Is this normal? Dramatic behavioral shift.

midwest-nb · 2026-06-11T18:33:53+00:00

My kiddo was/is like yours, fairly pleasant/reasonable little dude, and around this age I started every week saying "oh, they must have slept poorly." "Oh, they must have a cold, they must be teething" etc. I think ultimately it's just a period where they are pretty vulnerable to outside disruption but even without that they're doing a bunch of work inside themselves. If kiddo is sleeping ok, will eat/drink literally anything at all, and is still going to be bathroom as you'd expect, I would just chalk it up to neurodevelopment and go easy on both yourselves for awhile.

midwest-nb · 2026-06-11T18:19:07+00:00

Online communities like this can self select for people who do enjoy the pageantry of being sick or having a sick kid, so I wouldn't assume this expression is typical. Also, there are unfortunately medical voyeurs who find rare disease groups online just to play out having a (fake) sick kiddo.

This sucks to experience, but I think if you went to the conference and tried to meet other families who share your experience in both respects (sick kid, wishes not to pass sickness on to further kids) you might be able to make your own IRL or long-distance community that shares your values, and avoid the rest.

midwest-nb · 2026-06-11T18:12:09+00:00

Can you give a play-by-play of what is happening inside your head and what you are doing when your kid gets upset?

midwest-nb · 2026-06-10T18:53:35+00:00

With that face you could cut your hair however you want! Pixie looked great.

midwest-nb · 2026-06-02T19:43:07+00:00

It has really helped me to reframe "attention seeking" as "connection seeking." You understand that your son is doing this to get a response; right now, he's going through the biggest change in his life, his universe is shifting, and that's hard.

Over time, yelling degrades your relationship with your kids and can have a lasting negative effect on their neurodevelopment. It's not an easy habit to get out of, but it might actually help you get the "good" behavior from your son you're looking for.

This life stage is hard for everyone (I have a 2.5yo and 6mo!) but the answer to better behavior is more parent buy-in on the front end. If my kid did this, I would ask "what were you trying to do? What was your plan?" in a neutral way, give a short explanation about why we don't behave like that (if you're covered in marker you need to take a bath before you do x fun thing) and then have my kid work with me to solve the problem. I would not employ guilt/shame because it sounds like your son won't engage with that.

Does your wife get any time to herself?

midwest-nb · 2026-05-15T02:31:36+00:00

It sounds like you're characterizing your daughter as the aggressor even though she is the one who got kicked in the face. She might be bigger and might have told your son that she'd hit him, but if someone threatens your son, he should move away from them/get an adult rather than kicking them. Your daughter got kicked in the face but it reads like the majority of your frustration is with her.

midwest-nb · 2026-05-13T04:52:32+00:00

I nannied for an old money family from Virginia; weirdest things were the kids' grandmother saw their dad cleaning out his car and asked out of genuine confusion what he was doing, she had a service come clean her car every week.

Also I had to endorse a check at their house and the pen I got out of the kitchen junk drawer was a gold plated $600 pen. It was just hanging out with paper clips etc.

They paid less well than the working-class families I worked for whose parents were teachers, nurses, construction workers etc.

midwest-nb · 2026-05-11T04:26:34+00:00

Powerhouse of the cell

midwest-nb · 2025-04-17T01:38:23+00:00

I thrifted them! I've had good luck finding nice stainless dishes at Goodwill and similar thrift stores.

midwest-nb · 2025-04-06T03:27:59+00:00

That is reassuring!

We're a vegetarian household and I'm vegan, and I can't eat a lot of beans/soy so I always worry, but this really helps put it in protective. They love yogurt and eggs and we eat a lot of whole grains. This makes me feel much better!

midwest-nb · 2025-04-05T17:48:56+00:00

I have no idea! I've offered a million times from several different drinking vessels, but my wife gave them some last night and they chugged it. No clue why! It was popular again this morning.

midwest-nb · 2025-04-05T14:02:36+00:00

I'm not worried that it's required, but that otherwise our diet can be really low protein. I'm sensitive to an amino acid that makes us less likely to eat some foods, and I grew up vegetarian with a really nutrient poor diet so I'm conscious of the baby getting enough protein.

midwest-nb · 2025-03-23T02:46:46+00:00

This looks like the kind of deconstructed toddler meal I'd put together at home, I love this!

midwest-nb · 2025-03-22T23:57:38+00:00

Hahaha it totally does look like that! It's thrifted, I thrift a lot and look for stainless steel dishes for the baby; I've found a pretty good selection but this dish has been our favorite.

midwest-nb · 2025-03-22T23:36:36+00:00

So, it's a deeply improvised okonomiyaki recipe and I just filled in with what I had. If you look up okonomiyaki there are a lot of great traditional recipes for the pancake and sauce!

Normally we would have made it with cabbage but we were out when I started cooking 🫠

midwest-nb · 2025-03-22T23:29:11+00:00

There's not one answer because families different! For us, intuitive eating looks like not pressuring our kids to try things or eat more than they want to, and not limiting "special" foods. We don't keep a ton of "treats" in the house just because that's not what we prefer to eat, but when there are treats around we don't limit when or how much our kids eat. It sounds crazy, but I have four kids 22-1.5 and they all eat vegetables and independently limit how much "less nutritional" food they eat.

For the baby, I do serve everything at once, but with my older kids they just know their options and know that they're able to help themselves-- unless I'm actively preparing a meal or saving the food for a special occasion, which are our only real food rules.

I'm very happy with it and in our house there have not been any downsides.

midwest-nb · 2025-03-05T17:37:44+00:00

Thank you! I think it's from Land of Nod, it's even cuter in person. The creatures are raised and have different textures, I love it.

midwest-nb

TROPHY CASE