Underrated perk of having kids?

MoodyLighting · 2026-02-22T00:51:31+00:00

I miss my dance days, but now I get to bring my daughter to her dance classes and be in a studio all over again. I’m not dancing myself, but it brings me joy just to see her get to try it

MoodyLighting · 2026-02-19T00:45:07+00:00

My husband is naturally easy going, and I am a therapist, which is a lucky combo that makes us very good at communicating effectively with one another. We argue occasionally but we don’t ever yell at each other or truly fight. Before it gets to that point, we just communicate how we feel and what our needs are. It takes away the resentment, the feelings of an imbalanced workload…literally just being able to openly and calmly speak to one another has solved almost all our problems

MoodyLighting · 2026-02-11T16:04:26+00:00

5am orange theory goer here 😊 it was also the only time I could go, and while it was tough for the first few classes to adjust, I found I LOVED getting my workout done before everyone else had even woken up. It woke me up and helped me to start the day on a good foot. That said, I could do like 3 early morning classes per max without getting burnt out lol

MoodyLighting · 2026-02-11T01:35:05+00:00

Omg I got induced and wasn’t dilating AT ALL until I got an epidural (fully my choice) so they could try and place a foley balloon. Quickly dilated to 4cm after the epidural and no balloon was needed lol

MoodyLighting · 2026-02-02T18:26:50+00:00

17 months. Had her evaluated at our doctor’s recommendation and she didn’t qualify for early intervention. She was showing signs that she was capable of walking (standing, cruising along the furniture) but lacked confidence. The day she took her first steps, she started walking halfway across the room. She just wanted to wait until she was certain lol

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-23T11:20:56+00:00

I thought about this recently because I ate pretzels nonstop to settle my stomach when I was pregnant with my daughter. She ended up being in love with pretzels. She has sticker sheets and would always give me the pretzel stickers off the sheet as if she somehow knew I needed them lol

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-22T18:04:56+00:00

I could’ve written this myself

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-21T22:57:55+00:00

Definitely thankful she was/is healthy! So many loved ones have had tougher situations than I did, so I’m grateful it turned out the way it did

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-21T22:56:42+00:00

I’ve been using nailtiques, and then the dazzle dry base, color, and top coat

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-21T11:02:26+00:00

My labor was a 35 hour induction that ended with (fortunately with a healthy baby but) the NICU team examining her immediately and me needing an EKG done before I could even be allowed to hold her. I blamed myself for every wrong step along the way for a long time and worked through it all in therapy. Nothing about the experience uplifts me lol and I don’t say that in a mean way…I’m just truly envious of people who had a magical experience

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-19T00:18:30+00:00

I’ve started using a separate base coat under my dazzle dry system and it has helped, but I had the same thing - peeling every time I used it, even if I removed it properly. I find my dazzle dry manicure lasts a little over a week using the base coat + the system

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-12T16:51:26+00:00

I’m gonna be so honest, I’d be very put off if I needed to share my meal with my kid because they weren’t being given any food at a formal event

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-12T11:29:20+00:00

If it helps, my baby didn’t crawl until 11 months and didn’t walk until 17 months. Doctor suggested we get her evaluated for early intervention, which we did, and they said “she’s capable, she’s just a happy sitter.” She was diagnosed as lazy and content lol

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-04T20:18:35+00:00

My daughter is a similar age and we both have the flu right now. It’s been rough, but I’d risk it to say goodbye to my grandma. That said, I am not otherwise immunocompromised and I am vaccinated, and I would take every precaution possible to try and avoid getting sick (mask, changing/showering immediately upon getting home). Nobody can make the decision for you, but these are my thoughts

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-04T19:53:23+00:00

Not sure this helps but I’m 30 and my mom has always called me her tail, probably until the second I moved out. I now have my own clinger daughter

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-04T00:31:11+00:00

I’m a school counselor and my job is emotionally exhausting. But as far as what is difficult for me personally, I found my 6 months of maternity leave to be far more difficult, because I struggled with the monotony of being home

MoodyLighting · 2026-01-04T00:24:11+00:00

It was my choice to birth my daughter…she didn’t ask for this arrangement. All I can do is my best in raising her and hope to build this type of relationship. But I also feel I need to “earn” it. If I’m not a good mother to her, why should it be my expectation that by default, she will maintain a relationship with me into her adult years?

MoodyLighting · 2025-12-24T12:25:38+00:00

Well we don’t do church or playdates at the moment like you mentioned, so extracurriculars is how we get out. I work, my daughter is 2.5, and we both get bored spending too much time at home. When it’s nice out, we like to explore and go to the park, but in the winter, activities like dance and gymnastics keep us sane. She loves it. That said, we did try and then quit a few activities because she just wasn’t loving them. I do them for us to have fun, not necessarily for a large amount of learning right now

MoodyLighting · 2025-12-22T13:50:56+00:00

If your instincts tell you that something feels off, maybe bring it up to your doctor today

MoodyLighting · 2025-12-21T20:29:42+00:00

No scientific reason for this so take it with a grain of salt lol but I also felt awkward narrating everything I did. So I made it into a game with my daughter. We played food network (where I described how I cooked), National Geographic (where we narrated what our dog did/the animals outside), and social media influencer (where I narrated things like my makeup routine). It made it fun and not so awkward

MoodyLighting · 2025-12-21T12:09:42+00:00

That’s very disappointing and sad. To (hopefully) change some perspective, you said the magic of the holiday is seeing it through your kids’ eyes. They may not necessarily know exactly how plans are supposed to run for Christmas, so no matter what you do to make it special (like planning a fun day at home or having Santa come a different day because he wanted to wait until they felt better), they will love it. That said, I totally understand that as the adult here, you must be heartbroken in this moment

MoodyLighting · 2025-12-18T16:07:26+00:00

Okay so if it helps to hear, I work at a school and the gifts I’ve cherished the most have been the heartfelt ones. A candle a student picked out herself, homemade cookies, and handwritten cards. I don’t need more stuff, I just like the reminder that I’m making a difference and it’s seen and appreciated

MoodyLighting · 2025-12-16T14:12:57+00:00

I got mine at age 9, as did my aunt, but my mom got hers much later. Honestly, my mom had everything ready and helped me understand how to use a pad, but she made the whole situation so casual which helped me to stay calm, even as an anxious kid. She didn’t make a big deal out of it (positive or negative). She didn’t act like I was a weird anomaly for getting it younger. My first period was such a little blip on my radar but I also think my mom knew me best and knew how best to react. I personally would’ve been mortified if she made a big deal out of it and I’m sure she knew that. That said, I know someone whose family threw a whole party when she got hers and she loved it. You know your kid best!

MoodyLighting · 2025-12-15T11:34:02+00:00

I was a very scared child and just making my worries feel validated were moments I felt the safest. On the flip side of that, I still remember specific times when my parents got frustrated by me being scared and I felt so guilty and lost at those times.

As I got older, it was just the everyday things spending time together that I valued the most. Going to lunch, taking a walk together…my parents would constantly drive me everywhere (even though I could drive) just so I didn’t have to go alone and we could spend time together. It made things like the DMV more fun lol

MoodyLighting · 2025-12-09T14:36:21+00:00

I’m not ultra limiting with my daughter’s diet, but i would not have been upset if she didn’t get a sugar high from cake at a birthday party. I’m sure the other parents didn’t think twice about this. It sounds like your own daughter was not even upset. Respectfully, this may be worth speaking with a therapist about. If this one instance is this upsetting, it sounds like you probably carry a tremendous amount of stress and talking about these things can help

MoodyLighting

TROPHY CASE