I'm an 18 year old trans guy(that will be a bit relevant) but I feel like she treats me the same way she did when I was 8.

I can't go anywhere alone and I can't be alone in stores. Even smaller places that we go to often, she still has to be able to see me. I really don't understand this since I'm home alone nearly every day for around seven hours, occasionally more.

I can't spend my money how I want so I'm typically stuck asking if it's not something I originally said I wanted. One of the things about money that we've done since I was little is that if it's my money I'm allowed to spent it however I want, but she's been not letting me do that recently. We were at a store a couple weeks ago and I saw a small plush of one of my favorite characters and she wouldn't let me buy it and didn't even say why. And if it's online shopping then I either have to ask to buy it or ask her to buy it. And she's even worse about what I can/can't buy when it comes to clothes which makes shopping obnoxious.

And I couldn't even fully pick the name I go by. I had a few different ideas with my two favorites being obvious. I couldn't go by one of them because that'd "make it obvious I'm trans" but it's already obvious. I couldn't go by another one because she didn't like them or some random family member in another state that we've never met and will never meet has the same basic name. She didn't even listen to one idea, which was one I really liked, and instead suggested my least favorite of my ideas. I 'go by' that name now, and it's a great name, but it doesn't feel like me and has no importance to me like the others did.

For most of these things, I wouldn't even do them. I'm perfectly happy staying home alone, but I want the ability to go out on my own. And I should be allowed to buy things with my money. Even things I probably won't get, like a monster energy drink or something, but I still want to be able to. I don't know how to ask her about this or to get her to change without being asked.

TLDR: I'm 18 and can't be alone, can't buy things with my money, and didn't get a real choice with my name. How do I get my mom to start letting me?

I truly cannot believe this. I'm blessed to work from home and I drop off and pick up my 15 year-old daughter every single day from high school. She gets decent enough grades and I never in 1 million years would have known that she was getting high mostly every day for the past year. The only reason I found out is because she was vomiting on a daily basis. I took her to many hospital visits and after ruling out so many causes, they asked her if she smoked marijuana because they've been seeing a lot of teenagers come to the emergency room with what they call CHS. She told the doctor she was getting high at school and then told me. She was crying so much when she told me because she said that she knew I would be disappointed in her, which I was. I asked her why she started and she said she started because she didn't know how to deal with some difficult emotions. I'm a single mom and her dad hasn't been around for many years. I feel like I've completely failed as a mom. I keep questioning on how I couldn't have noticed. She was only getting high at school and by the time I picked her up, she was sober. I always looked out for these kinds of things, but I genuinely never saw her eyes red, low, glossy or anything, but still I don't know how I could've missed this. I am so ashamed and so alone. She's been sober 3 weeks now. I am going to be drug testing her randomly. Is this a good next step? She is refusing therapy.

Like what do you think they'd write about you and what other content do you think would be in there

Im the teen just wondering about the parents perspective not the parent wanting to snoop so please dont come for me

College student wondering whether week long radio silence from my parents is the norm. Not even a text unless I text first. My college friends are astonished when I tell them I call my mom once every two weeks. Multi-week silence in my dad's case lol

Do you prefer your kids initiating contact instead, so you don't feel like you're bothering them?

My son will be nearly 2 this Christmas, and I was planning to give him a play kitchen and accessories. We’ll be flying to visit family, so he wouldn’t be able to open that and bring it back with us.

How have you handled larger Christmas gifts if flying to visit family?

Good morning! I am a ftm (26) & my baby was born 8/31.

L/O is just shy of 2m old. I EBF, so I absolutely need to schedule my personal time, errands, and (basically) anything I’d like to do on my own during the time my baby is sleeping!

I’m noticing L/O sometimes needs to be put to sleep after the 60-90min wake window or else L/O is awake for hours and cranky. We have been working on that. It varies whether L/O is awake for 60min or 90min.

I’m also aware that at this age L/O still needs 14-17h of sleep in a 24 hr period- taking multiple & sometimes short spanned naps throughout the day. Which generally as of late, L/O does get between 12h-16h of sleep in a 24h period depending on the day & is awake more in the daytime than nighttime. I understand that my baby doesn’t have a circadian rhythm, to stimulate the circadian rhythm we nap with open curtains during the day, let everyone talk at normal volume / have tv on and are boring & quiet with dim lighting when waking at night time.

L/O will mainly go down for the night between 10-12AM. We occasionally wake sometime between 8pm-9pm, nurse & then go down for the night.

Wake again once between 3-6am for a 10 min nursing session & sleep all the way to 8am.. we average a good 8 hrs of sleep a night!

For the 60-90 min wake window, I let my baby wake up, change the diaper, do tummy time, and then feed which takes up to 40 mins. So we normally wait on the sleep cue after that & will just interact with eachother until I see the sleep cue.

I’m not looking for the “their schedule is your schedule” replies. I’m aware that L/O schedule mainly depends on the cues given to me- I will always follow the cues

What age are you putting your baby on a strict schedule and how did they do with the schedule?

I’d never force a nap or force L/O to stay awake, and I’d also never force feed/delay feeding to fit a strict schedule, but I like to be prepared ahead of time. I personally need to think about this upcoming routine several times before starting it, I need to type it out in my notes & set alarms. I need to “get ready” to start a routine.

I will always follow the cues but want a general idea of a routine to where I can say “he’s asleep at this time so that’s when I can go to the gas station & leave him with dad.”

What IS a good schedule to follow as a guideline around
L/O cues?

Will I never have a routine because baby is EBF & might want to wake & cluster feed so we never end up with a strict routine?

Is a strict routine only for formula fed babies?

Could maybe someone give me a guideline of a schedule for each month-1Y?

Yesterday evening, my husband was tossing a very dense, hard squishy toy around with our five-year-old son, and it accidentally hit him directly in the eye. He immediately developed a black eye, and the area underneath his eye is now extremely swollen, with a nasty cut and bruising.

My husband feels absolutely terrible about what happened. I was really angry with him, but I also have pretty severe anxiety, and my mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario: Oh my God, what if the school thinks we abuse our kids and calls child services?

For context, I have a really good relationship with my kids' school. I volunteer there, stay involved, and my kids have never shown up with unexplained bruises, marks, or injuries. This is a complete accident, but obviously, my son now has a very noticeable injury on his face.

As soon as it happened, I emailed his teacher and explained exactly what happened. I told her we would monitor him and decide whether he needed to be taken to the ER.

This morning, my son was his usual happy self. He wasn't complaining of dizziness or vision changes, and he seemed completely fine otherwise. The injury is underneath his eye, and although it looks absolutely horrible, he seems unbothered by it. We sent him to school this morning.

Meanwhile, I spent practically the entire night crying and panicking because I'm so scared someone is going to suspect abuse and call child services. I know my anxiety is probably making this ten times worse, but I can't stop thinking about it.

Am I overreacting? Did I do the right thing by emailing his teacher and explaining what happened? Has anyone been in a similar situation where their child had a significant accidental injury to their face?

I just feel sick with anxiety, and I don't know how to stop worrying about this.

Hi all! I know this is way in advance but we are to saving up for Christmas for 2 under 2. We’re trying to do more experience-based gifts as our children have a million toys. What are some experiences to consider? TIA!

Hello! I would like some help or reassurance for how I'm feeling, by hearing positive stories from parents or about yours. Slight trigger warning for abuse mentioned.

I grew up heavily abused and my life has been very difficult, I have a lot of mental health issues from trauma. I've also been running into this problem. So many people online, or even in person, joke about their parents physically hurting them, or jokes that mention abuse like it's funny. It makes me feel so depressed and alone.

Is it that normal to be abused? Am I overreacting to my experience? It almost feels like everyone can take it as a joke, but I'm here spiraling. I feel crazy about being so bothered by my past.

Anyway, I think it might really help my mental health if I could hear stories from parents or of your parents. Positive ones that have made you smile or really proud. I need to see that the world isn't filled with abuse, that good parents exist, and that I'm not crazy.

My son is almost 17 and an only child. He's always had mates but never close friends, and he's struggling more than ever right now.
Some background: he's really bright, did extremely well in his GCSEs last year and got into a great college where he's doing STEM subjects. He plays three instruments and loves photography, politics and deep conversations. He's progressive, respectful, cares about animals and the environment, and he's outgoing. (I know I'm his mum, but the other adults in his life say the same.)
Secondary school was hard. He often felt excluded. Some of that came from him not wanting to join in with childish or toxic behaviour in the popular groups, which I respect. But he also had a pattern of cutting off friendships he had formed, sometimes blocking people completely, which then alienated himself from certain friendship groups that also included people he liked. That left him more isolated.
I always told him college would be different: people would mature and he'd find people like him. That kept him going and he couldn't wait to start.
Now he's lonelier than ever. Classes are spread across the week with lots of independent activities , so he's around people less than before. That's despite him being student rep and environmental rep and doing DofE.
He really wants friends, but I think he may not have the skills to build and keep them. He's terrified of seeming desperate, and I sometimes wonder if he comes across as too nonchalant, like he doesn't care.
We live in Brighton, which should be a great city for this, but I'm struggling to find places where he could meet like-minded people his age without it costing a fortune.
It's heartbreaking to watch. He's becoming withdrawn and low and losing motivation. Most of his free time now goes on social media and online gaming.
Has anyone been through this with a teen? I'd love to hear:
What actually helped your kid build real friendships at this age
How to gently raise the pattern of cutting people off without him feeling attacked
Any affordable groups, clubs or activities in Brighton for 16 to 18 year olds into music, photography, politics or the environment

For me it was poor behaviour.

Now I accept people for who they are and what they show me…over who I hope they could be.