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Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. Life is so busy! I just thought I'd give an update on my wife's pregnancy...she is 35 weeks and 1 day now, due 4/25/13. She has gestational diabetes but is managing it well. Because of the possibility of complications related to the diabetes, we...

Thanks for all the advice. Singledad, you bring up a great point. Maybe I need to make things easier. Then they'll follow it, or at least if they don't, they have no excuse not to...

No, she doesn't have ideas about any of that. She pretty much doesn't know how to organize in any way. No danger of buckets on my head here :)

mom2many - Haha funny - I KNEW you'd chime in right away because you have a big family and (if I recall correctly) not a huge home! Thanks - at least I'm not alone. The shoes and coat thing are exactly the types of things I go through, and I think it drives me so crazy just because it's such an...

First, I apologize for my recent absence from this forum - it's been hectic! Second, I am sorry in advance for the length of this post. Bear with me. Now, on to the topic. As you may or may not remember, my wife and I are expecting a second child, due April 19, 2013. The pregnancy is...

My step-grandma told me once that she (who had many children in a 20-year range, like you :)) got so sick of one of her kids having temper tantrums that she finally got down on the floor and had one right along with the child. That particular child never had another tantrum. Apparently she...

There was a Dateline program earlier this spring that talked about stranger danger using a pretty classic example: an ice cream truck where the driver invites the kids inside for a tour. We had Morgan watch the show with us. Now if you ask him (which we do every once in a while to be sure), he...

It is my pleasure to announce that my wife is pregnant! It is very early yet, so please keep us in your thoughts (and offer any advice you may have on how the second one changes things...). She is currently only about 5 weeks along but the doctor has given the green light so far. She is due...

Thank you everyone for your very honest replies! We had an actual sit-down, and it went well. I pointed out all of the things I do around the house, and as it turns out, she basically didn't realize what she WASN'T doing because I was already doing it all. Sort of like the cleaning fairy came...

This is a big deal for us, too, and we try to take the same approach as you. For example, if I catch Morgan lying, a lot of the time I will simply ask him to explain <I>why</I> he lied. I make sure to tell him it's OK to be honest with me about <I>anything</I>. At this point, it seems to have...

We're lucky in that Morgan will be 7 in December and still LOVES toys. He has a pretty good imagination, so he can literally play alone for hours if you let him.

She works outside the home 8:30-5 M-F. She basically comes home and does nothing. The house is a hybrid of messy and dirty. Messy I can *tolerate* - dirty I cannot. I am taking the advice of doing only my own laundry (and DSS's too), and keeping surfaces clean. Maybe if I allow the messes in my...

I'll make this quick and to-the-point. I am fighting a losing battle trying to keep the house clean, laundry done, etc. I try to break the chores up between my wife and me, but she basically just doesn't do hers. When it comes to cleaning, I feel like I'm taking care of two kids - the actual...

I agree. It's been proven that going overboard with worry and sanitation actually can cause <I>more</I> illness because, as csdax alluded to, if your kids' bodies don't get used to having the germs around, they'll get sick from <I>everything</I>. My step-mom at one point did have some OCD...

Well, we rent our townhouse, so if any repairs are necessary we just call maintenance. However, I did own my own home at one point and although I've never been the handyman type, I did find myself able to navigate through things as complicated as electrical wiring with the help of the Home Depot...

I forgot one thing. We use time-outs, but here's how we find they're effective: Morgan knows that a time-out is for 6 minutes (we use his age, so next year it will be 7 minutes). BUT, the catch is that the timer doesn't start until he stops crying/misbehaving/throwing a fit. Reminding him of...

Morgan has a milk allergy (and you're right, it's different than lactose intolerance. Ever since we found that out, he has not had regular milk. At first, it was a pain, but eventually he did realize that he would have to drink something else if he was thirsty. I would say do not even try to...

Hey there! Luckily, Em is young enough that eventually she probably won't really remember a time when you weren't around. That will help. For now, I would say ease into everything. Don't try to go over the top with things. Just be there and help parent as much as your BF is comfortable with...

Thanks! I should have mentioned the piece about the neighbors. Almost all of them with children do the same thing I do. In all, there are probably 5 or 6 neighbors within 100 feet of us, and we all kind of watch all the kids from a distance. The kids all know they can go to anyone's house if...

Hi Everyone, This is my first post, so bear with me! Also, please read my introduction to get an idea of who I am. My 6 1/2 year-old stepson, Morgan (who considers me his dad - I don't think he remembers his biological father), has a couple things going on right now that I would like some...