u/Callie_Allie

We have a son who turned 5 in late June. He attended half day partial week preschool the past 2 years and will be starting kindergarten next week at a small Christian school (so only 12 kids in his class with a teacher and assistant ).

He has been in occupational therapy for fine motor development for a while and has made great strides. He reads, loves listening to stories/audiobooks, he is super curious, social, and adventurous. His preschool teachers enthusiastically encouraged us to send him to kindergarten.

However, I’m seeing many parents of summer birthday boys are red shirting their children and waiting another year to send them to kindergarten.

Is this a recent trend? Is it really happening more or is social media making it seem like it’s more common than it really is?

Just curious.

Other parents who have kids like this, tell me if this is within the range of normal.

My son is newly 5. From early on he’s been truly fearless. Sometimes I marvel that I’ve kept him from serious injury thus far.

We got him into swimming as an infant, but then he was so comfortable in the water but didn’t actually know how to swim (thankfully he can swim the length of the pool now and loves the diving board). He transitioned from a balance bike to two wheeled bike at age 3 and recently showed me how he can ride while standing on top of the bike seat (don’t know where he got that idea). Today he climbed up a VERY tall tree. He’s always looking for the highest things he can scale.

Socially, he’s similar. He jumps into new situations without hesitation, will walk up to complete strangers (kids and adults) and ask them a question or compliment them on their t-shirt.

I encourage him in these things as long as he feels safe (and I don’t view it as extremely risky), because I know risky play is important for development, especially for boys.

My younger son, while also adventurous, is much more cautious in a way that feels more typical. He often observes a situation for a short time and then gets involved.

Tell me about your experiences with your daredevil child, and should I be concerned about this? If you have older kids, is it a trait that tends to persist? I sometimes worry what this thrill seeking nature might mean for him in his teenage years.

He’s also strong-willed so this is such a fun combo for me as a parent (cue cortisol spike, lol).

Three is not for the weak of heart! I have a two strong willed boys, 3 and 5. My 5 year old is starting to mellow out a bit, just in time for younger brother to discover he has opinions about EVERYTHING but said opinions also change mid-way between me fulfilling initial request (I.e. I want my banana cut up. I cut up the banana. Half way through cutting banana loses his MIND because I was cutting the banana).

He wants to argue about everything and it’s such an emotional battle to get through even the process of leaving the house.

They both have lots of energy so we have a relatively structured lifestyle which includes plenty of outside time and activity, balanced meals, 30 min or less of tv time daily, play dates, lots of reading aloud, and clear rules, boundaries and consequences (typically time out).

We do our best to “catch them being good” and point out all of the desired behaviors we want when we see them in action.They help in age appropriate ways around the house and enjoy baking with me. We give them limited choices and autonomy when possible.

We do one-on-one dates with our boys a few times a month as well as “special time” for about 15 minutes each night before bed.

I’m currently a stay at home mom (former elementary teacher) with no family support. My husband is great and helpful, but also has very little patience for the shenanigans and complete lack of obedience. He’s a federal employee With a long commute and stressful work environment.

Any advice other than “stay consistent and he’ll eventually grow out of it?”

We have two very high energy boys ages 3 and 5. I’m a teacher turned stay at home mom for now. Husband works long hours as a federal employee in the DC area.

The problem is, our boys seem to drive him nuts no matter what day it is, what time, or what they’re doing. He’s always angry/ annoyed with them. Yes, they break things, they fight, they don’t do what they’re told the first time usually. But they’re also so sweet and smart and energetic and can be fun!

We live in a small space so I end up out and about with them a lot (swimming, biking, playgrounds, library, playdates). Older son was in part time pre-k this year. I do my best to tire them out and enrich them.

And gentle parents we are not. We use clear boundaries, expectations, and consequences. One kid throws a toy at brother’s head? Toy is gone for the day. You spit at mom? Time out for you.

I give my husband sleep in days, I plan monthly date nights, I pack his lunch for work and write him encouraging notes. We do weekly check-ins. We go to church together as a family.

Am I missing something? He just seems so miserable all the time and I don’t know what to do. Does it get better when they’re older and he can do more activities with them without worrying about them breaking stuff in public and sneezing on our mouths regularly?

Anyone have female pattern hair loss? I’ve had it for many years starting in teenage years. Currently mid 30s , mom of 2 littles (postpartum hair loss was also terrible).

I’m managing it but it’s still slowly progressing. Currently taking oral minoxidil (it’s a blood pressure medication that when taken at very low doses helps reduce hair loss) and recently have begun researching spironalactone (an anti-androgen which can also help reduce hair loss).

However, spiro even at low doses such as 25-50 mg. Daily can cause a host of scary side effects, and anecdotally can cause muscle loss and decrease in athletic performance, and clinically shown to be a diuretic so hydration is an issue as well. Anyone taken this medication?

My ferritin is good, as are all my other levels. I take a multi vitamin, eat well, etc.

Any thoughts are welcome. Thank you!

Anyone into running/ lifting taking spiro? What is your dose and have you noticed an impact on your paces for running, recovery, muscle definition?

I’ve asked to add 25 mg to add to my oral minoxidil to treat female hair loss. I’m interested in others experience regarding this. Thank you.

Looking for quiet airplane activities for my newly 5 year old boy who hates fine motor activities (he doesn’t care for coloring, beads, lacing, that kind of thing). Typically we do audiobooks and shows on the tablet but I want to have screen-free options too.

We usually do lots of snacks, a novel toy or two, maybe some travel magnatiles or something. We’ve tried the suction toys that stick to the airplane window. But it seems like whatever I pack he’s not interested in for more than a few minutes. We’ve done stickers, painters tape to make designs, the water wow books.

Maybe a Where’s Waldo book or similar?

Tell me about your experience on spiro. Any changes to athletic performance/ body composition? I’m a semi serious distance runner. I know it dehydrated you and can cause muscle mass decline. Changes to menstrual cycle? Mental health changes?

I’ve had AGA since I was a teen. Currently 35 mom of 2 young boys. Been on 1.875 oral minoxidil for a year and seem modest improvement in loss but not much growth.

Looking at starting low dose spiro. My Derm wants me to be on 2 forms of contraceptives and monthly bloodwork in order to start it, which is a pain. Thank you.

Our son enjoys listening to audiobooks during quiet time in his room (magic treehouse, boxcar children, mercy Watson, Owl Diaries, Nate the Great). We borrow them from Libby/ Hoopla through the library.

Currently it’s a great screen-free independent activity (which is extra appreciated since he’s extremely high energy and we all need a little downtime during the day). He can retell the basic points of many of the stories to us and it seems to be helping his vocabulary and listening comprehension.

My concern is, I’d love for him to later read these books on his own. It will likely be several years until he’s capable of this, so I’m hoping he’ll mostly forget the pots, but remember his enjoyment of them. I hope he won’t think “oh I’ve already ‘read’ these” and not be motivated to read them?

Any thoughts?