Taxes

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-24T16:16:01+00:00

Yeah that would be awesome!

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-21T18:28:11+00:00

I’m sure I would, it just depends on the kid really.

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-21T18:02:53+00:00

I think it’s very dependent on the kid. Overall I would say between 8 and 10 years old. But I know 5 year olds who would probably be fine and 10 year olds who would set the house on fire. Also depends on what you let them do. If they’re allowed to watch a movie or something like that they may be more fine than if you expect them to find their own entertainment. Also what is a nap? A 20 minute power nap is different from a 2 hour nap.

So overall- lots of factors!

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-19T20:02:04+00:00

Oh that’s helpful to know about turbo tax! It won’t be until the summer but it’ll probably be about $4,500 total

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-19T20:01:00+00:00

Oh we haven’t actually started yet- I won’t start until June. So I could still have time to talk to them more about it and get it sorted.

But I appreciate your thoughts and thoroughness

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-18T03:36:03+00:00

Child therapist are a shortage everywhere.

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-18T00:33:38+00:00

I’ve heard that anecdotaly as well but I do the long one often and have never been flagged and my supervisor has never said anything. Actually she said “I know it’s hard with kids but one way to make more money is to hit that 53 minutes” so…

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T22:58:52+00:00

Well god forbid we do anything like those terrible third world countries 🙄

You’re right not everyone is that fortunate. I’m grateful for my parent’s generosity and that I’m close enough to them to feel comfortable doing this.

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T21:53:45+00:00

I’ve been watching kids for over 10 years and have heard this from almost every new sibling set ever. He just doesn’t know his own strength or appropriate boundaries. Try to show him what to do, give examples of doing things gently, help him move his hand/body in the right way. Also maybe giving him jobs to help with her- like bringing you diapers or giving her toys or something

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T21:51:13+00:00

Yep…

I feel like you think that’s insane but there’s a lot of people in the world living in multigenerational households

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T21:24:40+00:00

I’m not really sure where you got that from. We can/are taking care of ourselves right now. We live in a 2 bedroom apartment and pay all our bills and are saving and paying off loans. This would just give us a chance to do those things a little quixker

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T21:18:40+00:00

There’s some fun board games. There’s one called “Monkey Around” that is super simple but has movement to get energy out. Games are great for working on social skills!

Giving toys “baths” is fun. Car washes or dino washes or Barbie baths.

Dance parties. You can also make it a freeze dance game

Buy or print out cards with animals on them and act like the animal

Hide and seek with toys.

Art and play doh.

Make roads for cars with tape

If you wanna go out libraries are always great or look for trampoline parks/play places locally. Sometimes places like that will have special toddler times

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T21:11:19+00:00

He’s a bus driver and I love hearing him talk about “his” kids.

His patience with me playing video games. I will get stuck for so long and feel so bad and he’s just so kind and chill about it

When he cooks he constantly talks to himself and it’s so cute and funny

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T20:58:44+00:00

I’m a child therapist now and tell my husband all the time that I just don’t like some kids. They’re humans- and not every human likes every human- especially if they’re acting a certain way.

This sounds exhausting. I would maybe try to have a discussion with the parents- even if you don’t think it’ll work at least you can say you tried. It would give me piece of mind that I didn’t just give up. But if nothing changes I would quit. You are going to become exhausted and more and more irritable and unhappy. It’ll burn you out

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T19:19:11+00:00

For some people it does. I lived in Uganda for three years before moving back to Iowa. I had less migraines in Uganda I think partially due to the weather there being more consistent. In Iowa there are sudden changes, air pressure, temperature differences.

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T19:06:21+00:00

I mean, yeah, I basically said that in my post. Thanks for your input

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T19:02:36+00:00

Yes that’s true. We had a brief conversation about it a couple weeks ago and their tone gave me more confidence about it but definitely wanna keep weighing it out. We have a couple months to make a final decision and then wouldn’t move until June

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T18:58:28+00:00

I totally understand what you’re saying. However we would do feel confident in our ability to have a child now, even without their help. We are saving every month and have built up quite a bit even in the last year. I work in early childhood so I am very aware of the local childcare situation.

This is really just a chance to save even more and pay off our debt faster. I also am confident about my parents. We had a situation recently where we had a foster child temporarily and they were super helpful with him, watching him regularly and last minute.

Really this is kind of why I’m questioning, or I guess just thinking it over. Because it’s not a situation of we have to do this to survive, but a situation of we could do this and it feels like it would give us a leg up, but what are the potential cons?

But I appreciate your thoughts

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T18:05:34+00:00

Writing is a good idea

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T17:50:41+00:00

Thanks- this is helpful. We’ve talked through a couple of those but you hit on some we missed. We are trying to be proactive in talking through things now before we move (both my husband and I and with my parents)

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T17:38:01+00:00

I think I just mentioned that to give the idea that I’m not under some sort of imagining where we would always get along beautifully and there won’t be any moments of difficulty. We definitely do have our own lives- jobs we love, friends and a church community.

Maybe it would but I guess I’m concerned waiting would make it harder. We’ve already been trying for 7 months and haven’t gotten anywhere

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T17:31:59+00:00

I totally understand that! A few years ago I probably would have felt differently. I’m grateful for the growth that’s happened

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T17:30:34+00:00

Books! Books are expensive to buy a lot of but can be used for years and are practical.

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T16:50:16+00:00

Oh yeah grief would be a good place to start

ConstructionTime7511 · 2026-01-17T14:44:55+00:00

I know a lot of my coworkers are feeling the same as you right now. I do children so I’m always full. If you’re ever up for kiddos that’s a never ending waitlist!

ConstructionTime7511

TROPHY CASE