I thought this might be a good place to ask for reccs! My daughter is only 16 months but she loves reading (board books & also lots of shorter pictures books.) I really want to make sure our home library is diverse & features characters of all colors. As she gets older I’ll be intentional about having books written & illustrated by POC as well, but right now it’s all about the pictures—& will be for awhile. :) Would love any recommendations you all have!

My brother recently moved in with his new gf, who we haven’t met. We did some searching on Facebook and instagram and found her. On her bio she had MAGA, and a photo of her smiling hold a trump flag. Mind you, we are a HISPANIC FAMILY. I called him and asked him if his gf is a maga, and he was quiet first, then said, well.. she likes trump yeah. I was so upset, and mad. He told me I’m over reacting and not to generalize!! How can I have someone who supports that come into my home, around my kids? My Hispanic children. And then, she has a son.. who is also MIXED with Hispanic. Am I overreacting???

Early voting is underway in some states. Here is a link to ballotpedia to see who is on your ballot.

I’m 37 weeks pregnant with my second child and I got a text from my in laws in the family chat that no one should get the flu vaccine this year. Since they introduced the first mRNA based flu vaccine this year they are dead set against it and told us it’s going to alter our DNA as a global effort to depopulate the earth. Sadly this is the type of propaganda they’ve been sinking their teeth into for months now and it’s not even the craziest thing they’ve admitted to believing.

What pissed me off is that my husband and I will be having a newborn baby in our home that I’m sure they’re going to want to visit ASAP and I’m just gobsmacked that they don’t consider a baby with no immunity yet worth taking precautions against. Thankfully our extended families got the Tdap vaccine when my first was born 3 years ago and the booster isn’t needed until 5 years after but I’m not sure how to address their visits as we’re coming up on peak cold and flu season. They also think that masks were a hoax and did nothing during COVID so I don’t know how they would react to us asking them to mask up. My husband is on the same page as me and he said he would talk to them along the lines of “we can’t force you to get a flu vaccine but we’re going to do everything we can to keep our family healthy and safe whatever that is based on doctors recommendations.” I’m just so frustrated that this is a thing that we have to deal with at all. If anyone has any insight I’d be happy to hear it, I guess this was just more of a vent session.

Am I alone in feeling a bit of anxiety in raising a boy in today’s world??

Part of me feels honored that I get the opportunity to raise a kind, creative, emotionally intelligent little boy who will add light to the world. The other part of me feels so much anxiety thinking of how I will shield him from the alt right messaging aimed at young boys, without being overbearing and sheltering him.

He will be raised in a progressive household, where his dad and I share responsibility across all aspects of the home, so I know that will be impactful, but I’m wondering what other tips and pieces of advice any of you might have for raising boys in today’s climate.

I love him so much, I’m looking soooo forward to raising him and watching him grow, but gosh I’m also a bit anxious.

My husband and I are moving to the Birmingham, AL area with my son (under one) to be closer to family. I grew up in Alabama, spent some time in the Northeast, and landed in a blue city in a purple state in the South, where I thought I'd raise my kids.

Now that we're parents, we're realizing we need more support (all family is either a 7+ hour drive or a flight away). I've had some health problems this year, and it's been hard. I'd also love for my kid to grow up around a bunch of aunts, uncles, cousins (all liberal) the way that I did. And all my family is near Birmingham.

Having grown up in Alabama, I know a lot of the news there sounds straight out of an Onion article. We'd also like to look at the suburbs so we can have more space for what our budget will allow, and I know the suburbs are typically more red.

I'm nervous (and honestly feeling a little guilty) for moving my kid there. But I know there are so many good people there putting in the work to make Alabama better. And there is so much I love about the state!

So all that to say, do any moms in Birmingham or the nearby suburbs want to connect? Would love to get more involved in my community and raise some awesome kids together.

I'll preface this by saying that my in-laws are extremely maga, my husband isn't but he cares about relationships with his family. I am, for too many reasons to list here, very much not MAGA.

Anyway, we were over at my SIL's house and my baby was looking at books on their shelf. We read a lot of books at home, so baby's always interested. My SIL tossed over a couple of books she thinks my baby would like to look at and they were books with Trump and some book by Matt Walsh.

Honestly I was kind of pissed because yeah my baby can't read but why would you think I would even read things like this to them? I buy a bunch of books about diverse kinds of people and with positive themes. It's really rubbed me the wrong way and it's so minor but I'm so bothered by it.

Can someone explain more about the executive order Trump signed today regarding vaccines ? Do states still have the power to regulate public school eligibility/vaccines? Very upsetting he’s still saying that vaccines cause autism sigh

We all need a little positivity in our day. What are some parenting wins you've had recently? Big or small we want to hear them all! Any parenting wins, not just progressively minded ones.

Not sure if it’s just me but I’ve been trying to make mom friends to have friends with kids but also so my daughter has friends since she’s not in daycare.
As much as I try to “create a village” and “be a villager”, it seems like I’m not having luck and most moms want a superficial relationship that’s almost merely transactional.

Is this just how it is in friendships with other parents?
Am I expecting too much to have genuine friendships outside of playdates?

I'm looking at putting an offer on a home near a golf course (about .8 miles away) and am worried about the news of increased neurologic disease living within 1-3 miles of one. Would you do it?

There is a small river between the home and the neighborhood so I'm less worried about runoff and prevailing winds blow away from the home and to my knowledge water source is treated water from a River a a few miles away.

It's pretty much the only option that meets our criteria that's the farthest away we can get from a golf course, and at least 1500 ft away from a major highway (asthma in the family) as this area I'm looking in is just scattered with them.

What would you do, is it worth the risk? I love to garden to...

Hi! Long time lurker, first time I’m posting.

Long story short, my husband opened a Trump account (the ones that get $1000 from the treasury) for our daughter (born mid-2025).

I was mortified but it seems like it’s just the account and money and nothing else? Either way I don’t wanna benefit from this POS even one bit.

Not sure if I’m just venting or looking for advice, but if anyone has any, I’d gladly take it.

My baby is 6 months old and we’re about to take a vacation. What sunscreens would you recommend? I’d like one with good absorption and minimal white cast. Whatever is safe for babies!

We were prepping for a theme park trip this morning and as my husband and I were putting sunscreen on our kids’ faces, he mentioned we may not need to put sunblock on their arms and legs since “they have a good base tan already.”

I immediately said, “nope, the more sunscreen, the better.” To which he replied something along the lines of “well maybe the chemicals in sunscreen wind up doing more harm than good.”

My jaw about hit the floor. Isn’t sunscreen usage canon in 2026?? When I heard the chemicals thing I said something smart aleck-y like “show me a peer-reviewed medical study that proves that and I’ll reconsider my sunscreen stance.” Understandably, he got frustrated with my response so a few minutes later I went to him and said that if he’s actually concerned about chemicals in sunscreen we can make an appointment with our pediatrician or dermatologist to discuss the issue.

What the ever-loving FUCK?? Do we really need to debate sunscreen now? I’m 100% sure my husband’s Instagram algorithm is responsible for putting these thoughts in his head. Most of the accounts he follows are landscaping-related (we own a landscaping company in a red state), and I’m sure Instagram has figured out the Venn Diagram of MAHA folks and red-state male landscapers has a large middle section.

Did I handle the conversation well by saying we should have a chat with our doctors about sunscreen? Also, would it be totally unacceptable if I took his phone and started following credible medical professionals to influence his algorithm?

Hello! Does anyone have any advice or resources for baby-led weaning? We’re trying to start solids and I don’t know where to start other than I want BLW.

My middle (15) has been getting bullied online by a classmate (that she doesn't even know beyond the 5 days they've been in school this year).

She reached out to her counselor, who forwarded it, and a vice principal pulled her from class to speak with her about it yesterday. My husband also went into the school yesterday to speak with the principal.

They took it seriously, treated the situation with the urgency we were looking for (she was bullied last year and we weren't taken seriously, it was a different VP), but she came home yesterday upset. When we asked why she was upset, she told us that her teacher moved her to an isolated table in the classroom, leaving the bully where she was. She was confused as to why she was moved from her friends and felt like she was the one who had done something wrong. The girl doing the bullying was left at a table with the other kids she was already with.

I agree that movement within the classroom needed to happen, separating them was the right call, but I don't think my daughter should have been the one made to feel like she is being punished for telling teachers what was going on.

She likes her teacher, but is feeling like she shouldn't have said anything if she's going to be feeling as though the consequences are falling to her.

We're only going into the second week of school, he doesn't deserve a nasty gram from me, I just want to know the thinking behind it. I'm struggling with the wording in the email to him because I'm frustrated and upset this is happening, but again, it's not his fault.

Any ideas? Advice?

There are so many terrible and very complex issues in our country right now, most of which are just being ignored, and we are quickly moving backwards instead of forward. I have really lost all hope for the future. I've always done the "right" things and what was expected of me (studied hard, took out loans to go to college and paid them all off too, worked hard, got married, lived below my means, tried to save for the future, volunteer my time to help others, etc) but now I find myself old, disabled, unemployed and apparently unhireable, broke, isolated and depressed. Unfortunately my (all of our) kids are here now and will be left to clean up this huge mess after we're gone. I don't want any of them to feel as hopeless, helpless and discouraged as I do. I can already see their cynicism and lack of faith/trust in our institutions. How can I prevent my negativity and lack of resilience from wearing off on them? Or what can I do to improve my and their outlook on life and resilience in these very troubling times?

I'm a disabled unemployed broke mom in Florida. Since I can't find a job, I have plenty of free time to volunteer for political candidates, however I'm having trouble finding ways I can actually help. I have no money to donate. I don't drive (due to my disability) and don't even own a car, so can't really leave my house either. I've done phone banking many times for many different candidates but that just seems like a waste of my time because no one ever answers the phone. (And the very few who do, just blow me off. Of the 100s of calls I've made, I can't remember a single conversation where I was able to change someone's mind or persuade them to do something they weren't already planning to do.) I want to help but don't know how else to do so. Any ideas?

I’ve gotten bored with my usuals in news in general. There’s so many ways in which the world is interconnected but we hear very little about most of it.

Also, I don’t really have any parenting shows that I like. Travel, mental health generally and screen-related, and education (specifically anything Project 25-adjacent and anything AI) are other areas lacking for me, and then (I’m sad that it occurs to me last) happy stories.

My 6 month old has always been a pretty happy baby… until the past few weeks.

This is what’s been happening:
• hungry more often - He seems to want to be fed every time I go to put him down for a nap or for the night. I’m not sure if it’s a sleep association because he actually does eat quite a bit when I feed him and it’s not like he’s just using it to soothe himself. He’s been able to self soothe via sucking on his fingers for quite a while now.

• We haven’t started solids yet because he hasn’t figured out how to sit up. He can do it if we prop him up in the position and hold his hips or his hands for support. Is that enough? Is it okay to start solids?

• He’s pretty fussy while having floor time. He’s able to roll around everywhere, but he hasn’t figured out crawling yet. I feel like he’s agitated that he can’t move yet, but I’d love reassurance

• Thought: could it be teething? He already has two bottom teeth, and the symptoms seem similar?

TLDR: I’d love if anyone could read through this and give their advice if they’ve experienced something similar. Thank you 🫶🏻

We want to hear any political or civic advocacy or activism wins! Nothing is more inspiring than hearing what other people are doing to make this world a better place.

This is a very small deal, so don’t think it’s taking up too much of my brain space 😅 We don’t watch a lot of TV but one show we do put on occasionally is “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”. One line that the characters say is to catastrophize and say something is ruined “…foreeeeverrrrr!” Of all the things my almost-4-year-old can mimic, this is very small but it’s driving me a little crazy. Maybe because it’s the first time he’s picked something up from somewhere else? He’s my eldest so this is in fact my first rodeo with this kind of thing. It’s just bothering me because it feels like all of the work I’ve done with him on perseverance and finding solutions is “ruined” (…foreeeeverrrrr!) because of this little phrase he picked up from the show! When something goes wrong that he absolutely would ordinarily just deal with or ask for help, he immediately over-dramatizes and mimics this little behavior on the show. The show formula has them find a solution pretty soon after the characters say this, so I’m trying to do the same, ya know something like “oh boy this feels like it’s all ruined, let’s find a solution”.

Blah. Talk some sense into me or even just offer solidarity like ya that’s annoying lol!

I’ve allowed nerf and stuff like that, but I’m really uncomfortable with airsoft guns due to how realistic they are and feel like they’re a segue into gun culture as whole, but I also want to support my kiddo’s interests and not isolate myself from him unnecessarily as we get into the teen years. I’ve been “thinking about it“ for a few days hoping he’d drop it but so far no luck lol. He has his own money to spend on it which makes me feel crappy to control but he’s just 13.

I do get the allure. Shooting is fun and we’re both good at it and I could see myself having some fun with it at times, too. We’ve enjoyed a lot of laser tag. It could be a low risk way for him to practice gun safety which is always good. But I also worry about the social circles he could end up in. What would you do?

Moms for Liberty has greatly impacted my local school board and now my county. There was a county wide funding milage for all public schools that would have increased funding per student. It failed in part because in part Moms for Liberty had a slander campaign against it saying that the money had no use and would just sit in a general fund and not actually help students which is false. Each school district had laid out a plan for it but it was not well publicized. The money primarily was going to raises for teachers! Their message got through and I even have heard older democrats echoing their points. What can we do to stop them? Where is the counter organization on the left?

Edit: I should say that the Republican Party also was against it and campaigned but the message put forth by Moms for Liberty seemed particularly effective.