r/Dads

Hey dads, I’m trying to compare online high school options for our teen and could use some honest feedback. Between traffic, work schedules, and activities, we’re considering switching but want something structured and accredited.

So far I’ve seen names like Legacy Online School | Connections Academy | Stride K12 mentioned. If you’ve looked into these or others, what stood out to you?? which ones felt more legit with real teacher interaction?

For reference, in my early 20s and living at home after being away at school for an extended period of time, adjusting to life back living with my family, and my dad. He gets drunk often, but even when he’s not inebriated he’s constantly making snide remarks about my mom and my siblings, as well as myself. I’m a pretty sensitive person and I’ve tried to realize it’s maybe not personal but sometimes it simply hurts too much to bear. For instance, once in the middle of the day I was taking a nap (I work a retail job most days of the week) and I guess he didn’t like that so he decided that was an appropriate time to call me a loser who went to a no-name school that nobody gives a shit about for a useless degree. He also shits on my decision to buy a car constantly even though it’s a necessity to get anywhere in the suburbs. We made the arrangement I wouldn’t have to pay rent, just contribute household materials and pay for my phone bill and things like that beforehand, so it’s not that. I guess I’m just looking for fellow dads to chime in about why my dad seems to hate us and his life so much. It sucks living in misery every day.

I am 6 weeks away from our due date!

What are some must haves at the hospital or in your go bag?

Also any other adult tips like insurance, bank accounts, and things like that would be greatly appreciated!

I don't feel like there's anyone I can talk to so I'm just gonna put this out on Reddit to get it off my chest. I'm a middle-aged man with mounting credit card debt, in a sexless marriage with two kids in college that seemed to only reach out to me when they need money or they have a problem. I feel like taking my life on a daily basis. I'm currently laying in a hotel room traveling for work and the only people that are reaching out to me is because they want something from me. No one cares how my day is going. no one cares that i've had long days of travel. No one cares if I come home. I sometimes wonder if I just got in an accident. Or maybe just something so I just don't wake up in a hotel room that I would be less of a burden. I don't know what to do. I just feel if I end it that I would be a piece and then shortly after maybe a day or two of grieving that my family would move on. Especially once they got an insurance check. This might be my last post of any sort. I'm such a failure.

My mother/sister decided to go on a vacation to Hawaii. They plan to come back the 26th while my wife is due with our first child on the 29th. I just found out today and decided to call them to let them know the wouldn’t be able to see the baby for at least 1-2 weeks after coming back since the baby has no immune system. The plane ride from home is at least 10 hours.

I am very pissed off they would even be traveling around this time. Am I being outrageous?

My daughter, 15 in a few months, wants to get a tattoo for her 16th birthday. Im totally down with it. Her mom on the other hand is NOT! She wants a photo realism of our goodest cat Bill. He is a handsome boy and her “ride or die”. We got Bill from a friend when he was 2-3 and she was maybe 2! They have been inseparable! Im gonna take her to do it if she still wants to and face the consequences(sometimes its better to ask forgiveness rather than permission). She doesn’t know yet but im also planning on getting one. Maybe her name or birth date or just some random thing she draws that looks cool(she draws quite well). Just wondering what other dads would do.

i really don't like my moms bf. he can be normal but if i or my siblings get in trouble sometimes he'll be a bit aggressive to me and my 2 brothers, or when he's mad. i recently got in trouble for something i did at school which my teacher sent an email to my mom. my moms bf was already at our house too, which my mom "talked" to me about the email, WHICH my moms bf heard and obviously got himself involved. also just to say what my teacher said in her email about what i did was not true and that teacher was not there when it happened and only got info from a different teacher. my school grades are already low as well and school is just hard for me at the moment. my mental health has also just been making things worse for me. (btw i'm only 15) anyways as punishment for what happened at school my moms bf made me shovel all the snow in our front yard. it wasn't as bad doing it but when i was almost done with shovelling, he came outside and told me to shovel all the snow back to the other side. i started crying when i had to re-do it but luckily he didn't actually make me. it was so hard to not cry in front of him while talking but his tone made me cry a bit more. i just hate how he always makes me do way more when i'm in trouble. he once made me write the same sentences on many paper because of something else i did a year ago, i wasn't allowed to get up until i was finished, sometimes i had to restart writing or write more. and yeah, most of the stuff he's done to me was when i got myself into trouble but i just think that maybe it's a bit too harsh. then around the same time when i was writing those pages, (i don't exactly remember what else i did but i got into trouble again for something else) while i was writing, he grabbed the collar of my shirt and pinned me to the wall aggressively then kept yelling and spitting at me. it made me so uncomfortable and kinda traumatized me, he also, a few days later threw out everything on my desk in my room. he's already done once and had threatened to do it again for a 3rd time. and i honestly don't think any of this is teaching me a lesson and i think he's maybe just trying to hurt me??? idk, he also has his own daughters and i assume he's done this to them before. ALSO i guess this might be off topic but i found out months ago my moms bf had been cheating and texting another women! i won't go into so much detail but i haven't told my mom yet and i am worried to. only because my moms bf does so much for our family: like paying for groceries, and giving my mom money, etc. he is also the father of my youngest brother and it would be sad if i told the truth. my baby brother loves his dad and my mom loves and trusts him too. i just hope maybe i could tell her one day and maybe my moms bf change

Parents who've been there and done that only please as experience is better than opinion.

My youngest son is turning 16 shortly and will be having a camping party with his nates at the back of our farm property, and has told me he wants me to buy him a can of alcohol to "try". The legal age in my country town drink is 18.

Now, I'm not an idiot. I am well aware this isn't his first time drinking (but he knows it all and doesn't think I am). At his age, I was defintely passed out in a field somewhere as were many of us. That being said, many of us also had a really shitty home life, not that it makes it better for anything. My son doesn't. He **IS** loved, and supported. He is however, at that adolescent boy stage. I know there's going to be alcohol. Many of his mates are 16 or 17.

Everything inside me is telling me not to allow his request, but if I do, in your experience, is it less likely he would consume alcohol with his mates or at the least, at a safer leve? Or is that wishful thinking and he's going to do it anyway regardless?l

let me go ahead and apologize for grammar and punctuation. My girlfriend is about 4 months into pregnancy and she's constantly annoyed by me to the point where it feels like she hates me. I do everything I can around the house and I keep a fulltime job. We keep fighting because I do see how differently I'm treated compared to everyone else, and I don't want to fight anymore I love this woman to the moon and back, I just dont know what I'm doing wrong thats so annoying and she says its the things I say, but can never give me a example she just clams up and pushes me out as soon as she's upset. anyone else deal with this and how?

Hi guys,

I'm just gonna splur this here. Back in 2016 I first became a dad. My boy, born at 28 weeks, passed after 3 days. It was a huge step for me to even think about having another child. Running from grief seemed to be the only way. 4 years later, I decided to face the pain and tried everything to overcome that void. In 2024 my daughter was born. She's my world. The joy in my life. My sunshine. If anything would happen to her, I don't know what I'll do.

She created an extreme soft spot in my heart. Can't read news articles which involves the hurting of children. Can't see movies where children are hurt.

Right now I'm watching a specific episode of Netflix's One Piece. Oh boy... Anything parenthood related weighs heavy.

Hey CPST community,

I was getting my kids car seats installed at a car seat clinic a couple weeks back and noticed something: no one (myself included) saved their original paper manuals.

As I watched the CPSTs (who were amazing) navigate the manufacturer websites I realized I could build something better for them. So I did.

I built Seat Spec — a free to use app that aggregates messy manufacturer car seat manuals into one place — for CPSTs and parents. I’d love your feedback on whether it’s useful for you, or if there’s more you’d like from it.

https://seatspec.com

So I work 5 days a week, project manager for an electrical company doing apartment blocks. I work 7 to 4 everyday, I don’t do overtime anymore I just get up early to manage paper work before I go to site.

I know what I signed up for having a baby it’s a full time job after work and I absolutely love it but should I not be entitled to even an hour every 2nd day for myself.

My partner feels that my 8 hours in work is my free time away from the baby. As soon as I walk in the door from work she hands me the baby and she heads out until 8 or 9 to her dance classes and other hobbies. Now I love spending time with my little girl if I could retire now I would just to spend more time with her.

To put it into context I gave up the gym, mountain biking, going out on a Friday with my friends for pints and every other hobby. I’m not exaggerating here I don’t do anything apart from work and take the baby everyday, but she still has her life.

I know it’s not easy having a baby all day and she needs a break and I’m not against that but she doesn’t think I should have time to myself after work. Is that fair?

I’m a 34 year old father balancing family work and my health since I’m getting old I would like to try to look after myself ,I’m in love with my two boys but struggle with keeping up ,even though work is tiresome and it pays I would love to be heath

Historically I am a cerebral and calm guy, but when my kids were born, I discovered a Conan the Barbarian mode I didn't know I had. This happens because of the Autopilot Trap. When our emotional reserves hit zero, our brain stops being creative and defaults to the oldest, buggiest operating system we have, which is usually our own childhood programming. To fix this, you need a Yellow Light audit. Identify your physical cues like a hot forehead or a tight chest and pull over because you cannot lead when your engine is overheating. Tell the kids directly that you are frustrated and taking five minutes to reset so you don't yell. Yelling is the ultimate form of coasting, and while leading with influence is harder, it is the only way we forge men.

Hi, Im new to this subreddit so I hope I'm following all of your rules but I(30M) and my wife (31F) just had our second baby. hes now 7 weeks and our first son is 3 years.

We're fully exhausted thanks to the newborn stage and trying to survive. Meanwhile I am a full time in-home personal trainer running my own business (which is doing well but never seemingly well enough to get ahead). and my wife works 3 12-hour shifts per week.

My problem is that over the past few weeks and a number of times over the past 3 years my wife has called me in distress with something along the lines of 'I NEED YOU TO COME HOME NOW I'M OVERWHELMED AND NEED YOUR HELP!!!'

Me being the good husband I try to be, I then have to cancel however many sessions (losing income) to support my overwhelmed wife... This week however I said no. I continued training my sessions, working a ton of hours and securing the bag 💰💰.

i know Im going to have this problem 1000 more times over the foreseeable future and wanted to know what you guys think I can do to help alleviate the stress from her, while continuing to put my energy into growing my business.

How's it going fellas, I'm 34 married with two boys I've been a mailman for 10 years. To be honest I'm not very fond of it. I went back to school in 2022 and graduated late 2024 with a BA in data analytics but it's literally impossible to get an entry level job. So I started building apps to keep me busy.

I spent a few months building an app for moms. But it's been an uphill battle as far as getting them to try something new and me being a man just adds another layer to that challenge. I would love to build something for us men but I know we are way less likely to use an app for the purposes of finding or making friends. Nonetheless, I'll rebrand what I have in a heartbeat if guys are actually willing to use it. Or make something different. The thought of creating something that has the potential to change lives and make a difference is what keeps me going.