First Time father advice

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by ELLSSUU

-Speaking of college, begin saving now. How much you think you need to save-----well it's not enough, save more.

college is overrated. it's just perpetuating an increased debt cycle.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by soundman98

college is overrated. it's just perpetuating an increased debt cycle.

Everyone I grew up with in San Jose that went into some kind of service industry vs college (around 1978 to 1984) got filthy rich.

I agree.

[ermax]

Originally Posted by Summerwolf

If you can get in to something with 600 hp and not consider it fun you're probably not as addicted to driving as you claim.



You're right, a lot of driving enjoyment with the twins is related to corners. On my commute, there is one corner, and all highway, that's why I said my personal commute can be boring. Either way with two kids in car seats the twin doesnt work for daily commuting. I'm glad my kids will get to have multiple vehicles to experience and grow up with.

600 in a truck does nothing for me. 600 in a sports car would obviously be fun. I’ve got a coworker that has a Tesla S P75 which I’ve driven. It does nothing for me. When I was 20 years old and street racing everything I encountered I would have been more interested in a straight line car. After tracking cars and autoxing for 20 years I couldn’t care less about a tank that is fast in a straight line.

I agree with you that two car seats in the Twins doesn’t work. One seat is very doable though.

[ermax]

Originally Posted by conehead

With multiple kids, nothing beats a minivan. I didn't even understand it until I got one as a rental. The huge sliding doors make it easy to get kids in and out of car seats, even in tight parking spaces. Older kids can easily get to the back row without having to move car seats, and they don't smash the doors into things when they open them. Even with a full load there is tons of cargo room, and floor space for the dog. You can actually stand in the back and get to kids in the third row. With the seats folded flat, it fits more 4x8 sheets than a truck and keeps them dry, or makes a flat floor for camping. The whole crossover trend is just moms in denial that they need a minivan.

The obsession over SUVs has always been odd to me. They aren’t at all easy to get kids in and out of. You have to climb up into them rather than just drop them in. Mini vans are severely underrated. WAY more room. More car like driving experience. Lower entry height. Wives hate them though.

[Summerwolf]

Originally Posted by ermax

The obsession over SUVs has always been odd to me. They aren’t at all easy to get kids in and out of. You have to climb up into them rather than just drop them in. Mini vans are severely underrated. WAY more room. More car like driving experience. Lower entry height. Wives hate them though.

How tall are you? I'm 5'10 and its WAY easier to basically reach straight out and put the kid in the truck. I dont have to climb in at all to strap in the two year old or drop the infant seat on its base. With the BRZ I'm bent halfway down to keep the passenger seat from sliding back while he gets in, and to actually tighten my 2 year olds straps I have one knee on the back floorboard.

[Rogues Gambit]

Originally Posted by StraightOuttaCanadaEh

Well as a health care person, I’ll give some health advice

-support the neck when holding the baby!
-don’t be a helicopter parent, kids are a lot more resilient than you think
-make sure your wife eats everything during the pregnancy, if there is still some time left. When women avoid certain foods, there’s a chance the offspring will develop an allergy to that food
-Dontvaccinate the child! https://www.learntherisk.org
-please try to sleep. It will be hard but virtually every single human disease can be linked to sleep deprivation. Get at least 7 hours. Work it out with your wife.

Have fun!

Fixed

[Rogues Gambit]

Originally Posted by soundman98

college is overrated. it's just perpetuating an increased debt cycle.

Exactly

If you're kids not destined to go into STEM, Medicine, law or education, don't bother

[ame="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h_kIajrJUMc"]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h_kIajrJUMc[/ame]
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5501111

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Rogues Gambit

Fixed

not exactly. polio and black plague can still exist.

while i somewhat agree with this line from the site:

You do NOT need an injection for protection. The BEST defense against disease is a strong immune system — NOT one overloaded with toxic additives from food, air, water, and VACCINES. Yep, vaccines. They contain many toxic ingredients – some KNOWN to cause cancer and brain damage – that have no place to go once injected into the body. So they go straight to vital organs, bypassing the body’s natural line of defense and detox.

i don't fully agree with it. there are spreadable, preventable killing diseases that the vaccine is better than the disease. in those cases, i support the vaccine.

Originally Posted by Rogues Gambit

Exactly

If you're kids not destined to go into STEM, Medicine, law or education, don't bother

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5501111

ok, humfrz time.

something he didn't touch on at all that makes perfect sense, is that college is about gaining KNOWLEDGE. not experience, problem solving, or troubleshooting. but also, grade schools and high schools are also starting to push similar knowledge-only academics. this is a huge thing for me, as most people seem to have this concept that "if i get through college, i'll be set for life".

we've been through 7 new kids at work in the last 6 months, all completed high school, some went through college. so far the 7th kid we've hired now is the first one out of the group that understands that the switch on the wall in a room typically turns the rooms light bulb on/off. the rest when i say to 'go turn the switch off while i work on this light', start running down to the breaker box, or looking down the hall or in other rooms for some magical switch labeled for the purpose.

what he did touch on regarding knowing yourself was a lack of failure and testing. schools no longer push limits, they no longer test kids. they just send them on to the next phase. do this and i'll pass you off to the next 'thing'.

this starts to be a problem(as 6 of the kids i had to work with learned), as kids have been told where they need to go, what they need to do, and what time they need to be there or be completed, with no options for anything outside of that. it's so smooth and structured that there's no point that they can even fail.

the last kid thought that simply showing up every day was enough--because that was all that had been ever required of him up to that point. now when i asked them to do things, it was 'just what needed doing'. to them, there was nothing to gain from remembering why the white wire connected to one spot and the black wire connected to another. all that mattered was that they were there to make money, and i told them where each wire needed to connect.

and they failed and got frustrated. all because they were never pushed before.



and one final note(s) about his example of lawn mowing. my brothers and i did exactly that through high school, using my parents truck, with 2 very basic lawn mowers. it all started because no one would hire me as a 16 year old with no experience. i did it for 2 years, with my brothers doing it for another 2 years afterwards. the experiences i gained from it, i'm still finding advantages for. it taught me things from talking to customers, building a schedule, managing equipment, and competently performing tasks with tools we had because buying newer fancier equipment wasn't an option.

things have gotten worse since then. now, many places won't hire someone under 18-20 for insurance reasons. i was talking to someone at church a while back that used to mow lawns for 20 years. he was telling me he just got out of it, as every town was starting to require permits and licenses for every single property.

he had started doing lawns to help elderly/disadvantaged people, so he was doing it for a very competitive price to try to make a little money, but more-so to help these people out. suddenly, a lawn he's charging $20 to do requires he charges $80 to cover all the fees from the towns.

it's more difficult than ever to be young and inexperienced.


so my advice for future generations is to fail. fail hard, fail often, and take school with a grain of salt because it's barely a fraction of what will give you the tools to succeed anywhere.

[HKz]

Originally Posted by EAGLE5

Getting all huffy about manliness is a central snowflake attribute.

...so your comment

Originally Posted by EAGLE5

Front or rear facing ain't gonna matter if you crash in an '85 MR2.

was a non-manly and non-snowflake comment? what was the point of mentioning that, to gain good karma points? smh..

[DandoX]

Thanks for all the insight for advice, Im totally enjoying this thread. Just to re-iterate I am keeping the FRS since its paid off and I will use it until the wheels fall off. However the car I plan to use for primary kid duty is the '19 Corolla hatch in MT. So as it was said in an earlier post, my wife hates mini vans. It may be that my kid won't be going into the FRS until they are a little bigger and can sit facing forwards. So the plan is for the Corolla to handle the brunt of the infant transportation

[used2likeit]

Oh yes, just in case you were planning on buying only one car seat and moving it between vehicles, don't One car seat per vehicle that will be kid-moving, even if once a week.



Also, pay a visit to your local fire station and ask them how to install a child seat. Better if they can do it for you. Or if you know a certified guy in a church or something. There are, surprisingly, certifications on how to install car seats.


Owners' manuals for car seats don't cover the whole story, no matter how well you read it. A certified installer (or a fireman etc) will tell you all about gotchas that you may be unaware of. Also, if you need to pad under the child seat for a proper leveling, use cut-to-size pool noodles or some kind of closed-cell foam.

[conehead]

Originally Posted by Summerwolf

How tall are you? I'm 5'10 and its WAY easier to basically reach straight out and put the kid in the truck. I dont have to climb in at all to strap in the two year old or drop the infant seat on its base. With the BRZ I'm bent halfway down to keep the passenger seat from sliding back while he gets in, and to actually tighten my 2 year olds straps I have one knee on the back floorboard.

I'm 5'11" and the giant sliding doors of a minivan are way better. If you need a truck for truck things, like towing a huge trailer, that is fine. But if you are just using it for around town stuff, a minivan is better in every way.

[bcj]

Don't use the sprogs as a TV tray.
Though it will probably happen at some point

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by used2likeit

Oh yes, just in case you were planning on buying only one car seat and moving it between vehicles, don't One car seat per vehicle that will be kid-moving, even if once a week.



Also, pay a visit to your local fire station and ask them how to install a child seat. Better if they can do it for you. Or if you know a certified guy in a church or something. There are, surprisingly, certifications on how to install car seats.


Owners' manuals for car seats don't cover the whole story, no matter how well you read it. A certified installer (or a fireman etc) will tell you all about gotchas that you may be unaware of. Also, if you need to pad under the child seat for a proper leveling, use cut-to-size pool noodles or some kind of closed-cell foam.

car seats are an incredible pain. my parents just watched my brothers kids for a weekend while they went to a retreat. my brother took the parents car, and left theirs with the car seats. it was easier than even bothering to attempt to change the car seats. i've tried strapping the kids in a few different times, and my sister in law always comes back and corrects whatever i thought i did right.

i'd rather change the brz's spark plugs.

Originally Posted by conehead

I'm 5'11" and the giant sliding doors of a minivan are way better. If you need a truck for truck things, like towing a huge trailer, that is fine. But if you are just using it for around town stuff, a minivan is better in every way.

i used to agree with this. sliding doors are absolutely spectacular for kids. but have you seen the back seat in new 4-door pickups?!? my dad just got '14 f150 4-door. i'm 6'0", and i can almost stretch my legs straight out before touching the front seat. a reverse-type car seat would fit with at least a foot gap between the front seats. my brothers jeep commander, they have to be strategic about front seat placement to avoid hitting the rear-facing seats...