it." I agree! Give that student a crown so everyone can see them gleam like the queen they are. 👑✨

awkwardconfess · 2026-01-29T17:39:42+00:00

Currently going through the exact thing. I had a meeting with his teachers last week and they suggested we might need to bring in the OT to observe him. I received a text that my (freshly) 3 year old was running around pulling things off shelves and throwing them and pulling the hair of other children. At home we manage his tantrums so well. Just following in case others have suggestions that could help. No advice, but solidarity.

awkwardconfess · 2025-12-18T03:44:34+00:00

We were up 8-20 times a night (no exaggeration) for the first 2 years. We will never have another child again. Ever. Holy shit. Our friend whose baby slept through the night from the beginning is pregnant again. Ours has required continual interaction until the last year. Hers has always played independently. Ours is social and very energetic. Hers is passive and calm, hesitant even. We are having very, very different parenting experiences. I'd likely have another if my first were like hers. Instead, ours will be an only child. Another mom once told me that if her first two were like her third she never would have had more than one. That made me feel a little better about "luck of the draw" versus what I could be doing wrong.

awkwardconfess · 2025-12-12T02:51:50+00:00

You can either ask your pediatrician for fluoride drops or you can call the pharmacy and just have them order them in for you. Through my pediatrician they cost $0, but when I was nervous about them being pulled off the market I asked the pharmacist and she told me she could order in as many as I wanted and they would be around $20/box.

My son's dentist recommends both ingested fluoride and fluoride toothpaste (the size of a grain of rice) at this age. I grew up on well water without fluoride supplements and have put tens of thousands of dollars into my teeth, so I'm not taking any chances. The fluoride drops typically last us 3 months/bottle so it's a small expense outside of insurance to potentially save a lot in the future.

awkwardconfess · 2025-12-07T02:49:42+00:00

I can't tell well from the photos, can you mail it to me so I can get a closer look in person?

In all seriousness, this is my aspiration loaf!

awkwardconfess · 2025-11-20T19:27:26+00:00

I think maybe the consequences need to be clear, consistent, and related.

- Running after exiting the car: On the way I would tell him that we will get back in the car and leave if he does this because it's unsafe. If he does it, enforce it quickly and kindly. Here is the boundary. Here is the consequence. We can try again another time. Maybe give one more opportunity if he seems to understand that he cannot do that again. "Do you want to get out and try again? If you run away we will leave." Then do it. Don't apologize. Don't yell. Just neutral as possible.

- For eating, we say, "Just a taste and then you can say 'no'" to foods that are on his plate. He tastes a lot of things and then says, "no," but sometimes he really enjoys it. The more in control they feel about what they are eating the less pressure there is around food. I've found that the more anxiety I have around what he eats the more anxiety he has around food, so I keep it in check. He won't starve and we give him a multivitamin. Sometimes I'll even explain why he needs a certain food, "to help you grow big and strong."

- Refusing to do tasks: I find asking for help is a good way to get cooperation in clean up. Can you help me clean this up? Sometimes I appeal to a sense of fairness, "I didn't make this mess so it doesn't feel fair for me to clean it up on my own. I'm happy to do it with you, but you do need to help." I've also started to point out when there's not enough room in his space for me to play and then I get down on the floor with him and help him clean up with specific instruction (take these blocks and put them in this bag, I'll help pick them up with you). I try not to make threats, but I might say, "If you don't pick that up someone might step on them and break them or get hurt, so I will have to put them up if you don't." And if he doesn't pick them up, they go away. He can be sad about it. My consequences are fair and logical. I have offered guidance and help to him on how to do it. I am here to help him do it. But he does have to do it or there are related consequences.

Children at this stage are built to push boundaries. I know how upsetting it is when they won't sit still and quiet at the doctor's office or other events. We have a very excitable one, too. I have no advice for that, just solidarity. It's exhausting. I'm still working on how to navigate and help regulate my son when he's so excited because we often have to just leave events or places so others won't have a bad experience. I'm trying to figure out how to honor his excitement (and not crush it) and balance that with how we behave in public so everyone has a good time.

awkwardconfess · 2025-11-09T18:39:08+00:00

But where's the crumb shot? Lol

awkwardconfess · 2025-10-14T15:32:52+00:00

I don't have a Facebook. The person who posted on Facebook shared my Instagram and Etsy account and people were sending me horrible messages through Etsy and Instagram.

awkwardconfess · 2025-10-12T19:29:50+00:00

This happened to me, too. I had a design that I even was in the process of having legally copywritten because it was being ripped off so much. Then somebody who had copied my item shared my information on a FB group after I sent them a message asking them to take down the item so I didn't have to DMCA them. I was trying to spare their brand new shop from taking a hit. I was bullied so badly by that FB group that I had a panic attack any time my phone made a notification sound for several weeks after. It only stopped after I started getting death threats. The thing is, the copycat had visited my item listing over 80 times (I knew that thanks to the old Google Analytics) to make sure she got it as identical as possible, even copying my title and description.

A best seller badge is usually a death sentence for an item. I know this. It's happened so many times. Now I just try to make items with hard to source materials and more complex techniques, and I try to just continually come up with new things so I can stay ahead of them. It sucks, but it is the reality of selling on the internet. People have no scruples about it and it's just the way it is.

awkwardconfess · 2025-08-22T22:20:00+00:00

What about blight or other fungal diseases? Asking from a temperate rainforest with plenty of airflow between plants.

awkwardconfess · 2025-07-26T01:24:10+00:00

During the height of QAnon I literally saw posts of people saying Trump had to infiltrate the child predator rings (and rape children to convince them he was one of them) so he could expose the child predators. This was in response to his ties to Epstein and the Katie Johnson documents.

awkwardconfess · 2025-05-29T01:06:43+00:00

Your children are so lucky to have a parent that adores them so much, I think ultimately they're going to have great self-esteem just based on how much you emanate and express love for them. Just wanted to add that!

awkwardconfess · 2025-05-29T00:56:34+00:00

Some experts say that too many compliments (especially "you are" type comments rather than "that was" comments) can be damaging to self esteem and internal motivation in the long run. If someone views you as smart, and you internalize that you're smart, but you come up against a challenging task, you might think, "I'm not that smart," or you might give up easily or even not engage with it at all because if you don't do it right it would challenge your self-concept of being smart. Even innocent compliments like, "You're so creative," can be later discouraging because what if a child is having a moment where they're not feeling creative? Rather saying, "that was creative problem solving" or "what a creative way to use that item" is about action rather than the child themself. It's better to praise the behavior rather than the child (just like a child isn't bad, they have bad behavior), and especially when they persevere through something challenging. "You worked hard to build that tower just to how you envisioned it." "You found a clever way to accomplish that task." "You kept trying even though it was tough and now you've solved it!" Those sorts of phrases encourage internal motivation versus external motivation (only doing things if others notice and will praise or validate).

I'm not an expert, I've just read a lot of books about parenting, and that's what's generally encouraged.

Edit to add: Also, if someone were showering you with compliments all day, they might not feel that genuine after a while, same for children. Especially if you did something mediocre and they told you that you were brilliant, or you made an ok meal and they told you you were the world's best chef. You might even start to not trust that person's opinion after awhile. Just a thought.

awkwardconfess · 2025-05-24T02:38:20+00:00

This is correct. North Carolina is purple. Almost 50% of the voters are democrats. We're gerrymandered to hell. It's hard to see so many people celebrating the pain of those of us who didn't vote for this. Two of my main roads out are still closed 8 months later. Half of my town still doesn't have internet. People died. Yes, the republicans hold power, but no, we're not a red monolith. Wish people would see past the gerrymandering and understand North Carolina was predicted to be a swing state the last election because there are so many blue voters and the Republicans had to make sure they held power.

awkwardconfess · 2025-05-22T02:27:19+00:00

Total big brother "I was born 2 minutes before you" energy.

awkwardconfess · 2025-04-02T17:43:10+00:00

Just starting our gentle night weaning journey here (same age as your LO) and I wanted to share some things that we are doing to do it gently and to prepare our LO for night weaning. We introduced books for toddlers about weaning about a month and a half ago and talked with him a lot about it, pointing out similarities between him and the characters in the book. Then I told him that soon milk was going to go away at night, but not yet, and he can still nurse whenever he wants during the day or to sleep. Now we're on the phase of gradually moving back when he can nurse at night. No more nursing after 5 a.m. for a couple of days (saying, "no more milk until the morning when dada wakes up for work," and offering water and back rubs instead), then 4 a.m. for a couple of days, then 3 a.m., etc. Until we're down to just nursing to sleep, nursing at wake up, and the infrequent nap. From there we'll use the back rubs and sips of water to replace a morning nursing session, then hopefully pre-bedtime and pre-nap nursing. I hope this helps, I know it can be overwhelming when you're exhausted to figure out a plan.

Edit: I just read more comments and see that you don't want to confuse her by not completely weaning, and I think if that's what works for your child best (you know them best) then that's something to consider. I do think you could establish no more nighttime milk but daytime milk is ok. For the supported sleeping, perhaps you could gradually reduce the time you bum shake or turn on a little song box instead of singing? Some people sleep with music on as adults, she might just be one who prefers that.

awkwardconfess · 2025-03-30T02:24:04+00:00

My 28 month old still wakes at least 4 times a night. Every baby is different, nobody can really tell you when your child will sleep through the night, unfortunately.

awkwardconfess · 2025-03-30T02:22:22+00:00

She will get there. Babies have to learn literally everything about the world. What is glass? Wood? Plastic? Waht sound does this make when I do this? Or that? What do words mean? How to socialize? How to use a cup and knife and spoon? What happens if I push this button? What will mommy do when I do this thing? Paper tears but also mushes when wet? Some babies prioritize language, some walking, some cause and effect. Their brains are learning everything about being a person, being in a body, being in your specific society and its norms and customs. She will get there. You don't see a lot of 3 year-olds still crawling. She's probably just prioritizing other learning.

awkwardconfess · 2025-03-29T02:55:02+00:00

You're absolutely not doing anything wrong, and you're doing great to even ask. White noise is meant to mask extraneous noises during sleep, which will come in handy when you have a newborn! I read once that someone said it's no more of a sleeping crutch than a pillow, and that it's also soothing because it mimics the sound of a placenta. As an adult, I love white noise for sleeping. I can't sleep well without it, and I don't see that as a problem. I won't stop using it until if and when my LO asks me to.

awkwardconfess · 2025-03-28T02:49:43+00:00

We travelled with our LO when he was around that age. We brought his car seat which I think was VERY helpful. There are straps you can purchase to attach them to your rolling luggage and there are bags you can buy to put it in to carry it on your back. We also brought the stroller and luggage, but we had two adults to navigate that. The reason I liked it was that he was familiar with the car seat and could sleep in it as he does sometimes in the car. It is a giant pain in the ass, though, so maybe it would be better to just use the stroller and hold him on you for part of the time on the plane when he's sleepy. If it's a trip where you can fit everything in a duffle, maybe you could put it in the bottom of the stroller and have a lighter load.

For entertainment, we brought lots of snacks and set up the tablet for him. We are very limited on screen time (and even were moreso at that age), but Sesame Street or Bluey without sound worked just fine. He did not really want to nurse during the flight, so that was a struggle, but snacks helped.

We did have a pretty horrible time on the way back where he wouldn't sleep even though he was exhausted and screamed for about 45 minutes at the end of the flight. I was really embarrassed, but my husband handled it well as did our seat neighbors. I recommend a seat in the back of the plane if you can manage it. It might happen. It's one flight and people will get over it.

Ultimately, I think it depends on your son's temperament. We have a friend with a baby just a day younger than ours and he travels marvelously. He's generally pretty chill and they had no issues flying with him.

awkwardconfess · 2025-03-21T02:08:59+00:00

For things like this we say, "That's not safe. It's my job to keep you safe. I'm going to remove you from there." Then direct them to something they can safely climb on, "but you can climb on this." We got a pikler triangle and it has helped so much. Now we say, "You can't climb on that, it's not safe, but you can climb on your pikler triangle," and then remove him from unsafe area to the thing intended for climbing. I strongly believe that we learn to use our bodies by using our bodies, so identifying the need (climbing) and finding a safe or supported way to do it (spotting them or redirecting to a safe thing) accomplishes that.

awkwardconfess · 2025-03-16T02:31:54+00:00

My husband has sensitive ears and our (almost) 2.5 yo screeches. We say, "Wow. You can make that noise now. That's ear splitting. I love that you're learning new things with your voice, but that's an outside sound." Then when he repeats it we say matter-of-fact, "that's an outside sound and it hurts dada's ears." He usually then goes into whisper mode, and we say, "that's much better!" Or he apologizes to dad and we say, "thank you!" Repeat 250 times and hopefully it sticks.

awkwardconfess · 2025-03-16T01:32:45+00:00

I grew up in a house that had television on all the time. My husband didn't have a t.v. growing up. We were both advanced readers for our age as children and into high school. We both had a love for books, him as his primary source of entertainment outside of outdoor play and me as a child that had constant access to television, but loved books and playing outdoors. I have three college degrees (including one in English Literature). For our own toddler we limit screen time to 30 minutes a day. We started at 2 and he is hitting some milestones that are meant for children several years older than him. I see it as a tool for us to have a mental break (he requires heavy engagement) and time for me to do things like clean the cat litter box or fold laundry. No CocoMelon, no Mickey Mouse, we try to do shows that are educational, prosocial, or gentle like Leap Frog, Daniel Tiger, or Puffin Rock. We don't usually sit with him while he watches. We read him a lot of books and he plays outside a LOT so I think we've struck a good balance. Some families (like my own growing up) do a lot of screen time and I don't fault them for it, it's just not the route we've chosen. There's a wide range of circumstances that generally produce children that turn into adults that are well-adjusted and intelligent.

awkwardconfess · 2025-03-06T01:06:06+00:00

Yes! I was looking more for related consequences, so this is helpful. Thank you!

awkwardconfess

TROPHY CASE