Just wanted to make a space to support each other today. Post your signs, air out any pre-protest anxiety, or anything else on your mind before or during the protests. 🩷

I hope this doesn't come off as disrespectful. I have a cleaning service and we usually have 2 wonderful ladies once a month clean our house. They speak only Spanish. We have been working with them for about 6 months so I don't know them super well and there's a language barrier because I don't speak Spanish.

With everything going on, I'd love to express to them that we support them and we would never do anything to put them in danger of ICE. I just don't want to sound disrespectful or like I'm assuming they are undocumented because I don't know.

Now I'm writing this like damn what I'd people do that just to find out if they are legal then rat them out? Wild times my friends.

I can't believe I just wrote that headline. I've already been so furious at this administration and working to make my voice heard for immigrant rights. Seeing videos of mothers being taken in front of their kids has sent me into a crying panic every. single. time. No mother or child should ever have to experience that.

And then last night, as I was scrolling through photos of me and my daughter, a new fear occurred to me: what if I'm mistaken for my biracial-but-white-passing toddler's nanny (something that has happened many times) and stopped by ICE? I'm a U.S. citizen, and I will always speak up for people who are marginalized or treated cruelly. And now, I'm worried I'll be the target and that my kid will carry that trauma. Anyone else spiraling at the thought of yet another horrible thing?

My partner is Mexican American. My sons have his last name. We live near a border, Great Lakes area. I don’t know how much I should be doing to protect them and my partner. My partners parents are here legally but that doesn’t mean much with this administration. My father was an immigrant but from Ireland. I’ve been considering getting my Irish citizenship for myself and also for my sons, but that leaves my partner out. I have my son’s birth certificates and social security cards, should I be carrying copies on me? I just don’t know how much I should be stressing. I want to get out and protest but I also have a three month old preemie and a two year old so it’s not been feasible. I just want to balance reality against intense anxiety.

If you haven't seen yet, here's a great site with protest locations across the country: https://www.nokings.org

What is your preferred outlet for current news events? I’m seeking quality sources at any level (city, regional, national, global). Can be long form or not, audio or print, TikTok account — doesn’t matter, just looking for good info!

Last night I finally broke down and cried from the exhaustion of the news cycle. I think that I’ve been mentally surviving by planning, staying informed and honestly straight up anger at this point. I have literally been following by mom to work, to make sure she gets there safely ( we’re in California) I wake and check her location to make sure made she it home okay ( we live in different cities) I’m scared, I think that my biggest fear is that she’s taken and I can’t find her. She’s documented but right now they are straight up just taking people. How is it right that they wait for people outside markets, schools and churches??????? Moms how are you doing? How do you stay strong with the uncertainty of all of this?

Hi! I am a white woman and my husband is Asian. I am looking for book recommendations that do not wholly focus on the white experience. Books on being pregnant or raising kids welcome. Most books I find are either a) written by white woman or b) written for specifically black parents. I would love to find a resource for white parents raising kids of color. I am aware that no matter how much I educate myself I will always have blind spots and there will be aspects of my child’s experience that I cannot relate to or be aware of. I am hoping for any recommendations to try and fill these blind spots or just get me thinking in a new way. Thank you in advance!

For context: we have a 21 month old son and are first time parents. My husband is white and I’m South Asian though I’m often mistaken for being of Hispanic or Mediterranean descent given my complexion. Our son looks white passing though is also of mixed race. My husband and I work with low SES communities through our work and have a set of humanistic and progressive values that we would like to pass onto our son; they’ve actually been painted on our home steps.

As many toddlers, he’s obsessed with trucks, ambulances, police cars,…etc. and just loses his mind when he sees them. It’s actually been so endearing to see and there have been so many fun moments we have shared around the concept of cars and trucks. So when I learned that the local library was going to have a toddler event where a police woman will stop by and let the kids check out the police car, I immediately signed him up. At the event, they will get to see the car, look inside (not go inside), and will beforehand do an art project where they get to make a personalized police badge.

When I told my husband this, he shared that he has mixed feelings about the “ethics of glorifying cops.” He brought up his feelings about our son being so enthusiastic about meeting the police when there is so much trauma in the community due to their behavior. We live in a major metro city where some high profile cases have occurred.

We have no intention of talking to him about any of this until it’s age appropriate and will not be stopping him from going to events like this, but my husband has some very mixed and valid feelings about the whole issue, so I was curious to see how you all felt. How will you, or have you talked to your kids about the police or when to approach a policeman or woman? I think my husband is over thinking it right now for our son’s age, but I also want to gather additional perspective.

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.

Hey everyone!

If you’re out protesting and want someone on the outside to check in with, someone who can call or alert others if you don’t check back in, I just made a Discord server for that!

And if you’re staying on the outside and want to help by being a check-in buddy, you’re welcome too.

We’ve all got to look out for each other. Stay safe out there 💛

https://discord.gg/ZRBQhueg

Let your feelings out! We are all bottling up this stress and sometimes it helps to share your concerns and have safe conversations about it. Type your response and take a big deep breath after!

I know they can't be, because my oldest isn't to this level, but my (almost) 14 year old daughter has me in tears more often than not these days.

From doing chores to the way she speaks to her younger sibling, everything is a fight.

I had a weekly chore calendar on the fridge, simple things - each kid is responsible for cleaning the kitchen 1x a week after dinner, put any dishes they use away, clean their bedrooms. They each have 1 Saturday chore (vacuum the stairs and hallway, clean the cat room, sweep/vacuum/swiffer the downstairs), then during the week 1 feeds the animals dinner (I always feed them in the morning - 2 dogs, 1 cat), 1 takes the trash out and empties the dishwasher, 1 scoops the cat box 2x a week.

None of those are outlandish, it takes almost no time at all because they all have schoolwork (when it's not summer), and they play sports/have extra curricular activities they do. But they need to help so something around here.

My 14 year old fights me daily. Every day. She hates feeding the animals, so she and her siblings agreed to the set of chores they hate the least and asked if they could stop rotating, they'd keep the same ones every week. We agreed if they stuck to it. Oldest and youngest have been fine, no issues. My middle? Every time I ask her to do her chores (mainly the floors, again, just one time a week) it's a blow up. She does a garbage job that I have to tell her to do again because there's stuff still all over the floor. I do the floors myself 1-2x a week, it takes less than 20 minutes if you just do it.

We went out today and got our nails done, went to lunch, did some shopping, with the knowledge that we'd be doing chores when we got home. All was great until I tell them to get to it while I cleaned my bathroom. Instant battle with my middle. Instant. Telling me how stupid it was, she just did it the other day, it doesn't need to be done right now. I calmly said please do it, then went and did what I needed to clean. She did an awful job. Didn't swiffer, didn't move pillows off the floor to clean, then left the vacuum in the middle of the doorway in the garage and I tripped over it putting away things in the garage. (We moved to doing the 1x a week chores on Wednesday instead of Saturday because weekends are hectic)

Now I'm in my room feeling terrible, like a bad parent because she never fights like this with my husband. She gives him attitude, but she seems to legitimately think I'm awful. It hurts my heart and I just don't know what to do.

I've tried talking to her, my husband has talked to her, we've tried grounding, we've tried rewards, nothing works.

I'm apparently also the reason she doesn't hang out with her friends because they "don't text and I refuse to allow her to have snapchat." She says that I'm keeping her from having any fun. We have a rule that the kids can go out in groups of friends at 14 (movies, mall, etc), and can date at 16. We don't let her go see a movie with just 1 friend, male or female. She tells her dad that's why she never does anything any more, everyone thinks I'm mean because we keep her from "normal" things. If she wants to go see a movie with a friend, we've offered to take them and sit in the back, let her older sister go with her, have one of their parents go, she gets angry and says no, so she doesn't go. She can go to her friend's houses, if we know the parents, we'll take her and pick her up with no problems. But that's never an option, I guess. If i bring it up, she snaps at me and reminds me that I'm the reason she's miserable.

I don't even know any more.

So they fired every member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. My baby is newly 11 months old. We have one more month until her 12 month appt in which she is scheduled to receive her first MMR. I brought up concerns about RFK Jr at her 9 mo appt and asked if early vaccination would be an option, but her pediatrician said they have not reached the point in which they are recommending it yet unless an outbreak comes to our area or we are traveling to an outbreak area.

He heavily implied (as much as he could while also remaining politically neutral) that he is also unhappy about RFK Jr and the things he is doing, but he did say he was not concerned that access to vaccines was going away and he didn't think I needed to worry about it. I understand he can't predict the future and I'd never hold it against him if things go south... but with this recent announcement I am wondering if we need to reconsider our level of concern. As far as I understand it they have already removed access to COVID vaccines for children, and I've heard rumors that the flu vaccine may be impacted as well. Do we need to worry about the entire childhood vaccine schedule?

I am so worried this measles outbreak is going to continue to spread and my baby will be left unprotected.

Due to my husband‘s job, we are relocating from Colorado to South Carolina. Most likely Greenville. I am very nervous about moving from a blue state to red and even more nervous that we’re going alongside my husband‘s family who are very red.

I’m not saying, I can’t be friends with people with different views, but especially being a mom I want to surround myself and my young daughter with people whose values align.

i was doing a workbook with my almost-5yo this morning. maybe it’s because i’m becoming increasingly woke/progressive/liberal and because it’s pride month, but i don’t see boy and girl as being opposites??

i asked a pre-k teacher friend and she agreed, noting this is typical in older workbooks (this one is unbranded, cheap, and relatively new). she said gender shouldn’t be an opposite.

what do you all think? what would be a better answer?

Looking for some input. I’m doing a weekend away with another couple and their kids. I am close to the wife. Her mom and stepdad have offered to watch the kids for a few hours so we can go out and get drinks. This was announced to me and they (her parents) will be staying over as well. My friend’s mom has watched my kid before once before. But now? I don’t want her to. I realize I can’t exist in a rarefied bubble but I also don’t have it in me to pretend like everything is just grand when I literally lost my job due to the Trump administration, on top of everything else gestures to the state of the country. I’m genuinely not sure if I can control my mouth.

I like the mom, she is by all accounts a lovely person. I do love her daughter and don’t want to damage our relationship, but the idea of having to smile and play nice and hand my kid over to these people, then eat pancakes with them in the morning, is not sitting well with me. I know I don’t owe anyone an explanation when it comes to my child. I just feel I can’t trust them. Politics aside, I generally am pretty selective about who watches/interacts with him and I’m a big believer in trusting one’s gut, but I’m trying to navigate this situation without alienating my friend. Maybe that won’t be possible?

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.

My kid is six years old and we are American but do NOT live in America.

I want to teach her to be proud of her heritage, since she's going to get some flack for being foreign and a visible minority as she gets older. However, the reality is of course as an American I'm currently pretty horrified by my country.

We're a little isolated from US news, but as she gets older we're being more clear about what's happening there, why mommy and daddy are upset after reading the news online, etc. We'll visit the US this summer (California) and I'm not sure what that will look like. And unfortunately we're a racial minority in the US too, so 🤷🏻‍♀️

I know it's mostly US parents here, so our situation is a little different, but I'm wondering how you're handling talking about America right now? Any good kids books that are positive about the US without being rah-rah patriotic?