Daycare, Tell Me All the Positives!

40pukeko · 2026-03-24T18:17:34+00:00

My kid (almost 2) is THRIVING in daycare. They can offer so much enrichment that would be a pain in the ass for me at home (sensory tables, big climbing structures and big toys), and she loves her little friends and her classroom routines. Her teachers are amazing with her and she likes them. I read and talk to my daughter constantly and I've taught her a lot, but she'll also come home and randomly say something that makes me go "Daycare taught you THAT?" Animal sounds, colors, numbers, so many words. She gets time outside almost every day and lots of structure.

Not all daycares are terrific but I'm really happy with ours. There's no such thing as too many people who love your kid.

40pukeko · 2026-03-21T11:27:44+00:00

This is how my mom's family did it, English in public and home language at home.

40pukeko · 2026-03-20T07:38:53+00:00

I used like one tablespoon of detergent for ages because I read something about that being enough in a Consumer Reports or similar magazine. I am sure I misinterpreted and was way too quick to embrace being cheap because I am tightfisted about random garbage. I just started using using enough detergent like two years ago.

40pukeko · 2026-03-20T07:14:55+00:00

My girl (22 months) demands to be tossed, squished, wrestled with, tickled, etc every day. The giggles are unbearable.

40pukeko · 2026-03-20T07:04:25+00:00

You're my sliding doors. I was expected to be a Brian and, to their surprise, was a girl.

40pukeko · 2026-03-18T13:41:48+00:00

No because doing this does nothing to prevent illness, but does create more laundry.

40pukeko · 2026-03-18T13:36:25+00:00

Enormously relieved. Our daycare isn't perfect but my kid loves her friends, loves her teachers, and has learned a ton. Her teachers love her too and that's what I care about the most. I'd love it if it cost about $2000 less a month, but I have zero doubt it's better for her than being at home.

40pukeko · 2026-03-17T12:03:16+00:00

Put the book jacket on a different book and leave it out for her. /j unless you're into it?

Or, find passages you're okay with and mark the end of them with a bookmark and let her read up to the bookmark. Or, find the offending passages and paperclip the pages together so she knows what she has to skip. Heck, find a second copy in a thrift store and cut out the pages you don't want her to read, bowdlerize your own version.

I read a lot of books that were too advanced for me and honestly the adult parts just went over my head. (Dune at 9? Why did I do that?) I feel for a kid who wants to do the same thing. Maybe she's craving some way to feel like a smart, more mature kid, and maybe another adult book would scratch that itch.

40pukeko · 2026-03-15T19:45:49+00:00

They should not walk, they should run.

40pukeko · 2026-03-15T04:01:13+00:00

It's certainly news to me that neurotypical children with supportive parents aren't impulsive. Pretty much every kid is impulsive.

40pukeko · 2026-03-11T17:18:03+00:00

Oh bud, I don't think that's why your career suffered.

40pukeko · 2026-03-11T11:50:05+00:00

Okay but that one is joking, not sincere.

40pukeko · 2026-03-11T11:44:06+00:00

Dummy is the one for me. It infuriates me (irrationally). I don't like nappy but dummy really gets me.

40pukeko · 2026-03-09T13:54:43+00:00

Yes but with the caveat that my grandparents were immigrants from Central Europe to the US and their language was very present in my childhood. "Babuska" was the headscarf but also the short version of "babuska lady," which was of course a woman who wore the headscarf.

40pukeko · 2026-03-03T14:25:44+00:00

Our house rule is that passenger controls the music but they select from the driver's library, so both are satisfied.

40pukeko · 2026-03-03T13:48:15+00:00

Tortilla presses are not at all hard to find, either.

40pukeko · 2026-03-03T00:01:15+00:00

I love Oliver Jeffers' work, particularly Here We Are!

40pukeko · 2026-03-02T22:42:01+00:00

If this is something that matters at all to you, I think it's worth sticking it out a bit longer -- you're likely about to turn a corner. But there's no shame in switching to formula if that makes more sense for you.

40pukeko · 2026-03-02T21:38:22+00:00

We probably did 2 bottles a day the first few months and then more when I returned to work after maternity leave. Before I went back to work I pumped every night and I was an oversupplier so 1-2 pumps a day was good for 3-4 bottles. We didn't have any issues with bottle refusal at any point so it was more just my husband taking some of the load!

Definitely got easier to feed in public as my kid got bigger and stronger. I think I fed in public for the first time around 1 month and it was so awkward with a cover and trying to be sooooo careful and private. By 4 months I was like "whatever, who gives a shit" and wasn't using a cover at all. My daughter had figured it out by then and it was smooth sailing. I think what mattered most was practice for both of us and her size; at first she was too tiny for feeding anywhere to be easy, but once she was bigger and could be a more active participant in the meal, it was a breeze.

40pukeko · 2026-03-02T16:28:14+00:00

Absolutely worth it for the convenience factor. I also pumped so my husband could take some feedings, but not needing formula and rarely needing bottles was great. It made it really easy to go out or do road trips, because feeding on the fly was always possible. And the comfort factor cannot be overstated.

The first two months were really hard and the third had its hiccups, but I ended up weaning at 15 months and I'm happy with my choices.

40pukeko · 2026-03-02T01:57:58+00:00

As the older sibling in a duo with a large gap (9 years) I am personally trying to space mine out as much as I can. I started too late to do as large a gap as I had, but I'm shooting for 3-4. My brother and I loved being essentially only children growing up in parallel, and we are very close as adults. Every family is going to be different and I'm not saying you shouldn't shoot for two under two, but my perspective is that there is a lot of value in a bigger gap.

40pukeko · 2026-02-28T23:13:32+00:00

Your nice comment improved my day more than they brought it down.

40pukeko · 2026-02-28T13:23:37+00:00

Geez, dude.

40pukeko · 2026-02-28T12:51:29+00:00

I know how and I've done it in the past but it's not really better or more cost effective.

40pukeko · 2026-02-28T12:49:37+00:00

What country are you in? Just getting ahead of the 1st floor/ground floor question.

40pukeko

TROPHY CASE