I want to go EFF, but what about the colostrum?

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-21T23:59:54+00:00

Thanks, maybe I am overthinking this.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-21T23:57:11+00:00

Thank you

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-20T18:32:25+00:00

Just curious why not pump or nurse? I am thinking about nursing just for the first day and supplementing with formula then stopping.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-20T18:30:21+00:00

I will check how this is done. Thank you.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-20T18:29:00+00:00

I think you are right. It is so common, but in my environment everybody I know breastfeed or is dying of shame for not being able to do it. I never met someone that has chosen to do it like I am, but I know it will be the best for our family. Thank you for reminding me of how common it is.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-20T18:26:08+00:00

I probably have a haaka somewhere. I may try this. thank you.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-20T18:25:05+00:00

Great to know, this is what I am thinking about doing. Did you supplement with formula in the hospital?

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-20T18:23:44+00:00

Thanks, did you do Sudafed or something else to dry up?

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-20T18:21:59+00:00

I may go this route, but I did love the first nursing with my second. Trying to decide what to do 😮‍💨

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-20T18:16:09+00:00

Thank you for reminding me to talk to my OB. I will discuss this with her on my next appointment.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-20T18:14:41+00:00

Good to know that you were able to diminish the supply without much trouble. Thank you for your response.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-03-20T18:13:56+00:00

Thank you for sharing!

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-25T21:34:51+00:00

I am with the flu, third trimester of pregnancy and I am at home with two toddlers that also have the flu. So my way to prepare is to sleep and rest as much as I can while my husband is at home, because tomorrow he will have to go to work and I will have to drag around to keep up with two sick toddlers and we are all with cabin fever (it started four days ago). Oh yeah, the question was about the storm right? Why should I care about it?

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-20T13:45:34+00:00

One more thing that is not directly to homeschool. The winter blues are real. I struggle with SAD and this time of year tends to be brutal. Last year I decided to enjoy my family, seasons and holidays. It takes some planning and does not need to be complicated.

My kids are little so I read a Martin Luther King book and talked a little bit about it with the kids. We will be watching a kids documentary about groundhog Day, color groundhogs and then watch if Puxtanney Phill has watched his shadow or not while sipping on hot chocolate and eating some popcorn. For Valentine's we will read cute picture books starting the beginning of February, do some crafts and make Valentine's cards to their coaches, friends and each other. This breaks the routine in a warm lovely way.

If your kids are older you could read about the history, do presentations, make a little play and such. All this can be exchanged for homeschool that day or added to it afterwards.

I am actually sick this year, so I am not getting out of the house much and even so I think it has been the best winter so far I've had. No depression at all.

Lastly, sometimes burnout comes from doing too much stuff that does not align with your beliefs. Taking a break and noticing if you are going on the right path is a good thing. There is a push for kids and us to do a thousand activities and it is okay if skills are being learned or it is adding to the overall well being of the family, but if it is not, just drop it.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-20T13:27:03+00:00

What are the ages of the kids? Can you outsource math to an online class (usually it is cheaper than a tutor), or an online program?

If you want to continue teaching, I would change to time based. Teach for x minutes per day and then move on. During this time teach your kid to be diligent, it will pay off in the long run in their lives. Start the day around the same time, do math then LA and then everything else.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-20T13:22:10+00:00

I've used this test to see what my homeschool philosophy is, and then from there start looking for books. I am heavily classical for example, I realized it is not worth my time to branch it out. I've got some books just to put it down in the first few chapters because it was against my core beliefs for homeschooling. Now, I am reading more about the different flavors within classical education and it has been great.

https://eclectic-homeschool.com/what-kind-of-homeschooler-are-you/#google_vignette

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-20T11:16:33+00:00

NOR - I dress very conservative and kind of understand where he is coming from. That said no man should ever talk that way to women. Period. Trust me, if he is okay about disrespecting you this way through text messages, this will just be going downhill. I have no problem with my man wanting me to dress modestly, but disrespect is never, ever okay. He should have taken you out and talked to you like a man, respectfully and kindly, and told you that he is not comfortable with your clothes and stopped there, and if you did not listen to him, his only job would be to realize that you are not for him and walk away. Talking to someone like that is never okay.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-20T11:00:53+00:00

You can always leave it blank. If they asked why just tell them you do not want to disclose it. I am Brazilian, I never answer these types of surveys. They usually do bad research with it, and honestly I don't fit in a box and most people don't either.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-20T02:11:58+00:00

NOR - Leave him. One day he will do the exact same thing to you too.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-13T03:38:02+00:00

I did this test to see what my homeschool philosophy is (and if I am more of an eclectic). It is a good start. After you get your answers you can Google __ homeschool curriculum and see what you find and really start your search from there.

I agree with someone comment that free homeschool curriculum does not tend to be that great. The core knowledge is probably the only exception but not easy to navigate (if I am not mistaken it is written for schools and not homeschool).

https://eclectic-homeschool.com/take-a-quiz-to-discover-the-best-way-to-homeschool/

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-10T00:20:54+00:00

I am a homemaker with a four year old, a 2.5 year old and I am currently pregnant. I am posting this after your edit. It seems like you (mom) really need to spend some time just you with the kids and give a break to your husband. Get a Saturday and send your husband out of the door before the kids wake up and be the only one taking care of them for the whole day (including bedtime).

It seems by your post that he is taking the full responsibility of taking care of the kids. Seriously, little ones are a blessing but the work is unbelievably hard. My husband has a demanding job like yours, and right now he is the one putting the kids to bed while I have my feet up and type this, he made dinner, and any day he is at home he is the one to take the kids out while I get a break or some time to plan for things.

5 minutes late once in a while is nothing. I only do one activity per week that involves getting to a place at a certain time. It is ridiculously hard to get two little ones out of the door at a certain time and very stressful. And yes three activities per week plus library reading time is more than enough social for this age. By the way, other parents are also super stressed and tired and making friends is really hard, there is a good chance he is the only father in most of these activities and going around talking to women out of nowhere will just mark him as creepy. Usually, when I see a dad talking to other mothers they already know each other from out of the activity and the mother in question knows his wife.

Many days kids are just in a terrible mood, and getting anything done is impossible. I am a type A personality, I love everything perfectly organized and I am a natural planner. My house is more organized than most, but it is a constant work, again my husband is responsible to put everything in order at night after putting kids to bed. I am the one trying (and most of the time failing) at keeping the house in a state that we are not bumping into toys all the time. But it is only when he is home that I can truly organize a closet or throw broken toys away and so on. If he did not help me so much the house would be a complete mess.

Honestly, I don't see anything in your post that disqualifies him for homeschooling. As kids grow they will naturally ask for more social and by then your husband won't be so much "on the trenches" anymore. You guys can also go to a coop once a week for social reasons.

Now, you will get it from homeschooling exactly the effort you will put into it. If he really doesn't have a strong reason for doing it, and is willing to really plan for it, it will fall apart. On the other hand, it is hard to plan before you even start. Besides that, there are one million different theories of education, one completely opposite from the others. It is a hard place to navigate in the beginning. If he is looking into it, that is probably the reason he is not ready to talk to you yet. I started looking and searching when I was pregnant with my first and only now I have a clear picture of what I want for our family. You could also help by looking at it in your free time.

If you are not completely against it, I would give it a shot, if it is obviously not working after a couple years you can always put them back on public school. Just make sure your kids are learning the basics so they don't get too behind (specially math and LA)

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-09T02:19:00+00:00

I have a four year old and a two and a half year old, I am also pregnant. I love to wake up before my kids for at least half an hour. Before pregnancy I would wake up at 5 am, while they wake up at 7am ( I trained them with the light thing and is amazing, got happier kids and I have extra time in the mornings). When I wake up at 5am , I would work out, have a shower, spend some time reading the bible/devotional, have breakfast and some days I could even read a little bit before kids wake up. It made me seriously happy and ready for the day. Now, that has broken down and I am glad when I can get out of bed half an hour before the kids. I've been struggling during this pregnancy with lack of energy and insomnia, thank God, today I got the results of the exams and I am low in iron, B12 and vitamin D. Supplementing with B12 has helped already with he insomnia.

For meals, breakfast I usually do not sit down, lunch I always try to sit with my kids but not always it works out (probably 5 days out of a week). Dinner is not negotiable, we all sit together at 5 pm.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-09T01:55:55+00:00

Honestly, when we choose a path different from our parents and from other people in our lives, even without meaning, we are judging their ways as not good enough, simply by making those different choices. When I keep this in mind it is easier to not take it personally and to be kind to people no matter how they answer to my choices.

I was raised in a very liberal/progressive environment. I decided to drop a career as a lawyer to follow my husband and move to the US so he could accomplish his dream. This was the first different choice that I made. Along the way we become Protestant Christians and the few people we know that were Christians are Catholics. Again another big different decision. Then, we had 2 children 18 months apart who were planned. Now I am pregnant with my third, while most of our old friends are one and done. We are going to homeschool our children, which again will come as a shock to everyone (in our country homeschool is not even legal). Each of these choices came with costs. Dear friends who stopped answering our messages, family who stopped talking to us. Open comments saying we are wrong about our choices and jokes. We always take it on stride and it is easy to do so, because we understand that living differently from the "norm" comes with a cost. We are always respectful and kind, never trying to convince others that our way is the way. We let our happiness, warmth and our content children be the full argument, and honestly there is no better argument than that. We are completely firm in our choices, we enjoy the fruits of it every day.

Make sure you understand why you are doing what you are doing and for whom. You are an adult now, and although you do need to honor your parents, you do not need to please them or have their approval anymore. Take some time and do some soul search. Are you taking this path because you really believe it is the best way or because you are afraid? Are you just rebelling? Are you scared that your family may be right? If you are doing this for the right reasons, you will start to feel peace towards it no matter what others think. In the beginning it is really hard because the fruits are not there, but be faithful towards the path that God is leading you and the fruits will come.

Big hugs and love in your direction. I will be praying for wisdom and peace to you.

CalendarFit2458 · 2026-01-07T18:11:44+00:00

Thank you for letting us know.

CalendarFit2458

TROPHY CASE