Congratulations!

I’m the Mom, but I - er - the kid got Dad a personalized book to celebrate the fact that it is a first father’s day and then Dad and kid went to the local children’s science museum to explore together and make memories. I’m with kid nearly 24/7 so having dedicated dad-and-kid time is rare and a rare gift indeed. Thanks capitalism for that set of circumstances.

I did notice that when signing up for an account, I got stuck in the wheel of death. Photos @ https://we.tl/t-ltrqpoTrpI

I could only access settings, no other options.

I work as a nanny and am forever being asked by parents to recommend a baby logging app they can use with the other caregivers for their children. Data security has always been paramount so my previous top choice didn’t offer sync or sharing in order to keep the data safe.

The biggest feature is that it’s entirely end to end encrypted

I think your app has now become my new top recommendation because this is the one thing I’ve been waiting for in other baby logging apps! Thank you for the work you’ve done!

The parent outsourced their thought processing to the groupthink of a Facebook mom-group and never gave it a second thought.

In my due date/birth/parenting group* , the common response to anyone mentioning that their child is plagued by gas, writhing discomfort credited to gas or constipation, or constipation, is one of two things – chiropractor or probiotics. Mind you, my child isn’t even as old as an infant, they are new born new born new born. Kids at that age just have digestive issues because it is the only body system that hasn’t been used in utero so it has to work the kinks out land-side. But given that the comments are overwhelmingly in favor of these two absolutely awful choices** because we who follow science-based parenting have fled the group to save our brain beans by not spending every hour of every day countering the essential oil mommies, I can see where a truly bewildered new parent who doesn’t know how to vet credibility might conclude that a seemingly unanimous response means it is the right thing to do.

Now, I still am struggling with how, if you’ve had a child and have a pediatrician, you might not know how to vet credibility. Seems obvious to me that the one who went to med school is credible. But the world has all kinds.

So yes, I do suspect that your reasoning is the answer.

*I don’t know what to call it. It started out as a due date bump-buddies group when I first learned I was pregnant and has evolved now that the children are born.

**For the lurking parents or parents-to-be who are skeptical about the claim I casually tossed out: Chiropractic at best does nothing but is a parental placebo and at worst can permanently injure the child. Nothing but milk or formula is supposed to be given to a child before 4 months of age lest there be risks of life threatening infection as seen in the parent article.

good bot

A lot of parenting advice comes from “I tried X thing at the same time that the behavior happened to change” and a lot of the time what the parent was doing when the change happened was a coincidence (see B.F. Skinner’s superstitious pigeons).

THIS. If nothing else, THIS. So THIS.

“the phase where they’re basically a potato”

I’m laughing because I call this “the grub phase” because grubs eat, poop, sleep, and generally wiggle a bit. Glad to see I’m not the only one who has a pithy nickname for this phase.

Sounds about newborn. :D

I’m not a fan of any age or stage under age 1 when they start getting toddling and verbal. I’m not someone who is gaga for babies.

If I may offer any advice it is this – take pictures and video of the really dull, repetitive moments. Some day, you might think back and wish to engage in nostalgia. Or you might not. Or they might have kids of their own and ask you about the dull, repetitive moments and you’ll want some reference material. Or they might not. But digital video is basically free so it is better to have and not need then need and not have. And besides, playing documentary videographer adds some interest to the dull, repetitive moments.

Ask your children. Ask them what they think about handling birthday parties, playdates, etc. Your children share your values and so will have a more clear idea about how to navigate their friendships. In this, you’ll be polishing their rough plan, but they are the best ones to come up with a rough plan.