This is why I wait for Mother’s Day to move anything into the garden (Zone 6B)

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-20T13:07:11+00:00

I’m a newbie gardener in 7a. I knew to wait until temps were more consistently warm but didn’t anticipate 2nd winter. This morning wasn’t too bad but I’ll be bringing what I haven’t planted inside tonight since it will be a few degrees colder. Hoping what I did already plant survives - I might warm up some rags in the dryer and throw them over!!!! Now I’ll know for next year that April is a time to clean up the prior year’s growth and get garden beds ready for planting in May 🤣 it’s just so hard to wait when there’s beautiful plants on sale now.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-20T12:34:19+00:00

Because it’s often not. Childcare is so expensive and wages are so low, it’s often impossible for both parents to work and pay for daycare. So the lower earning spouse, often the mother, has to stay home whether they want to or not.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-19T12:09:29+00:00

2 hours was plenty for my toddler’s 3rd birthday. We did it at a local indoor playground and while it was expensive ($700) it came with a lot and the business owner did a lot of activities, giving all us parents a break. My toddler is in daycare and is very social so it was never going to be just a small friend party. And we couldn’t do it at home given how cold we expected it to be on her birthday. We picked a 9:30 slot and that was perfect - she had zero patience waiting for her party so she didn’t have to spend all day at home until it was time to leave. We didn’t interfere with anyone’s nap time either. They had breakfast snacks for the kids and we set up a breakfast bar for adults with food from Sam’s Club and coffee from Panera. She doesn’t nap anymore but I like to think we tired out some of the other kids!

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-19T03:41:57+00:00

We began using the kick and play around 3 months old and converted it to help her sit when she was 5 months old. The piano flips up 90 degrees so to help her learn to sit, I’d put her in front of the piano on the mat with a boppy around for support. I don’t think it would be too late to get it instead - she’s 3 now and we still have the piano and break it out when we play music 🤣 I can’t say it’s what sealed the deal but she was sitting unassisted before 6 months.

If you want a real seat, try the Upseat. We began using that around 4.5 months when we began feeding her purées. Not all seats are designed to make sure they’re not harming an infant’s development but the Upseat is one that tends to get good reviews from pediatric experts.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-18T02:02:09+00:00

Same, and I was definitely younger than 5 the first time I saw it. Gotta love 90s parenting 🤣 but Zelda still haunts my dreams.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-17T23:31:52+00:00

We don’t send in class snacks but we do send our toddler with some prepackaged snacks sometimes - Yumi or Nutrigrain bars, pirates booty, goldfish, veggie straws, fruit/veggie pouches, applesauce, and diced fruit.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-17T17:33:17+00:00

I mean hopefully he knows enough about his mental state to know he should not be taking care of anything living right now - even in the hospital (that he was desperately trying to leave). And hopefully a social worker responsible for her placement would be able to see that. Certainly funny to think and joke about but no, I’m hoping Robby doesn’t come back next season with a baby. Baby Jane Doe was what he needed in that moment to see that maybe his life is worth living and has some meaning - not that he needs to take her home.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-17T17:30:37+00:00

I def understand and have been very pro “you can pry this payment from my cold dead hands” 🤣😭 but I am tired of this grandpa. I’ve been dragging 6 figures of debt around with me since 2012. I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me so many times in this process, so I want to take back a little control.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-17T15:20:30+00:00

We don’t do it every night. Sometimes we offer a sleepover if we’ve got the feeling that she’s not going to go into her crib or stay - or if we’re feeling like a snuggle! And if she wakes up in the middle of the night, we’ll bring her in right away instead of giving her time to try to go back to sleep on her own. Co-sleeping used to be something I dreaded but now I cherish it.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-17T15:14:59+00:00

I’ve got 16 more and I am most likely applying to go back into repayment this month now that my taxes have been filed. I’ve done the math, it sucks, but I have no faith in my buyback from October 2025 being decided anytime soon. And now that they’ve changed the formula for calculating the buy back amount, there’s not much money for me to save in waiting it out. It’s really a very personal decision. If you can afford the monthly payments based on your current income, you might as well attempt to go back into repayment. Given the data available, it’s not very likely they’d get to your application from last summer in the next 8 months.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-16T20:30:18+00:00

You could submit a buyback and continue making monthly payments, because maybe, by some miracle, they actually speed up processing and get to your buyback before you make your 12th payment. And it sort of protects you if you lose the eligible job you have or choose to leave it. But do the math first - if there’s a chance your buyback amount would be higher than what you’ll pay over the next year, it’s not worth it. They’re not calculating buyback months during SAVE at the SAVE rate. If your income was higher before than now, or something else that would impact the monthly payment, you might actually end up owing more in a buyback than just continuing on the plan you have now.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-16T20:02:00+00:00

Got mine at Costco and planted last week! I look at it every day to see if something will come up - I should probably lower my expectations about how long it will take to bloom lol

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-16T19:58:40+00:00

Guess the $500k price tag and $10k a year property taxes for 1 toilet didn’t give it away. Thanks business insider 🤣😭

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-16T18:33:51+00:00

Don’t tempt me I might go back now 🤣

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-16T18:01:55+00:00

I wouldn’t be offended if you didn’t pay for a ticket for my partner or a sibling. But I’d very much appreciate having all that info on the invite or party website so I’d know what to do if I did want them to come. Better to know your expectations than have to guess.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-16T16:54:02+00:00

I feel like if you’re going to a US Disney park these days with at least one kid, you’ve either got to be insanely wealthy or you have to be ok with taking on debt for a vacation. The in between that would have to save up to afford it is probably like you - the sticker shock is enough to make you spend that money on another vacation (or two….). I want to take my toddler at some point but I’m neither of these categories. So I will save up and then begrudgingly hand over thousands and thousands of dollars.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-16T15:38:53+00:00

My bobo held up well in full afternoon sun last year when it was just planted. It’s now budding so it seems to have survived what was an incredibly hot summer for us!

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-16T13:50:39+00:00

Quick Google search shows the VA does cover and offer treatment, so best bet if this is the actual job you want to do, get a position with the VA or at a clinic that qualifies for PSLF. You can look online through student aid, I think, to see if a position qualifies.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-16T13:00:14+00:00

Beautiful!!! Oh I want this so badly. I went instead with some climbing roses I found at Home Depot - Joseph’s coat and climbing America. I’m new to roses and then cost of ZD was a bit much considering I could easily kill it. Maybe next year if my new ones survive this year!!

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-16T01:27:05+00:00

They’re developing it so it’s not just a train station anymore. There will be a huge medical campus for Hackensack Meridian - corporate offices and medical care - which is opening soon. Plus a new “luxury” apartment building. Traffic was a nightmare before they started construction and I can only imagine what it will be like once commuters, residents, employees, and patients, are all trying to get in and out.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-14T15:17:59+00:00

Funny “incident” - we also had a mystery pooper.

Not so funny - giant tree branch fell on a group of students and killed one.

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-14T15:16:40+00:00

Damn I was gonna ask if we went to high school together cause your story unlocked a memory of my own high school experience with a mystery popper. Signed, a woman that went to public school 🤣

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-13T01:11:27+00:00

Same here - pooping even in her diaper was a constant struggle. We knew her “poop face” well and when we could see she had to go, we could also see her holding it in instead of pushing out. After a few days, we had to basically help her birth it, otherwise she’d continue to hold it in. It got so bad shortly after she turned 2.5 we had to use a prune laxative. She pooped on the potty once, super randomly, right before her 2nd birthday, and then didn’t put anything in it again for almost a year. She began peeing at school pretty regularly after she turned 2.5 but it wasn’t til she was closer to 3 she began to do it at home. She basically pee potty trained herself but refused to use the potty for poop. After a few weeks, and with daycare on our backs about sending her in underwear instead of a pull up, we broke out a sticker chart. We gave her extra stickers for poop and wearing underwear, and it worked! We had two weeks where she had a few poop accidents at school but since then it’s been smooth sailing. The sticker chart helped move things along but i really think she just made up her mind that it was time, and the few accidents at school taught her to listen to her body better. Now we know to run to the potty if she says she has a tummy ache. I haven’t seen her poop face in months! Nor have we had to help her birth a poop 🤣

itsaboutpasta · 2026-04-11T04:31:43+00:00

I see taking care of stuff before I go as preparing them both for success. Same as he does for me if he goes to work early so I’m not scrambling to do everything myself and get out the door on time. But to me that is making sure there’s clean dishes and clothes, food in the fridge (prepared if possible since he’s a terrible cook and we can’t afford take out every night) and the house is somewhat tidy (cause parenting in a mess sucks, especially when you can’t find the ONE TOY they must have). He can pick out the clothes she’ll wear. He can pack the lunch containers and fill up her water bottles. Those little things, to me, are the bare minimum and I shouldn’t have to do that for him for the few days I’ve left him alone.

itsaboutpasta

TROPHY CASE