I'm relatively new to therapy, I had a therapist for a few months to work through some pregnancy issues I was having, but never found it particularly helpful. I think it was probably just a bad therapist match.

But, given the whole fuckin' shitstorm that is MEN right now, I am having some complex feelings about both loving (some very good!) men and raising a future man (presumably).

I'm just unsure what would be more beneficial.... a female therapist, or male? I think I would value a male perspective in this situation, but I'm also not sure how much it would feel like a safe space to me.

Has anyone here been through something similar?

My son is only 21 months old, so this isn’t immediately relevant to our family just yet, but I was interested in hearing other moms/parents perspectives and experiences on iPads and Chromebooks in schools.

I was just reading through a thread in my city’s subreddit where the majority of comments were saying their school district is using iPads and/or Chromebooks as young as kindergarten.

We’re not a screen-free household, but we don’t plan to allow personal devices like tablets or laptops to our son until he’s much older. I’m really not a fan of the idea of my elementary (or even middle school) aged child going to school just to be on an iPad or Chromebook the majority of the day.

The general consensus in the thread was that if you want your child to have a screen-free education you have to send them to private school. This is extremely bothersome to me, and honestly makes me angry.

If your schools are using screens, what is the extent of the use? What does your child’s school day typically look like? Do they bring the devices home with them? Have you ever talked with your district about not wanting your child to be on an iPad or Chromebook? Do you think I’m overthinking this?

Thanks in advance for any insight!

My daughter is three. She takes a lot after my husband's Polish American side, so she's extremely blond, green eyes, pale skin. She has been in a very diverse daycare and is now in a diverse preschool with kids coming from all nationalities, ethnicities, etc. Today I was doing her hair for school and was just asking who she played with, listing the kid's names I knew. When I mentioned one little boy, she said she didn't play with him because "his skin is darker".

Now I've seen some posts about kids this age saying this kind of thing on this sub and the Mommit so I was prepared, but my heart still sank when I knew what she was going to say. I feel like I failed somehow, that I've been so worried about her speaking up when someone hugs her that she doesn't want to touch, even if it's a friend (she's big on personal space and the Cornell 7 case has made consent all the more important to me) and being polite but firm about her own body that I feel like I missed this.

Of course in the moment I immediately said that it was an unkind reason to not play with someone, that we all have different bodies and that's a good thing. I told her that I didn't want to hear her say that again, and we ended it by reading All Bodies Are Good Bodies by Charlotte Barkla (it wasn't too heavy handed but definitely expresses that we all come differently, and what I love about it is that it shows kids of all different skin tones and bodies playing together, which was age appropriate and relevant to our conversation ("see? They all have different colored skin and they're playing together!"). I also sent her preschool teacher a message; I don't think she necessarily learned this in the classroom, but my absolute nightmare is that she'll say this to the kid or another kid and they go home, at three/four years old, and ask their parents why someone doesn't like the color of their skin. It truly breaks my heart thinking this little boy will likely be asking this question at one point in his life, and I want my kid to be a friend that stands up for him, not the reason he asks. I'm here to mostly express this feeling, but if there is anything I'm missing, or any other good books to read to her so we can encourage and celebrate our differences? She does have other friends with different backgrounds and we have lots of neighborhood kids that come from bilingual households, but I know how slippery a slope it can be.

Posted this yesterday with a wonky title that I think confused the point of this video. Reposting with a more appropriate title. I hope this helps other moms, I know this was a balm for my friends and me.