>I just need to ask you all to show me a bit more kindness so that I can get this thing working.
Kindness is not what you need nor will it get that thing working.
What you need is to understand how scanf() works.
scanf() always leave behind the ENTER key, when you press ENTER/RETURN. Which will be read by the next call.
If you insist in using it, then you need to accommodate that behavior.
A possible solution would be to declare another "waste key char" and using in conjunction with the first format , since you know you'll have to press enter to summit data.
char enter_key;
scanf("%d%c", &num, &enter_key); Of course, that will not prevent the user from entering unexpected input and screwing it. That's for the best scenario.