Dads.cool and cooler.mom are Hometown Mastodon servers for parents of all kinds, including biological and non-biological parents, foster parents, adoptive parents and people of all gender identities:

https://dads.cool

https://cooler.mom

You can find out more at https://dads.cool/about and https://cooler.mom/about or contact the admins @alex & @sydney

QUICK FAVOR: What’s your favorite local baby boutique? Please take this 1-minute survey to share the love!

Boosts & sharing appreciated.

https://oolie.com/blogs/bedtime-stories/whats-your-favorite-cute-baby-shop

Well, I made a snarky comment and now my kid thinks that Easter is the festival of spring and eggs and bunnies and zombies.

I was chatting to one of Kid3's friends in the kitchen the other week, and he was saying that he helped his mum in the garden now and then.

'I find it kind of boring,' he admitted.

And while I was weeding today, I was thinking how there is a bunch of things like that in your childhood, isn't there? But it's still good to have those experiences, even the boring ones, the chores. I didn't really love gardening as a child either, or makig food, or practising piano – I would have rather been reading or playing with my pets or hanging out with friends.

And now cooking, gardening, playing music... they're skills I have and ones I've grown better at myself through practice, and more importantly, I love doing them.

When I spoke to the friend, I reassured him that he might come to enjoy the gardening later and he smiled (because he is 14 and later is forever away, isn't it?)

My eldest sang "Colors of the Wind" at her very MAGAT high school tonight for the talent show.

No one vetted her intro clip where she said she wanted to do it because it was excellent social commentary, and no one vetted her background that got projected up on stage.

As a parent, I'm both very proud of her, and very twitchy about how her Monday will go.

#Parenting
#Resistenza

Bonus #DadJoke
What do you call an Irish spider?
(Paddy Long Legs.)

(It's #HootinTootinTuesday again! Post some jokes or funny memes under this hashtag today, and bring lots of smiles to #Mastodon.)

This is wildly surprising. And perhaps offers a tiny sliver of hope?

One of the bills opposed would have required “emergency” removal of transgender children from their parents.

On the floor, Representatives SJ Howell and Zooey Zephyr persuaded Republicans with their speeches. Bravo!

Thanks for the piece, @ErinInTheMorn.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/powerful-speeches-from-trans-dems

Daniela Clapp's new booklet, "Once Upon a Time There was a Mama Pig", provides readers with engaging narratives that weave together storytelling and practical advice on veganism. #books #reading #veganism #veganparents #parenting

A Book For Vegan Parenting

Blind #parenting moment. 2YO is starting to understand I'm #blind. Last night she bit a piece of salami into a shape she said looked like a shell. She told my mom, who was on a video call, to “look.” Then she held the salami out and said, “Daddy, feel it.” This was touching, though it created a dilemma. I wanted to encourage her for understanding something new. But I did not want to “feel” a piece of salami a toddler was eating. Ended up just holding it for a brief second. Parenting decisions…

Assata is 6 months and growing SO fast! We need bigger socks and swaddles, and a baby backpack for @nullagent to take them on walks.

Baby registry:

https://www.amazon.com/baby-reg/nat-smith-alan-meekins-august-2024-seattle/1XLSIOAV2GTT3

Cash gifts:
natsmith89 (cashapp/venmo)
https://paypal.me/natoleander

My 6 year old: "Why do some of the parents sit in the car for a while before picking their kids up?"

Me thinking: "Probably because they want a moment ot peace."

My response: "Umm...they are probably responding to texts that they couldn't while they were driving."

Newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon has released her "final mission" for the Department of Education, potentially setting the stage for the agency's dismantling. In a document posted to the department's website, she stated that parents are the primary decision makers in their children's education, that taxpayer-funded education should focus on math, reading science and history "not divisive DE programs and gender ideology," and that postsecondary education should be "a path to a well-paying career aligned with workforce needs." Here's the story from @abc. Find McMahon's full statement at the second link.

https://flip.it/VspQLm

https://flip.it/O8ChIL

Illinois Has Virtually No Homeschooling Rules. A New Bill Aims to Change That.
—

Following a ProPublica and Capitol News Illinois investigation, an Illinois lawmaker introduced legislation that aims to protect homeschooled students from abuse or neglect.
https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-homeschool-regulations-bill?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

4yo is getting into showers rather than baths. But he has to wear his goggles...

PSA:

It’s #WorldBookDay on 6th March.

Please remember that for a child to dress up as Annabeth Chase, they need to wear normal clothes and a Yankees cap. Percy Jackson can be achieved with the addition of a ballpoint pen (Riptide transformation capabilities not required) to normal clothes.

This is Rick Riordan’s gift to us.

A couple of weeks ago, the Little One captured a praying mantis in the garden.

They then went to the library and brought everything they could find about mantises, learned what they eat and built a fruit fly trap to keep it fed. They've also kept a scientific journal of it, now named KamaChan.

Recently the mantis shed its skin, a huge deal. Notes were made on the journal.
I feel a bit sorry for the critter, but LO is doing their best to be kind and keep it comfortable.

Whew, both kids feeling better tonight vs. yesterday, and no one else here sick (yet, LOL). #parenting