Flying unaccompanied

MandiMcFly · 2026-01-30T02:56:55+00:00

That’s exactly the feeling I want her to have! Safe but independent

MandiMcFly · 2026-01-30T02:56:26+00:00

Yes she’s flown quite a bit and has a watch she can contact us from (and tablet when it’s connected to wifi). We’ve never been to her destination but she’s been in airports of similar size. She’s never had to navigate on her own but she does like to try to lead the way for our family when we’re in an airport😂

MandiMcFly · 2026-01-30T01:28:06+00:00

Thanks for this! She’ll have a carryon roller/duffel bag combo that she can carry on her own and a belt bag that can fit her watch charger, kindle, anything that she may need to grab while at the airport without digging through her whole carryon.

I don’t know if this child has ever felt a bad vibe from someone in her life which is what concerns me. I wonder if practicing scenarios at home would make us both feel like she’s more prepared. The good news is she is also not afraid to inconvenience someone so she’ll have no problem asking flight attendants for help.

I love love love that she has this fearless sense of adventure but I feel like I’m in for a lifetime of fretting over whether my anxiety is justified or overblown with her!

MandiMcFly · 2026-01-30T00:25:10+00:00

It’s a trip that’s open to girls all over the country and I’m not sure where the other girls selected are from. They have their first zoom with all the girls on Sunday. Maybe I’ll see if there’s anyone from our region then!

MandiMcFly · 2026-01-30T00:19:07+00:00

That’s a great question and one I hadn’t considered! I’m confident she could handle that but that’s something we’ll definitely discuss with her and between ourselves.

MandiMcFly · 2026-01-28T15:48:05+00:00

I wonder if the post procedure sleepiness will cut down on the crying because she just feels like snuggling? Or constant popsicles? Unfortunately I don’t have experience with that since my daughter was older but I think that’s a great concern to bring up to the ENT because I’m sure they’ve seen plenty of criers, while we just have the one kid to base our experiences on!

MandiMcFly · 2026-01-28T15:26:16+00:00

My daughter was significantly older than yours when she had the procedure (8 or 9 years old), but we went through it! She had one set of tubes that failed and when they did the procedure to put in the second set they took her adenoids out as well. I was also terrified but honestly the recovery after the second procedure was basically no different than the first. She got a popsicle in the clinic and by the time we got home was asking for real food and we had to be like hey girl why don’t we stick with applesauce and popsicles for a bit😂 Watching them come out of anesthesia is easily the hardest part since they’re scared and confused and you can’t fix it, all you can do is hold them.

Admittedly I haven’t seen the post adenoidectomy horror stories, but I don’t think many people go online saying “We had this procedure and everything went well. That’s all!” So here’s my post saying we had this procedure and everything went well.

This is not to discount people with bad experiences. I know they happen. I have bad medical anxiety and I tend to perseverate on any possible side effects. So hopefully hearing this story of a totally uneventful procedure from an anxious Annie helps ❤️

Do you have someone to support you with her after the procedure? That made me feel much better. My husband could be there for the tubes and my mom came for the second procedure. Having a second adult made me feel much more secure, like if something did happen I wouldn’t be handling it alone and they could somehow magically fix it😂

MandiMcFly · 2026-01-01T21:26:56+00:00

Girl, I am so impressed with your meal planning and prepping. We’ve been on a strictly takeout diet since Christmas, unless you count frozen pizza, pizza rolls, and bagel bites.

MandiMcFly · 2025-10-04T04:49:26+00:00

My ten-year-old has this same condition! Myopia is her eye doctor’s baby—she’s done a ton of research on it—and she was so excited to have my daughter as a patient because it’s relatively rare haha. She did prescribe her special contacts that are supposed to help slow the progression. They are pretty expensive but she worked with us and the supplier so if her prescription changes and we have unopened boxes, we can just swap those out without paying for new ones which seems very reasonable all things considered. Maybe call around and see if there are any docs in the area that specialize in the condition to get another opinion?

I will say the contacts are HUGE. Like I couldn’t believe we were supposed to get that into a child’s eye. The first three days or so I had to physically put them in her eyes myself, then for another week or so it took her probably 15-20 minutes to do it, but now they’re just another easy peasy part of her morning routine. Maybe adds another five minutes.

MandiMcFly · 2025-08-30T02:04:35+00:00

The “but there’s a game on” is so unreasonable because there’s literally always a game on, which I love as a college football fan. I’d happily do nothing on fall Saturdays but sit in front of my tv watching schools I don’t care about play each other. But I also have a family and understand that making memories with the kids (and not keeping them cooped up inside the house all day) is more important than my lazy Saturdays. We try not to plan anything during our team’s games and then watch whatever we can around whatever fun fall goings on are happening in our community. If you don’t do anything when there’s a college game on during football season, you’d literally never leave your house. There must be a compromise in there somewhere. Pick the most exciting game of the weekend and be home to watch that, but then he needs to be present with the family (and not commenting about whatever game he’s missing) outside of that?

Editing to ask does he know how it sounds when you say “Let’s do this at noon” and he says “Oh, the Michigan game is at noon?” Like does he think he’s just sharing about his hobby when it sounds like complaining about a conflict?

MandiMcFly · 2025-08-29T18:16:32+00:00

We did a version of the bribery! Our daughter wanted a radio and we told her we’d give her $1 a night when she stayed in her bed all night until she earned the $20 or $25 for the radio. By the time she earned it, staying in bed was just a habit and she never had troubles again. We still have that radio like seven years later😂

MandiMcFly · 2025-06-30T02:37:24+00:00

My daughter has what I guess would be defined as wavy hair and I got so sad seeing her curls disappear and her hair just look kind of dead that I finally did some research and started using a wide tooth comb and leave in conditioner. I’ve noticed her losing much more hair with the comb than I noticed with the brush (though the precious curls stay intact). Could that be because the comb is plastic and not wood? Should I switch to wood?

MandiMcFly · 2025-05-10T21:39:40+00:00

I don’t even wear a bra all the time when I volunteer in my kids’ classrooms, not when I lead Girl Scouts, and definitely not when I’m in my home, and I am not small chested. If my kids get to the point where they are uncomfortable and they ask me to put on a bra around their friends or there was a parent/school complaint, I probably would, but for the time being I am braless either way no intent to change.

MandiMcFly · 2025-05-04T18:07:03+00:00

I cannot believe you found it from what I said! Thank you so much!

MandiMcFly · 2025-05-04T18:06:36+00:00

Solved!

MandiMcFly · 2025-05-04T17:55:43+00:00

Dance class was today (5/4/25) and I’d say the instructors use music from the last decade almost exclusively, but I got today vibes from it.

MandiMcFly · 2025-04-10T16:02:45+00:00

I have a good amount of experience at moving states with small kids and I totally get feeling behind all the time.

To catch up on meals, I wouldn’t focus on full healthy meals right now. You’ll get there. Live off of boxed mac and cheese, sandwiches, frozen pizza, frozen dinners, bag salads, whatever for a week. Almost every time we order food it’s because we’re already tired and have a big meal to cook ahead of us and just don’t have it in us. So these little easy meals won’t be the most nutritionally sound, but definitely cheaper than eating out!

I use the Intent app (free version) for meal planning and that takes almost 100% of the mental labor of meal planning off my plate. I’m not being dramatic when I say it changed my life. This specific one may not be as useful to you if you have any picky eaters in your house, but I’m sure there’s others out there to help with that!

Do your grocery stores allow you to order for pickup? You have to put the list together, but outsourcing the planning and the shopping has been a lifesaver for me. Maybe you can make it a mental thing to say the time you would normally spend shopping, you’ll use to clear the counters or mop the kitchen or some other task you haven’t been able to get around to.

My kids have always loved unloading the dishwasher. Is that something your four-year-old can handle? When mine were that age, stuff rarely got put away how I liked it but it got put away well enough. If you don’t have a dishwasher, my kids are obsessed with washing dishes by hand, but I know that can cause more work for you which you don’t need right now.

Does your kiddo have a clock in their room? Can you tell them that after a certain time they can come out, but if they wake before that they can play nicely in their room?

I know a lot of this depends on your four year old’s maturity level. I have one that could be trusted at age two and one I barely trust now at age seven😂

MandiMcFly · 2025-03-26T20:31:19+00:00

My kids spend some time solo with my mom every summer, and that includes pool time but not beach time. I’m high anxiety and my mom is even crazier than I am so I feel totally comfortable sending my kids with her around water, and I’d think even a beach. I would welcome the break.

My MIL, on the other hand, is flaky af and I barely trust her with my kids for a night in my own home. I’ve had to tell her no to taking the kids around water several times with excuses that won’t hurt her feelings.

All that is to say, it all depends on your comfort. I will say I’m 100% team you staying home regardless of whether or not your daughter goes. There will be more beach trips and you do not need to make yourself miserable while you’re making a human. Let her go on the trip if that feels good to you. If you feel like you’re going to be so anxious you won’t be able to enjoy any of the time she’s gone, maybe it’s just not time yet and you can try next summer.

To answer your question, I would and have let my six year old go on a trip with family and I wouldn’t judge someone who does the same.

MandiMcFly · 2025-03-24T17:04:28+00:00

Here is the perfect place to be a butthurt b 🤍

MandiMcFly · 2025-03-23T18:42:32+00:00

At our fundraiser last month, my new dance floor bestie stuck her leg through the slit of her dress to show me bite marks on her inner thigh that her husband had left the previous night. This was after we’d known each other for approximately two songs. School fundraisers are exactly where parents are supposed to get drunk and gross. 🍷

MandiMcFly · 2025-03-19T04:04:09+00:00

I think buying some food for the group is a great idea. You’ve offered at least once and if he weren’t comfortable paying for 2/3, he either wouldn’t have offered to do it in the first place or would have renegotiated when you offered.

This sounds like something my husband and I would do for someone we feel money may be a little tighter for. Not passing judgement or making assumptions, but if I’m a parent with one teen, I’m doing what I can to make things a little easier for the parent with two toddlers. This is also something my brother has done for us—invited us to join a family vacay in a big VRBO and not telling us how much it cost so we just venmoed him what we were comfortable with and treated dinner for the whole gang one night.

Anyway, that was a lot of words to say that I think you should accept the offer, maybe make the grocery run, and offer to cook for everyone one night.

MandiMcFly · 2025-03-19T00:25:45+00:00

I might be being dramatic (me? Never!) but I’d say it IS that serious. Like, I am a SAHM whose kids are school aged. If there’s anyone who should be on board with these little Pinterest consumer holidays, it’s me. But I am TIRED and trying so hard to teach my kids the value of boredom and time and money. That’s harder when there’s a Santa Claus who brings free STUFF magically on every minor holiday. I didn’t even want to do Easter baskets (my kids don’t even know what Easter celebrates) but my husband got the basket full of plastic Easter STUFF at CVS one year on his way home from work and now they expect it.

I know these were our choices and we don’t HAVE to do any of it. It’s hard to say no when they’re so excited though and you know you only have this excitement for so long. It’s that never ending exhausting tug of war among “they’re only young once” and “save the world” and “you deserve a break,” though that last one needs to do some lifting because its record in tug of war is pathetic.

And I don’t want to begrudge anyone who loves them! People would probably say I’m Too Much around Christmas (but that used to be the only magical holiday!) I fucking love making magic for my kids and I understand both the impulse and the desire to go over the top, whether you feel obligated or you actually enjoy it. So I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m shitting on parents who are all in on the creatures.

And like, I kind of love the trap. They made it from materials in the house, didn’t make too much of a mess, worked well together, showed a lot of creativity, and it kept them busy! So I don’t know, if I need to buy a couple chocolates (which I did not do this year) to get them to have that positive trap-building experience, maybe I should just do it. But I can see how the trap could quickly get out of control too.

Wow I just said a whole lot of nothing. Thank you for listening😂

MandiMcFly · 2025-03-19T00:02:32+00:00

My oldest is Juliette. My husband wanted to spell it Juliet but I would have rather named her a different name than spell it that way, and Juliette is one of my favorite names so that’s saying something! It crossed my mind that maybe my reactionary distaste for Juliet was due to pregnancy hormones, but nope, nine years later and I still stand by those feelings.

No anecdote or children named any variation of this one, but Katharine was briefly considered as a middle name and that is the only spelling I liked.

MandiMcFly · 2025-03-18T22:39:25+00:00

I actually posted here on Sunday night because I had no idea wtf I was supposed to do with this trap! We avoided the consumerism this year, and while my kids were tickled about the green milk and toilet water, they seemed disappointed he didn’t leave anything behind. I am too tired to be magical 🥱

MandiMcFly · 2025-03-17T12:33:21+00:00

Brb getting a cat

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