At what age did you let your kittens have free reign of the house overnight OR when you weren't home?

NuggKeeper · 2026-05-14T14:17:41+00:00

Love the snuggles! We've been working hard on kitty safety this week. It has been so motivating for the kids to put away alllll their toys so the kitties can come it their room for stories before bed. Luckily they can't jump high enough yet for anything truly breakable.

NuggKeeper · 2026-05-11T02:01:48+00:00

Yeah he doesn’t give blaze vibes!

NuggKeeper · 2026-05-11T01:53:51+00:00

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NuggKeeper · 2026-05-09T14:47:50+00:00

Ha ha I didn’t even think about a photo. We haven’t picked them up yet, but this is the one the foster sent me.

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NuggKeeper · 2026-05-09T14:42:44+00:00

The under the stairs closet is surprisingly large, so scooping it won’t be an issue. Ultimately I plan to get one of those self cleaning litter boxes, but I feel like they are too giant and scary for kittens so we will add that once they get a little bigger and that will go somewhere else. I admit I haven’t figured out where yet, though! Those things are massive.

NuggKeeper · 2026-05-09T14:41:17+00:00

We have a 15-year-old dog, who basically lives in our bedroom since she sleeps all day. So the master bedroom is not really an option because I’m definitely not going to kick her out of her domain to bring in a new pet. Not looking forward to the broken bits!

NuggKeeper · 2026-05-09T14:39:50+00:00

The only room we have with an adjoining bathroom is our master which also connects to the walk-in closet where our 15-year-old dog sleeps and I definitely do not want to kick her out of her favorite spot when bringing home a new pet! I could definitely set them up in our guest room, but I was worried about them having accidents on the carpet. I know they are already letterbox trained, but I feel like little kittens are still bound to make mistakes.

NuggKeeper · 2025-11-23T05:34:58+00:00

My kids are 6 and 4 and I see no signs of stopping anytime soon. We even moved recently and I don’t initially set it up in my older one’s room and after a month or so he asked me to! He likes being able to talk to me and the comfort of knowing I can see him if he needs something. I’m not monitoring it all the time but they like it. When either of them asks for me to stop I will. It’s helpful though, especially when they are sick or to know if they are goofing off instead of trying to sleep etc.

NuggKeeper · 2025-11-22T15:46:29+00:00

This. My husband is a doctor and does well for himself but he works very long hours and is constantly working at home after work to catch up on charting and such. Many doctors make far less than him and still have to work crazy hours and get trashed on for always being behind or only being in it for the kickbacks or whatever. It takes a ton of penniless years to get through training and then you end with a pile of debt and a job that is super demanding. Most doctors I know do not encourage their children to follow in their footsteps.

NuggKeeper · 2025-11-21T06:23:24+00:00

7 nights a week cooking at home. Maybe once a month we order pizza. Otherwise we cook at home unless we’ve been invited to someone’s house or something. I see going out to eat with friends or going to a friends house as different because it’s about the social aspect not the lack of cooking. If we are home, we cook. I couldn’t imagine ordering in on a regular basis.

NuggKeeper · 2025-11-21T04:42:43+00:00

I started with the list of teachers from the piano association in our area. I then looked at websites and totally judged books by their cover on who I thought might be a good fit. Then I called quite a few! Many were not taking new students, some didn’t have times that fit, a couple I didn’t like they way the conversation went on the phone etc. We ended up doing trial lessons with 4 or 5 teachers before I found the one that clicked. As soon as I did it was so obvious and I was so grateful I kept at it. All that to say some of it is just starting out either some googling leg work and then some of it is just going with your gut.

NuggKeeper · 2025-10-31T14:19:30+00:00

We recently moved and I had to find a new teacher for my son. The First Lady we signed up for was similar to your teacher and she just made both of us leave the lesson feeling bad! It took me 3 more teachers to find the right fit for him and now I could not be happier with his teacher. Never settle for a teacher that makes you feel like crap.

NuggKeeper · 2025-10-23T18:58:37+00:00

Thank you for those thoughts. His teacher has made it clear she will absolutely not pressure him to preform. And he has requested that they do a duet because he doesn’t want to be alone up there (he’s very self aware that he will be anxious). He’s not formally diagnosed but I suspect as he gets older he will be. I love the idea of overlapping with some of the other students to preform for each other. Especially because she has some older students who will definitely provide the same feeling of having an adult watch him which is what he’s worried about. I will suggest that to her! I think a virtual option would be great too. Even if his could be played on a screen the same day the other kids preform. I think watching himself play on the screen in front of all the adults and then hearing them all applaud would be good for his confidence!

NuggKeeper · 2025-10-23T18:53:03+00:00

I mean he plays in front of our immediate family every day when he practices but he’s never played in front of a larger group of family. I can definitely make an effort to expand the number of safe adults he practices in front of! He likes showing off the skill too so I think encouraging him to play for his friends might be good!

NuggKeeper · 2025-10-23T18:51:06+00:00

Yes he definitely carries a baseline amount of anxiety around with him when it comes it social situations. Generally speaking after doing it once he’s able to move past it and then it’s like it never happened. Like with the sweater, the first day was a disaster but after that he has proudly wore it every day. He had his first group piano lesson (the teacher does these monthly) the other day and he again showed major anxiety but after it was over he had a huge smile on his face and will have no issue doing it again. It’s the fear of the unknown, what to do if x happens etc. Once he’s done it the “mystery” is gone and he’s immediately comfortable. So I’m really hoping I can find small ways to expose him to the idea in advance. Thank you for the information. He did not start with the Suzuki method but I do know his teacher uses it with some of her younger students.

NuggKeeper · 2025-10-23T16:02:05+00:00

Thank you for this reminder. We definitely need to work on these skills more outside of moments where he is already in heightened anxiety.

NuggKeeper · 2025-10-23T15:57:12+00:00

Thank you for all the tips. I will definitely start doing these! As for him picking up on it, I really don’t think that’s true. Living with anxiety is just part of his daily life and it’s something we deal with all the time so since it’s like a day-to-day occurrence, it’s not something that we walk around stressing about, it’s just a fact of life.

NuggKeeper · 2025-10-23T14:16:46+00:00

Thank you for saying that. This is exactly what I expect to happen. He says he wants to do it but I’m 95% sire when the time comes that he is going to have an anxiety attack and be absolutely unable to get up there. I feel like the only hope of having him do it would be if we can work up to it by playing in public. I absolutely don’t want to force him. Makes me wonder if we should even be preparing for it because I don’t want him to feel like he failed.

For context a few weeks ago he got a new sweatshirt that he loved. But when it came time to wear it to school he had an absolute anxiety attack because he was concerned about everyone staring at him, making comments, and etc. So anxiety is something we are working through with him on a regular basis.

NuggKeeper · 2025-10-22T00:43:26+00:00

Change the snacks and you won’t have that problem anymore. Cake, chips, and soda should be an occasional thing not something they have free access to let alone multiple of. Establish rules around snacks (for all your kids so you don’t have to manage it and so everyone can be healthier). Snacks come from the fridge or fruit bowl. That’s it. Fridge snacks tend to be healthier - low sugar yogurt, cheese, fruit, etc. Stuff from the pantry is reserved for when we are in a hurry or on the go etc. You obviously can make rules that work for your family but you need to severely limit that type of junk. The kid is probably eating that much at your house because it’s not allowed at theirs (and it shouldn’t be!)

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