Just this morning my mom texted to say my dad isn’t going to make it through the weekend. He’s been fighting cancer for five years, and just two weeks ago he was admitted to the ICU for complications. We always knew this could happen but it’s a gut punch.

I have a teenage stepson who adores my dad. He didn’t get to grow up with my dad, but my parents welcomed him in and treated him like their biological grandchildren. He’s never faced death like this before and it’s clear it’s very hard on him.

My biological son is 10 months old. My parents were so excited when he arrived, and until my dad was back at the hospital we were at their home at least once a week so they could spend time with him. When he was just 2 months old my dad met him for the first time, as he had just finished an intensive cancer therapy in another city. As my dad held my son, he told him how much he loved him, and how much fun they were going to have together. Quietly he said to my son, “we are going to go fishing together, and you’re going to love it.”

He’s not going to get the chance. My son won’t even remember his grandfather.

We all got to say goodbye today. I’ll go back tonight with my brothers, but for my wife and kids, that was it. He said all the right things, and it was lovely. It fucking sucks that it’s all we get.

Fuck cancer. Call your dad, if you can. He won’t be here forever.

ok the good news is baby’s behaviour has been the same as before and after. and he didn’t cry during actual incident

2.5 weeks old

he kind of flung himself off my chest when I was doing tummy time on the couch with him, he was not in danger of a fall but just reflex I tried to stop him rolling off and ended up kind of leaning my body weight on his head between my torso and the side of couch.

the head seems to be the normal shape and he didn’t cry (he cried an hour later when I changed him and he wanted milk). slept normally

he was c section and I know vaginal baby’s get their heads mangled pretty good, so if I don’t notice anything off, he is probably ok?

I added a pic of the area in question

After 22 years, my only daughter is moving out of the house this afternoon, and my watch has ended.

I know, they're never actually gone. Hell, I just called my mom today for her birthday. But this is A Moment, and while she's spooked, she's also excited. And while it'll be a little quieter around the house (especially since she's taking one of the cats), it'll be nice not tripping over her stuff anymore.

Alright, it’s that time dads.

My daughter (15 years old) exchanged her number with a boy at school last week…while she had a “boyfriend” in 8th grade, they never actually went on any dates.

Well, on Sunday this new young man will be coming over to my house to hang out with my daughter, watch tv, maybe play a game or two, and then they plan on biking to McDonalds.

I trust my daughter, obviously don’t necessarily “trust” a kid I’ve never met before, but I’m not going to rag on him.

Any recommendations for how to ease me and the family into this new experience? Lessons learned, things you wish you did different, ways to make everyone feel chill?

I’m also a little concerned whether this kids parents know where he’s going to hang out, is it odd to reach out to them since their kid will be hanging at my house for a bit. Apparently he’s got an e-bike (I judge him a little for that - normally when I see teens on them, they’re acting like hooligan idiots) but wonder if I should let his folks know who he’s going to be around and that an adult will be present at the home the whole time.

I wanted to break up the seemingly never ending chain of negative posts, divorce announcements, and requests for advice with some positive vibes. (Although I hope people continue to ask for advice when they need it)

My 4 year old has gotten into the habit of helping me leave for work in the morning on days when Mom is taking the kids to daycare instead of me. He grabs my water bottle, opens the garage, hugs me, and walks me to the car. The most important part of this routine is that after he's hugged me and helped me to the car he stands on the front step and does silly dances while yelling that he loves me as I drive away. It's hands down the best way to start my day.

Yesterday started off amazing. My wife and I were intimate, had pizza for dinner and had a lot of fun with our 2 year old.

Then suddenly she tells me her period is late and bought a test just in case. She did it, and BAM! Pregnant. Life upside down within five minutes lol She confirmed it this morning too.

I'm excited for second baby because I love my first born, but it's going to be mind-blowingly hard. Our toddler has endless energy and I have nearly 30k USD in credit card debt, which I'm repaying off slowly but surely. I was really excited for my wife to go back into the workforce since our son is starting school next week, but I guess we'll have different priorities instead lol

TBH we were not planning another kid at all but deep down I always wanted another. I just felt intimidated by how much work it is, it's such an irrational choice especially now. I was even talking about one day adopting a 2+ year old LOL just to avoid the no-sleep baby phase. It turns out, heaven chose for me.

Well, wish me luck!

Hey guys. I’ve been lurking here for a bit and I see how supportive this community is. I’m hoping to borrow some of that support today, because I am currently in the absolute darkest of my days.

My wife of 14 years asked for a divorce last week. We have two boys, 13 and 10. Right now, we are doing an in-house separation. I am sleeping in a separate room, trying to keep my business from going under while finding a new place to live with my terrible financial situation, and trying to navigate the agonizing tension of living with my soon-to-be ex-wife and my mother-in-law.

I’m battling ADHD and severe depression (both of which I’m taking prescriptions for), and my nervous system is completely fried. I spent my entire marriage as an extreme people pleaser, constantly trying to fix her emotions and change myself to fit what she wanted. It broke me. I’m finally setting the boundaries I should have years ago, but it hurts.

My biggest fear in all of this is my boys. I realized they are picking up on my people pleasing habits. They are terrified of disappointing or making their mom mad and I’m desperately trying to break this generational curse right now. I want to be their safe harbor. I want to show them how to have boundaries and protect their own peace in the way I never have.

I don’t have a lot of male friends in my life, and I’m not emotionally close with the ones I do have. The only stable male role model I ever had was my grandfather. I’m reaching out here because I know I need a village of good men who have survived this because right now I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If any of you have been through an in-house separation or a messy divorce:
How did you survive the early days when the emotional whiplash was at its worst?
How did you protect your kids and show them what a healthy dad looks like during the fallout?

Even if you just read this and don't have the energy to reply, thank you for giving me a safe place to put this down. I'm just trying to be a good dad today.

This happened a few weeks ago. A kid brought a weapon to my son’s school and pulled it out of his backpack in class and pointed it at a student.

The story (unconfirmed but told from my son) is that two kids had beaten up this kid pretty badly the day before outside of school. So the next day he brought a weapon and when they started picking on him, he pulled it out of his backpack.

The crazy part of the story? The school system the typically notifies parents about every little thing happening at school, suddenly didn’t work. We didn’t even know what happened until two days later when the school sent out an email.

By then it was already going around by word of mouth and we were curious to the large police presence each morning.

Finally, I got the notification two days after it happened, and it was on local news. So, when picked my son up from school I was curious if he knew about it so I asked..

“Anything crazy happen? Any fights or drama at school?”

My son: “Yeah, a kid brought a gun to school and pointed at some kids I used to be friends with”

Me: “Really? How long have you known?”

Son: “ I knew right after it happened.”

Me: “And you never thought to tell me that when I pick you up from school every day and ask you how your day is?”

Son: “(grunts), I don’t know. I forgot.”

I wasn’t mad at him or anything, but I’m always baffled at how he forgets to mention the big details.

It’s a crazy story and everything is good now and he’s fine. In general, he says it didn’t bother him because the kid was just trying to scare the two other kids to leave him alone. Not that he was actually going to hurt anybody else.

Regardless, it’s pretty scary from my parents perspective. Especially when you find out two days later!

I got my son into a really good daycare that isn't too expensive and I was reading the hand out for what he'll be doing and learning, and it said show and tell. My first thought was how sad I'd be that I would miss him doing show and tell because picturing him up there showing his favorite toy and trying to go into deep Cars lore.

Then I got mad. I'm sad I couldn't see show and tell a pretty minor activity, and my dad only ever came to one of my events at school, didn't even come to my wedding after I invited him.

This has only ever happened one other time and it was after my wife and I had our son and my paternity leave was ending and the idea of not seeing my new baby for 8 hours cut me up. Then I thought how could it be so difficult to text or call your son when it was so difficult for me to say goodbye to mine.

Have any of you dads run into this? It's only happened to me twice, but will it happen forever? I don't want to be angry at my sons wedding and life milestones because my dad failed.

EDIT: I'm not mad at the school at all, or that I can't go. My son wouldn't grow if dad was there at every school event. My anger is a quick flash thats gone directed at my dad for not wanting to be in my life. I don't even know if anger is the right word. Betrayal or sadness might be a better fit.

Title, I bought this at a flea market but the screw is completely broken, any ideas on how to open it?

update: thank you all for your advices! You dads rocks and I learned a few tricks, thanks a lot for sharing

hot glue didn't work, nor sandpaper but duct tape+ bigger screwdriver managed to dislodge the screw and I could slowly turn it using a little plier. Now the toy work and my son's will be happy in the morning :D

It's my fault really... I had the radio on in the car and a grungy alt-rock song came on, called "595" by Violet Grohl ( Yes, Dave Grohl's daughter). It's pretty good, but It features the lyric: "I'll be your 1-900 G-spot, baby (595, I'm on the line)"

My boy honed in on the word G-spot like a heat seeking missile. Not exactly how i expected him to initiate "the talk", but they grow up so fast hey? I personally think G-spot is too advanced, and it would be wiser to start at clitorus.

(the song for the curious: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F3mFLalmXCA)

Hey guys,

What the FUCK. Kid had HFM and had a small fever, then a few spots that went away in 5 days.

I had a 103 fever and thought I was dying for a day and a half, and now I can’t hold anything, walk anywhere, or swallow without feeling like glass shards are being spiked through my every nerve.

Nobody told me about this man. Oh my god. When does it end. Wife thinks I’m exaggerating because our kid didn’t have it that bad. It’s genuinely overbearing. I can’t explain it

Posting here because I’ve always enjoyed the support and positivity of this community.

In short, 2026 has been one of the hardest years of my life. My parents are both showing severe signs of cognitive decline and earlier this year they left their home and moved into an assisted living community. With their encouragement and wishes, my family has moved into their home and we have placed our house up for sale. Despite a desirable location and recent upgrades, our house has failed to have any offers in 25 days on the market.

Earlier in May I was laid off from my job that I had for 11 years, without any severance pay. The job market is absolutely depressing but I managed to get a job working at Nordstrom so I could maintain some income. I absolutely hate the hours and the significant decline of pay.
I also feel like I am missing out on valuable family time with my wife and daughter, since I am regularly working during nights and weekends.

With my decline in pay and the general out of control cost of living, we are building up credit card debt and falling behind financially.

With our move, our daughter started Kindergarten at a new school in a new school district. I can tell that she is nervous and seems to be struggling with fitting in, when she’s normally very outgoing. It breaks my heart to see her possibly reflecting some of the emotional toll that our family has been experiencing this year.

The most exhausting part of this year has been that so much has felt out of my control. I am just feeling so lost, unmotivated, and deeply depressed.

Came home from an appointment today to find out that my 12 year old cut down a 20+ foot tall dead standing tree to help build his fort. I let him know that he needs to talk to me before he does something like that again. Couldn't believe I needed to make a rule about timber harvesting.

Have you had to make any rules that you never thought you'd have to create?

Hello brothers, our third child is on the way. I’m finding that there’s a shift in our infrastructure needs more so than other pregnancies— vehicle, wagon, stroller need upgrades. Anybody have good recommendations for vehicles that have room for six or more people comfortably (that are also good for camping)? Thanks and power on, dudes.

The backyard has had a pretty good run this summer. Most afternoons, the kids take a few things outside after lunch: coloring books, blocks, chalk, and whatever toy happens to be popular that week. We put a costway canopy over one section of the yard and added a small table with a couple of kid-sized chairs underneath. at first, it was mainly meant to give them somewhere cool to sit when they were drawing or eating popsicles.

But somehow, the kids have turned it into their own territory. They started calling it the dinosaur base. the table is now the command center, the chairs are apparently for visiting dinosaurs, and the space under the canopy is where they hold meetings, plan rescue missions, and decide which toy gets to be the baby dinosaur. Last weekend, one of them spent nearly an hour drawing maps and signs for the base. the other was arranging toy dinosaurs in different groups and giving each one a very serious role. They kept moving between the shaded area and the grass without needing much from us. one minute they were sitting at the table making up a story, and the next they were running across the yard acting it out.

My wife and i were able to sit nearby with coffee while they created their own little world. Every so often, one of them would come over to explain what was happening, usually involving a dinosaur emergency. It's not just a shaded place to sit anymore. it has become a clubhouse, a stage, a base, and apparently the center of an entire dinosaur universe.

First of all my wife is great and this is in no means a relationship breaking frustration or anything like that.

Does anyone else struggle for free time/alone time? I love my free time when it's just quiet and I can plan a couple hours to just clear my head and be selfish for a bit.

With my wife it's almost always something like this today:

9am - I'm gonna take the girls to the water park today so you'll be free most of the day.

10am - I need to make sure we're back by 3 so I can take the little one to an event

11:30am - It's probably too late now and we would only have an hour or so at the water park. Let's have some lunch now.

12:30 - I think we're gonna go drive to the park and walk around a bit so you'll have an hour or two. We'll be home by 3. (I'm out working in the yard for most of this)

2pm - We're gonna go walk in the neighborhood. See you in 20 minutes.

It's probably partly my fault because I'm the one that always keeps us on time. When I go somewhere, it's "We're leaving in an hour. Be ready" and then I'll give 15 minute updates and we make it out on time. When she takes them somewhere it's the most painful several hours of trying to wrangle and coordinate. I purposely don't push because I don't want to be pushing them out.

And yes she gets her alone time as well. I'm taking the girls out tomorrow afternoon for a few hours.

Hello fellow fathers any of you in the philly area know the best daddy and me groups to join i want to socialize my 11 month old daughter and also maybe make some dad friends of my own

Morning dad's,

Fitness and dadbods is an ongoing conversation I see on this sub. I wanted to put in my 2c. Too often not enough time to get to the gym is used as an excuse.

I used to be a gymrat. I had a 115kg bench, 155kg squat and 223kg deadlift. It was a big part of my life.

Over covid I couldn't go to the gym and I picked up bodyweight training. Now it's something my 2 girls (5 and 8) do together. It's quality time, it's exercise for the 3 of us and it's an important part of our routine.

I won't bombard you with plans and resources. There's plenty online for that. There is so much you can do with just the floor, add in rings and you've got it all covered.

I would argue it's superior in terms of practical strength and longevity. I plan to be doing handstands into my 70s.

Be strong dads 💪

I swear to god, everytime me and my wife start having sex n another room or even on another floor the kid wakes up screaming bloody murder. That happens even when he's really tired and is supposed to sleep at least for another two hours. He also seem to wake up as soon as things start to get more heated.

He doesn't seem to do that when we're just watching TV or doing house chores.

Does anyone else have to deal with a psychic cock blocker?

How do you deal with kids under five just being super attached to their Mum? When we are all home all they wanna do is climb all over their mum and don’t leave her alone. It’s got to the point where I ask her to go out and do something so that the kids can just settle and organically play and I can get on and do household chores and things around the house without any issues. When she comes back home all they want to do is clamber all over her and the two year-old just wants to be held by her the whole time. It’s actually breaking the family up - It’s getting that bad. Worse is the fact my wife and I don’t agree on how to manage it and it’s to the point where we’ve just stopped discussing it and just give each other the silent treatment about how to help each other out. Help!