The most annoying/ridiculous things about raising a baby/toddler in 2024?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$200+ soccer classes for toddlers are The Worst IMO

Those break down to $25 per class and gets us out of the house for a few hours every Saturday morning. Trust me, I would pay $25 for someone to run my toddlers on the weekends we don't have soccer (or another activity) where I can sip my coffee while it's still warm.

Real question, not snark. Why can’t you just go to the playground? I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Every Saturday we go to a coffee shop, get a bagel or pastry or something, and then we go to the playground. We’re all out of the house for a few hours and they love it.

Not PP but here is the reason:
PlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThME

Take note of the warm coffee part

-signed introvert mom of extrovert 1st

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Solid Starts and baby led weaning (AKA bragging about feeding choking hazards with zero studies to prove there are long term benefits)

Gentle parenting

I was fully on board with this for 5 minutes until my baby projectile vomited a lightly cooked broccoli floret across the room

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$200+ soccer classes for toddlers are The Worst IMO

Those break down to $25 per class and gets us out of the house for a few hours every Saturday morning. Trust me, I would pay $25 for someone to run my toddlers on the weekends we don't have soccer (or another activity) where I can sip my coffee while it's still warm.

Real question, not snark. Why can’t you just go to the playground? I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Every Saturday we go to a coffee shop, get a bagel or pastry or something, and then we go to the playground. We’re all out of the house for a few hours and they love it.

np. This works well when you have kids that are relatively safe climbing on their own. I have one kid who needs very little supervision at the playground and has been very independent since 14-months or so. My second child is three and still needs close supervision. He climbs just as well as the first, but shows bad judgment on occasion. Falls are very infrequent, but often enough that we can't relax and drink coffee like we could with the first.

I am the first PP. I have observed the soccer classes are very hit or miss at young ages. There are the kids that would have been just fine at the playground, the ones that do benefit from a structured class somewhat (but it is only 30 minutes and you commit to it for the full session) and those that hate it and cry the whole time. I would never recommend it for kids under 3. For us 4 was the first age when it felt worth it to go out of our way to get to the class every week.

I am the $25 poster, I'm not expecting my kids to do much beyond trot around the general direction with kids their own age. I don't think my kids are going to be the next Mia Hamm, but it is nice for them to burn some energy and nice for me to stand on the sidelines with some other parents and chat about potty training regressions or the preschool lottery in our town.

Yeah for us and some other families we observed there was no chance of chatting on the sidelines because our kids refused to participate in most/all sessions. I'm glad it was a good experience for you!

I was chiming in with my 2c as to why I didn't think soccer for toddlers was the absolute WORST, it wasn't a catch-all to everyone's experience. From your position, knowing that your kids prefer other activities, not sure why you feel the need to put down other people's experiences.

I actually don’t think the person you were responding to was being rude or sarcastic.

PP here, yeah I wasn't being sarcastic. Sorry if it came across that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$200+ soccer classes for toddlers are The Worst IMO

Those break down to $25 per class and gets us out of the house for a few hours every Saturday morning. Trust me, I would pay $25 for someone to run my toddlers on the weekends we don't have soccer (or another activity) where I can sip my coffee while it's still warm.

Real question, not snark. Why can’t you just go to the playground? I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Every Saturday we go to a coffee shop, get a bagel or pastry or something, and then we go to the playground. We’re all out of the house for a few hours and they love it.

Not PP but here is the reason:
PlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThME

Take note of the warm coffee part

-signed introvert mom of extrovert 1st

NP. Set expectations! I play with my kids nonstop, but when we go to a playground I expect them to play with each other and the other kids. It's my break. DH on the other hand, loves to play with them at playgrounds. I feel a bit judged by other parents when I'm not playing, but I don't care.

Oh and get a better coffee travel mug if your coffee gets cold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$200+ soccer classes for toddlers are The Worst IMO

Those break down to $25 per class and gets us out of the house for a few hours every Saturday morning. Trust me, I would pay $25 for someone to run my toddlers on the weekends we don't have soccer (or another activity) where I can sip my coffee while it's still warm.

Real question, not snark. Why can’t you just go to the playground? I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Every Saturday we go to a coffee shop, get a bagel or pastry or something, and then we go to the playground. We’re all out of the house for a few hours and they love it.

Not PP but here is the reason:
PlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThME

Take note of the warm coffee part

-signed introvert mom of extrovert 1st

NP. Set expectations! I play with my kids nonstop, but when we go to a playground I expect them to play with each other and the other kids. It's my break. DH on the other hand, loves to play with them at playgrounds. I feel a bit judged by other parents when I'm not playing, but I don't care.

Oh and get a better coffee travel mug if your coffee gets cold.

Oh come on, the whole point of this thread is to highlight the ridiculous things parents (mostly moms) are being judged about in 2024. Let's not add to the problem. If a parent wants to spend money so they can get a moment's peace great. If another parent wants to go to the playground, cool. Parents are allowed to want breaks. Parents are allowed to pay for breaks.

[Anonymous]

1) Safety at all costs. Obviously it’s our job to keep our children safe, but I have to wonder how many kids are going to grow up with crippling anxiety because their parents taught them that normal childhood experiences are unsafe. Or kids that haven’t been allowed any independence because their parents were too fearful to give it to them.
2) gentle parenting. Too many kids going through life without consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$200+ soccer classes for toddlers are The Worst IMO

Those break down to $25 per class and gets us out of the house for a few hours every Saturday morning. Trust me, I would pay $25 for someone to run my toddlers on the weekends we don't have soccer (or another activity) where I can sip my coffee while it's still warm.

Real question, not snark. Why can’t you just go to the playground? I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Every Saturday we go to a coffee shop, get a bagel or pastry or something, and then we go to the playground. We’re all out of the house for a few hours and they love it.

Not PP but here is the reason:
PlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThME

Take note of the warm coffee part

-signed introvert mom of extrovert 1st

NP. Set expectations! I play with my kids nonstop, but when we go to a playground I expect them to play with each other and the other kids. It's my break. DH on the other hand, loves to play with them at playgrounds. I feel a bit judged by other parents when I'm not playing, but I don't care.

Oh and get a better coffee travel mug if your coffee gets cold.

This is how that would work out
Mom: Larlo, as I explained at the house, park time is mommy read a book time
Larlo: PlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThME

[Anonymous]

Oh older grandparents that don't remember what it was like to have little kids and also refuse to understand why I won't force my toddler to wear a big jacket for the 10 seconds it takes me to get her to the car on a 50 degree day.

[Anonymous]

Oh man, I have older kids and am just looking at the "Solid Starts" website referred to above. The "About" section states: "Introducing food to your baby shouldn't require a degree in investigative journalism," and "Solid Starts is the only comprehensive multidisciplinary team in the baby food and feeding space." Is this stealth satire? I don't know.

[Anonymous]

Woke toddler books. No toddler wants to read about racial injustice or gender ambiguities. They want animals, easy to understand visuals, and direct actions that make them laugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids born in 2021 and 2023.

Gentle parenting

An influencer hawking a course or guide for every niche problem, from potty training to motor development to sleep training to feeding

Woke kids books

Which books?

Anti-racist baby, A is for Activist, books for toddlers about RBG. Just go to the kids section at Politics and Prose and you’ll see what I mean. They are not at all helpful for having age-appropriate conversations about race with young children and I sincerely think that they’re just a way for parents to virtue signal.

Someone got our 2021 baby A is for Activist. It's one of her favorite books, but I hate reading it. I've basically disappeared A is for Awesome because that is even more irritating.

Why does your baby like it? That is very interesting.

Because the non-narrative part of the book is a hide-and-seek for cats and she loves cats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$200+ soccer classes for toddlers are The Worst IMO

Those break down to $25 per class and gets us out of the house for a few hours every Saturday morning. Trust me, I would pay $25 for someone to run my toddlers on the weekends we don't have soccer (or another activity) where I can sip my coffee while it's still warm.

Real question, not snark. Why can’t you just go to the playground? I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Every Saturday we go to a coffee shop, get a bagel or pastry or something, and then we go to the playground. We’re all out of the house for a few hours and they love it.

Not PP but here is the reason:
PlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThMEPlaYwItHmEpLAyWiThME

Take note of the warm coffee part

-signed introvert mom of extrovert 1st

NP. Set expectations! I play with my kids nonstop, but when we go to a playground I expect them to play with each other and the other kids. It's my break. DH on the other hand, loves to play with them at playgrounds. I feel a bit judged by other parents when I'm not playing, but I don't care.

Oh and get a better coffee travel mug if your coffee gets cold.

Oh come on, the whole point of this thread is to highlight the ridiculous things parents (mostly moms) are being judged about in 2024. Let's not add to the problem. If a parent wants to spend money so they can get a moment's peace great. If another parent wants to go to the playground, cool. Parents are allowed to want breaks. Parents are allowed to pay for breaks.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents looking for a quandrilingual montessori outdoor daycare. I just want quality care close to my house!

Ha! This was the case a decade ago too. Ridiculous. My kids went to a close-by and heavily subsidized church basement preschool (and we aren't religious BTW) and they're doing just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two kids, 2021 & 2023, and top two annoyances already mentioned

Gentle parenting! Especially all the gifters who will take your money for overpriced consultations and scripts of what you should say to your kid. These scrips are usually waaaaay too long & ridiculous to have an impact. The Visible Child fb group is, imo, the worst embodiment of this outlook.

The surface level conversation about autism and neurodivergance that celebrates the quirky stuff but doesn't grapple with the reality.

The ASD stuff is fascinating! That wasn't a thing at all a decade ago. I mean, obviously it was, but not talked about.

What I remember everyone having was food allergies. Clearly some kids do have life and death food allergies, but the kid who may get the faintest of rash from a particular food had equally vocal parents. That still a thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Solid Starts and baby led weaning (AKA bragging about feeding choking hazards with zero studies to prove there are long term benefits)

Gentle parenting

maybe i'm doing solid starts wrong-- but isn't the point for me to learn how to cut/prep the food? My mother and mother in law always think i'm being over the top anxious as I follow it religiously as they would be happy to give much bigger chunks of choking hazard and feed my one year old nuts/seeds/etc?

The main thing I don’t like about solid starts and baby led weaning (and yes, I have the app and read the food prep for maybe 100 foods) is that it instructs you to give food in big pieces. It’s like they think all 6-12 month olds have zero teeth. Guess what: if you give an 8 month old baby with teeth a whole strawberry or a quarter of an avocado (those as exactly their suggestions for serving), they can break off massive pieces with their teeth and choke. I know a child who did actually choke on a strawberry this way. Parents had to do CPR and call an ambulance. They were huge Solid Starts fans until that. My own daughter bit off huge, unsafe chunks of so many foods they recommended serving whole before I realize what total lunacy it was and went to soft foods and purées like sane previous generations.

By age 2 you cannot tell one bit who did baby led weaning or purées. My daughter had perfectly spaced teeth, zero picky preferences, and a great palate. I’m angry it’s pitched like fact when it’s just an unsafe fad.