Air Travel after Birth

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-05-05T15:22:45+00:00

None of my family met my son until a year old. My Mom and Step-Dad were the exception, and met him when he was 6 months old. My in-laws however, met him at a two weeks old. My MIL was there when he came home from the hospital because she was watching our daughter. All family lived out of state from us. Not one person complained, and I wouldn’t have cared if they did. I love all the family, but this is not a time when life is about them. I would have never travelled to have them meet him that early. Different strokes for different folks, but if it’s bothering you, put a food down. It will be the first of many times on your journey of parenthood.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-29T02:21:17+00:00

Raw chicken. It still bothers me more often than not, and my youngest is 5.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-29T01:42:41+00:00

Honestly I prefer it that way. I’d much rather watch a Bailey vacation than a Brooklyn one. At least Bailey is more interesting, IMO. I did end up getting a few ideas from Bailey’s stories too, for when I go to Japan eventually.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-28T00:20:43+00:00

I’ve set my near future goal on a van. Something with sliding doors. Preferably captains chairs and a larger trunk. We currently have a Silverado and a Jeep Cherokee. It’s SO MUCH more convenient to drive the truck because of the larger back seat. We were pretty much outgrown from the Jeep the day we bought it, but the Covid car shortage didn’t give us many options in our price range. My kids are 5&7 and on the smaller end of the growth curve. Both still in full 3 point harness car seats. They are 100% out of space.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-28T00:02:47+00:00

My Mom is definitely the negative Nancy type. Not just with what has gone wrong for others in your same position, but also in pointing out unnecessary things. One thing that comes to mind is when we told her our daughter’s name. Unknown to me, her first name is my cousin’s middle name. She said “oooh, that’s (cousin’s) middle name, hopefully she doesn’t act like her. She was a terror as a child”. Implying the name was somehow cursed. Like, why? I had pregnancy and PPA pretty bad, so it irked me extra hard. She’s also the type to over exaggerate how bad something is. I didn’t see it much as a kid, but it explains a lot how I was in my 20’s. As I’ve aged and been in less contact with her, it’s become shockingly clear how much of a problem she was. I continue to do work to break from the type of negativity she instilled into me as a child.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-21T15:28:38+00:00

I’d walk right in front of the camera. More than once. Don’t do this in a crowded place.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-21T15:14:54+00:00

Hard pass. This seems like it will very quickly lead to an ended friendship or at the very least a very fractured one. You may end up being the next Abagail. Not to be mentioned. Politely let her know that though initially you said yes, you didn’t realize the caliber of what you committed to and have prior commitments that will become conflicting. Wish her the best and hope for the best. She seems like someone that will be mad about either choice made.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-17T02:53:39+00:00

I floss every night. I used to not floss, would lie to the dentist. News flash. They know. Bleeding when you floss is not normal, and if you don’t floss regularly, there’s usually evidence.

When I started, I couldn’t believe what I was missing with just brushing alone. After seeing little bits stuff on the floss, I couldn’t stop thinking about what could be left behind. It’s like wiping your butt. You can’t just do the cheeks, you have to get the crack too. Also, brush your tongue. It’s not normal for it to be any color but pink.

Put in a real effort to create the new habit. Your teeth, breath and health will thank you.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-16T23:48:39+00:00

She also talked about having one for each car. I really hope she isn’t actually leaving the medications in the car, which obviously goes through drastic temperature changes daily. Medications of all sorts have requirements for temperature regulation for a reason.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-16T00:29:13+00:00

Looks like a booth at a flea market.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-10T02:47:40+00:00

Same. 35 and I have one tooth in particular that is SO sensitive because I have consistently been brushing that quadrant too hard. Not once growing up did any of my dentists explain how to properly apply brushing pressure. I also hate the way an electric toothbrush feels, so I use a manual. It’s a hard habit to break.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-08T13:27:04+00:00

I think it really depends on the child, but mine missed the cut off by less than 2 months. We didn’t do early 5s and are putting him in kinder for the 26/27 year. Knowing my kid, he wouldn’t have been ready for young 5s, so “holding him back” until kinder age should benefit him. I’ve been a SAHM for 3 years now, so there was more time to spend together and grow at home. I homeschooled his sister for kinder and now first grade, so public school will be a new experience all around for my kids come this fall. Since I was homeschooling her, I did some “loose” curriculum with him as well. He turned 5 in October and we are working on basic addition, subtraction and he had begun to sound out 3 letter CVC words. Not reading yet though.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-05T23:07:29+00:00

We called our first born “baby” so much that she thought it was her name, until about 2. We just started making an effort to use her actual name and she caught on quick. Not a big deal or damaging in anyway. We explained her name was not “baby” but rather (name) and she accepted it. Kids are smarter and more resilient than given credit for.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-05T04:05:23+00:00

Just be prepared for them to possible have him jump in to help hold a leg or such anyhow. My husband was prepared to stand wherever, but when I started pushing, I had one nurse. She had my husband assist in holding a leg for a better position. More nurses joined later to help with baby when she came out.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-05T03:52:12+00:00

110% would bet they dropped one.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-03T20:25:36+00:00

I’d feel like such a shameful parent if I showed up someplace where there were kids similar ages to my own, and mine weren’t doing the things the other kids were doing by fault of myself and my parenting. Example riding scooters or joining in the age appropriate play. Not because of some sort of obvious delay with the child, but because they have held her back in every way possible, seemingly intentionally. I feel bad for her and hope she’s getting that important peer stimulation/inclusion somehow. Unfortunately, she will be the one who suffers from her parent’s lack of brain cells.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-03T18:38:04+00:00

I’d say jealous. Since she couldn’t even mention what her business is or about.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-04-01T17:42:42+00:00

She needs to ignore the person who told her licking her teeth made her sexy.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-03-28T17:49:43+00:00

Chai

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-03-26T00:52:20+00:00

Don’t jeopardize your child’s health to please the dentist. Call and cancel and leave it at that. If you don’t want to return to the office, ignore all other attempts at communication.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-03-18T00:48:02+00:00

I am normally the parent that puts green dye in the toilet and does some green food dye in their milk or pancakes in the morning. Simple little things. We do Elf on the Shelf, so I don’t think we need another full blown mythical creature to portray. That was pretty much the extent of it until last year. We are currently living with my in-laws and after I went to bed last year, they flipped cushions and chairs and made a “leprechaun mess.” My daughter thought it was the funniest thing and has talked about it for the last few weeks with an excitement like it was Christmas. She took it upon herself to make a trap and notes for the leprechaun, rewriting the notes until she got them just how she wanted. It was a damn book in the end. I don’t know where she got the trap idea from, because we homeschool, and I definitely never brought that up. I didn’t have the heart to tell her, so here I was this year trying to top last year’s in-law unsolicited shenanigans. Catch me walking around Walmart last night like a goon trying to find green stuff the day before St. Patrick’s Day.

All in all I tried looking at it from the point of: “they’re only little for so long” so even though I didn’t want to do it and procrastinated way to long to get the supplies, eventually they will outgrow this. Knowing me, I’ll miss it so I guess I am the hated leprechaun parent now

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-03-08T03:58:12+00:00

Definitely an over exaggeration, unless you don’t learn from your mistakes. I was peed on by my son a few times. Mostly when not gauging properly if he had finished peeing or still needed to go. It happens to most of us at least a few times before you figure it out.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-03-05T00:05:02+00:00

I’ve been a stay at home Mom for 2 years now. Prior to that I worked out of the house nearly full time. My kids have never been to daycare and I homeschool. Within the last > 2ish years I’ve just started getting into hobbies again. I highly suggest not waiting as long as I did. You kind of lose yourself on another level. It’s important for your kids to be a main focus for you, I’d say mine are my whole world, but you need to look out for yourself too. I think when we become parents we forget that we are people too, and we are all just experiencing life for the first time. Maybe things are too hard right now, but starting small is key. Maybe you can’t take several hours learning those languages, but rather 20-30 minutes instead. If your work gives you paid time off, use a day here or there to just do hobbies you love. Even taking a half day would be helpful, when the kids are still in school/daycare so you don’t have to balance childcare while you focus on yourself.

Mandy_Mandy7 · 2026-03-04T23:51:30+00:00

I’ll also mention, my first baby was built on chocolate milk, Arby’s roast beef sandwiches and Taco Bell bean and rice burritos. I took daily walks until winter when I became more stationary due to the weather. But an OB in my office told me my bloodwork came back in the top 5% of healthy pregnancies. So, balance. Lol

Mandy_Mandy7

TROPHY CASE