u/jakemhs

Open ended question because this has been on my mind.

My daughter is 6. At her age I remember (and have confirmed with my parents) that I was quiet and introverted. I was perfectly happy to amuse myself for extended periods with toys and books. I liked having playdates but they weren't necessary most of the time.

My daughter is hyperverbal and hypersocial. She is always moving and talking, either with friends or singing and telling stories. She requires a partner for play and if a friend isn't over it's gonna be either myself or my wife. She makes friends immediately.

It's been a challenge for me to meet her where she is. She's lots of fun but I find myself "talked out" by the time breakfast is over on the weekends. As of yet we haven't been able to get her to amuse herself for more than a few minutes at a time. She needs a foil. This is NOT a complaint, just me marveling at producing a kid so unlike myself.

What's been your experience?

Potty training took forever. She spent most of her pre-k year (age 4) having daily accidents. But we'd solved it. A doctor-directed Ex-Lax purge seemed to fix things entirely. She went nearly her entire kindergarten year with no problems.

In the last few weeks of school, the accidents started again. She seemed as mystified as us. We did the Ex-Lax thing again. Helped for a bit but now they're back. She turned six last week.

So of course we're going back to her pediatrician and the GI specialist we consulted last time. We've asked if she can feel when she has to pee and she said "sometimes it comes out of nowhere!" So that's great. Hundreds of accidents later, something is clearly wrong.

While we wait for medical advice, has anyone else experienced a regression like this and found a solution? It feels like some combination of a physical problem and her getting so wrapped up in whatever she's doing that she just doesn't notice.

Hello, OAD dad here, nice to find some fellow parents with smaller families.

For me, a big reason I knew I just wanted one kid was that I grew up as an only myself. For that reason, I knew to some degree what our kid's experience would be like (eg, sure enough, for a long time she was happier talking to adults than her peers) but also I had zero experience with a household with siblings.

I have no idea how to manage sibling dynamics. I've never had to deal with a shared bedroom. I've never had to ration my attention among multiple children. Are these unconquerable obstacles? Probably not but they did for sure inform my commitment to being OAD.

Anyone else have a similar thought process?

When I was growing up, I knew just what to do in an emergency. Pick up the house phone and call 911.

Like pretty much every other family, we don't have a land line. Our daughter is 5 and while we've tried to demo it, I'm not confident she'd be able to locate one of our phones and activate emergency mode without an adult's help.

I feel stupid for not thinking about this sooner, but what are people teaching their kids about emergencies and 911 these days? Do you have a dedicated land line or some other device? Do you hope they can use your phone? I've read about the "Tin Can" land line imitator and maybe that's the best solution?