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Parenting Thread

cpljohnst said:
My youngest turned 18 earlier this week. Both my kids are "adults" now. I think the wife and I did good. Mission Accomplished! It's such a journey raising kids but very worthwhile for us. And it's true, they are grown before you know it, so enjoy the good times with your little ones and hang in there during the tough times.
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I have three little ones: 10, 7, and 3. I'm experiencing the morning after the 7 yr old had 5 girls come stay the night with her for her birthday. It's so much fun watching her be so happy! I'm a religious guy, so I firmly believe that the greatest blessing we receive is a child. I have a long way to go, cpl, so I may be hitting you up on here on how to get through the rough times! I just absolutely love being a father! Years ago, my Mom asked if I ever thought about being a priest. I turned to her and said, "Mom, I want to have kids." Best choice I ever made!


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cpljohnst said:
My youngest turned 18 earlier this week. Both my kids are "adults" now. I think the wife and I did good. Mission Accomplished! It's such a journey raising kids but very worthwhile for us. And it's true, they are grown before you know it, so enjoy the good times with your little ones and hang in there during the tough times.
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I've got a 13 yr old daughter right now, so I need to keep this advice in mind :)
 
mikeg_74 said:
It's like a 2nd mortgage for me with a 2 & 4 yr old. Thank god my oldest starts kindergarten in August & that means I get a raise because that's half my daycare bill.
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Isn't it ridiculous? I don't know what rates you guys in the US pay, I'm assuming it varies place to place. The wife and I were looking at possibly making one last house upgrade in the next little bit but there is no way in hell we can take on more mortgage while paying $1300/m for our son to be in daycare while we are at work.
 
ddelloch said:
Isn't it ridiculous? I don't know what rates you guys in the US pay, I'm assuming it varies place to place. The wife and I were looking at possibly making one last house upgrade in the next little bit but there is no way in hell we can take on more mortgage while paying $1300/m for our son to be in daycare while we are at work.
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Our daycare is $190/wk infant, $170/wk 1-3 yr olds, $150/wk for 3 yr olds. 4 is "free" as part of tax payer funded pre-K. The one we wanted to put him in was $270/wk for infants and around $200/wk for ones. Just too much. Would have been more than our mortgage.
 
deuce said:
Wait what?!?! I thought it was 20% of daycare expenses up to $3,000. Did they do away with it?

I need to see if I can set up an FSA and just keep that money away from the Feds altogether.
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We spent $1000.00 a month on daycare and were able to claim little more than half. Ended up getting around $600.00 back. The tax codes expired that benefited parents that have to work.
 
So my son plays soccer 2x a week as part of the after care program. This morning he asks if I can watch him play soccer thru my phone? Wow that was shocking coming from a 4 yr old and a bit emotional too as it bothers me to not be there due to work.

Well, I'm taking off work at 3pm tomorrow to surprise him. And we're going to Yogurtland afterwards. #thatshowthisdaddyrolls :D
 
Canes said:
So my son plays soccer 2x a week as part of the after care program. This morning he asks if I can watch him play soccer thru my phone? Wow that was shocking coming from a 4 yr old and a bit emotional too as it bothers me to not be there due to work.

Well, I'm taking off work at 3pm tomorrow to surprise him. And we're going to Yogurtland afterwards. #thatshowthisdaddyrolls :D
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That's awesome Canes. I've been fortunate enough to have the same departure time, 4pm, for the past 21 years. (My arrival time has gotten earlier over the years - now it's 5:30am - but that's another story). I attended both my sons' practices and games, through tee ball, baseball, basketball and lacrosse. That did change when they got to high school, but hopefully being at all those games and practices means something to them.
 
We're looking into daycare/nanny right now and OMG these places are insane. Like everyone else mentioned it's like a 2nd mortgage!!! Of course both our parents (who both LOVE kids) have moved out of state in the last year :(
 
Jericho said:
We're looking into daycare/nanny right now and OMG these places are insane. Like everyone else mentioned it's like a 2nd mortgage!!! Of course both our parents (who both LOVE kids) have moved out of state in the last year :(
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Yeah dude it is crazy. I'm counting the days to August 2016 when both my kids will be tuition free in a public charter school. It sucks that pre K is the same as daycare fees right now.
 
bonknhead said:
That's awesome Canes. I've been fortunate enough to have the same departure time, 4pm, for the past 21 years. (My arrival time has gotten earlier over the years - now it's 5:30am - but that's another story). I attended both my sons' practices and games, through tee ball, baseball, basketball and lacrosse. That did change when they got to high school, but hopefully being at all those games and practices means something to them.
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I'm heading in that direction. 9-6 job hours doesnt cut it.
 
Daycare is crazy. We have an infant and a 2 and a half year old. It is like $1,100 a month for both, and that is the most affordable of the daycare facilities we felt comfortable with. If insurance wasn't so expensive, my wife would stay home with them. So close to being able to swing it.
 
evand23mc said:
Daycare is crazy. We have an infant and a 2 and a half year old. It is like $1,100 a month for both, and that is the most affordable of the daycare facilities we felt comfortable with. If insurance wasn't so expensive, my wife would stay home with them. So close to being able to swing it.
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That's a really good rate. $1,500 over here for two is the norm unless you go with a Montessori school then its $2K+.
 
Canes said:
That's a really good rate. $1,500 over here for two is the norm unless you go with a Montessori school then its $2K+.
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Not sure if it's this bad everywhere but my wife put herself on the list for sept 2014 the day she found out she was pregnant November 2012. We are on the wait list for 9 different daycares and have basically been told fat chance by 7 of them. These aren't anything special or exclusive, just local daycares. Really holding our breath on the other two or life is going to get reeeeeal interesting around here.


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evand23mc said:
Daycare is crazy. We have an infant and a 2 and a half year old. It is like $1,100 a month for both, and that is the most affordable of the daycare facilities we felt comfortable with. If insurance wasn't so expensive, my wife would stay home with them. So close to being able to swing it.
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It helps come tax time though. Decent deduction with spending that kind of money.
 
War Eagle said:
It helps come tax time though. Decent deduction with spending that kind of money.
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You would think. Them you make too much money and the deductions are not as big....
 
ddelloch said:
Not sure if it's this bad everywhere but my wife put herself on the list for sept 2014 the day she found out she was pregnant November 2012. We are on the wait list for 9 different daycares and have basically been told fat chance by 7 of them. These aren't anything special or exclusive, just local daycares. Really holding our breath on the other two or life is going to get reeeeeal interesting around here.
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Same thing happened with us. The daycare associated with my wife's employment has about a 2 year wait list. We just got the call two weeks ago that a spot opened up for us.


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So now that I know the kiddo can actually hear me inside his mothers womb, we've taken to reading to him. I've actually been buying him a ton of books, and he has a fairly extensive library already. At some point I had bought a copy of Mother Goose nursery rhymes.

They suck. Hard.

I have never read a more nonsensical stream of nonsense in my entire life. Maybe a couple of centuries ago they made sense, to someone, somewhere. But now? Stupid. I may just donate the book because I can't see me reading any of this crap to my child.

The two gray kits,
​
And the gray kits' mother,​
All went over
​
The bridge together.​

The bridge broke down,
​
They all fell in;​
"May the rats go with you,"
​
Says Tom Bolin.
​

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
 
deuce said:
So now that I know the kiddo can actually hear me inside his mothers womb, we've taken to reading to him. I've actually been buying him a ton of books, and he has a fairly extensive library already. At some point I had bought a copy of Mother Goose nursery rhymes.

They suck. Hard.

I have never read a more nonsensical stream of nonsense in my entire life. Maybe a couple of centuries ago they made sense, to someone, somewhere. But now? Stupid. I may just donate the book because I can't see me reading any of this crap to my child.

The two gray kits,
And the gray kits' mother,
All went over
The bridge together.

The bridge broke down,
They all fell in;
"May the rats go with you,"
Says Tom Bolin.

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
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I felt the same way when my daughter was born. We still have yet to have one Mother Goose book enter out house.
 
When my wife was pregnant I went on eBay and bought a "lot" of 15 Dr.Seuss books among other ransoms long the way.At some point mother goose was bought and it is awful. Absolutely agree!


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The girl's got plans...

Camden-president.jpg
 
ddelloch said:
Isn't it ridiculous? I don't know what rates you guys in the US pay, I'm assuming it varies place to place. The wife and I were looking at possibly making one last house upgrade in the next little bit but there is no way in hell we can take on more mortgage while paying $1300/m for our son to be in daycare while we are at work.
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I guess there is one advantage to living in poor rural Arkansas... I may not make much $, but daycare for my little girl is $75 per week.
 
I forgot to share this one, my daughter went to a baconfest and there was a putting game, she couldn't wait to do it!
 
Here is the little man with the Easter Bunny.

 
Easily the best gift my son has ever received from my parents:

30833f60c66f11e381260002c9de80c2_8.jpg
 
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