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Walrus
·Tell them to invest in low cost index funds.
Parenting advice from the #watchfam
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BlackTalon
··This Space for Rent^^ x2. Started a 529 College savings plan the year my son was born, and after 6 years the value is more than 2x what my full 4 years of college cost in the 1980s. But these days that equates to one year at a 'private' college and 2 years at an in-state university. Starting an investment account for him early in 2020, and will make annual contributions into that as well, and it will be in index funds.
My parents had zero savings for college for me or my sisters. I wound up being the only one out of the 3 of us that went, and costs were covered by a combination of my parents, a grandmother and my summer jobs. And I went to the least expensive university in the state, which also thankfully had the best engineering school. So while I made it through college with no student debt, neither of my sisters went, and that was largely due to being told in high school there was no money for them to go to school. My plan is for money to not be an issue when it is my son's time to go ; crap -- that is in less than 12 years :-( Did anyone mention that the time goes by fast?
My parents had zero savings for college for me or my sisters. I wound up being the only one out of the 3 of us that went, and costs were covered by a combination of my parents, a grandmother and my summer jobs. And I went to the least expensive university in the state, which also thankfully had the best engineering school. So while I made it through college with no student debt, neither of my sisters went, and that was largely due to being told in high school there was no money for them to go to school. My plan is for money to not be an issue when it is my son's time to go ; crap -- that is in less than 12 years :-( Did anyone mention that the time goes by fast?
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zinengineer
·1. Start saving for college NOW
2. You will always be DAD (as a dad to 34 & 32 yr olds, you will always be dad)
3. When they turn about 20 - you will suddenly become a genius
2. You will always be DAD (as a dad to 34 & 32 yr olds, you will always be dad)
3. When they turn about 20 - you will suddenly become a genius
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inchpincher
·I have a 2.5 year old lad so in a good position to look back with relatively fresh insight.
Firstly it’s the most profoundly monumental life changing event I have ever experienced. There was life before and life now. That may sound glib but it took 6-12 months to fully accept and start looking forward not backwards.
Secondly and in no way wanting to put a downer on things but tough times are a coming. There will be sickness, sleep regressions and poo/puke tsunamis that you couldn’t imagine in your wildest nightmares which means extended periods of heightened stress. And for us a quite severe PND diagnosis which when you’re in the thick of sleep deprivation we didn’t acknowledge until we were both gibbering wreaks. So my one golden nugget of advice is look out for your own and your partners wellbeing, you can be so focussed on the kid that communication shuts down.
Good luck, hands down the best thing that ever happened to me.
Firstly it’s the most profoundly monumental life changing event I have ever experienced. There was life before and life now. That may sound glib but it took 6-12 months to fully accept and start looking forward not backwards.
Secondly and in no way wanting to put a downer on things but tough times are a coming. There will be sickness, sleep regressions and poo/puke tsunamis that you couldn’t imagine in your wildest nightmares which means extended periods of heightened stress. And for us a quite severe PND diagnosis which when you’re in the thick of sleep deprivation we didn’t acknowledge until we were both gibbering wreaks. So my one golden nugget of advice is look out for your own and your partners wellbeing, you can be so focussed on the kid that communication shuts down.
Good luck, hands down the best thing that ever happened to me.
Edited:
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Wooden_spoon
·resist the temptation to babysit them with an iPad or iPhone
as others have said, start saving- for them but also for you. You don't want to be financially dependent on them when you're older. Plus, this will give you more capital to play with watches!!
as others have said, start saving- for them but also for you. You don't want to be financially dependent on them when you're older. Plus, this will give you more capital to play with watches!!
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jaspers
·resist the temptation to babysit them with an iPad or iPhone
So my one golden nugget of advice is look out for your own and your partners wellbeing, you can be so focussed on the kid that communication shuts down.
Good luck, hands down the best thing that ever happened to me.
3. When they turn about 20 - you will suddenly become a genius
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BlackTalon
··This Space for RentI have a 2.5 year old lad so in a good position to look back with relatively fresh insight.
Firstly it’s the most profoundly monumental life changing event I have ever experienced. There was life before and life now. That may sound glib but it took 6-12 months to fully accept and start looking forward not backwards.
Secondly and in no way wanting to put a downer on things but tough times are a coming. There will be sickness, sleep regressions and poo/puke tsunamis that you couldn’t imagine in your wildest nightmares which means extended periods of heightened stress. And for us a quite severe PND diagnosis which when you’re in the thick of sleep deprivation we didn’t acknowledge until we were both gibbering wreaks. So my one golden nugget of advice is look out for your own and your partners wellbeing, you can be so focussed on the kid that communication shuts down.
Good luck, hands down the best thing that ever happened to me.
It definitely affected the quality of our lives, but having fun interacting with him during the day made up for the rough nights.
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rob#1
·Read to them. Tell them stories. Constantly, consistently, and continue this all the way through school.
Also, try to resist the urge to give them an iPad (but if you do, show them how to be creative with iMovie, GarageBand, etc. rather than just playing pointless games).
Also, try to resist the urge to give them an iPad (but if you do, show them how to be creative with iMovie, GarageBand, etc. rather than just playing pointless games).
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wagudc
·This is one of things in parenting I feel most strongly about. I do not want to raise my child into a zombie who looks to their iPhone for consolidation. Kids need to (1) read and (2) learn to deal with boredom. Boredom breeds creative minds.
I agree so strongly with you on this, that I have to be careful not to insult those that feel differently. Talk to an elementary teacher about kids that can't focus or have the hand strength to hold a pencil or scissors.
Also, Legos are the best toy ever. Start them off with duplo, then when you move to the smaller ones get a couple of bins of just the bricks, a set of wheels and doors, and a set of roof tiles. This gives them a base of creating on their own. Later they can get the sets with instructions, like Harry Potter or whatever. Also, I didn't think it would matter but get the "girl" color Legos.
My wife and I are almost the polar opposites of gender stereotypes, but some how young kids really identify with gender. They go through a black and white thinking phase and classify everything in a binary way. They want to classify every activity as "boy" or "girl". So we would make sure they have them see strong female role models in different ways. I made sure to include female artists in the music I play for them, read books with strong female characters (Laura Ingalls Wilder is awesome), and many of the Studio Ghibli and related anime films have way better female roles than Disney, I could give a long list here. No matter how much we didn't want the Disney princess thing to be big, it is unavoidable and ever present. Disney dominates, princess for girls, cars and star wars for boys. You can't fight it, but you can give perspective and alternatives.
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jaspers
·Thanks for your kind words, @wagudc
Girl colored legos it is! No idea those existed. If there's anything I can do to have my daughter play with legos, including making it accessible to her binary toddler mind, I'll do it. I've seen Lego do wonders for my nephew's attention span. Being able to play independently is something every kid should learn. It pays great dividends later in life.
Funny how that works. We already bought Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls exactly for this purpose. For me, growing up with a working mom in the 1980s has made a huge difference. I didn't realise it then, but now I see the difference in my parent friends who had stay-at-home moms. My daughter should be able to become anything she wants to be, but secretly nothing would make me happier than see her succeed in a male-dominated field—say, a science faculty, or a professional sports organization.
Also, Legos are the best toy ever. Start them off with duplo, then when you move to the smaller ones get a couple of bins of just the bricks, a set of wheels and doors, and a set of roof tiles. This gives them a base of creating on their own. Later they can get the sets with instructions, like Harry Potter or whatever. Also, I didn't think it would matter but get the "girl" color Legos.
My wife and I are almost the polar opposites of gender stereotypes, but some how young kids really identify with gender. They go through a black and white thinking phase and classify everything in a binary way. They want to classify every activity as "boy" or "girl". So we would make sure they have them see strong female role models in different ways. I made sure to include female artists in the music I play for them, read books with strong female characters (Laura Ingalls Wilder is awesome), and many of the Studio Ghibli and related anime films have way better female roles than Disney, I could give a long list here. No matter how much we didn't want the Disney princess thing to be big, it is unavoidable and ever present. Disney dominates, princess for girls, cars and star wars for boys. You can't fight it, but you can give perspective and alternatives.
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