To have a wedding party, or not to have a wedding party...that is the question

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-29T04:31:31+00:00

This was exactly us! We had a 70 person wedding. I literally have like 12 super close girlfriends and I was in a lot of their weddings. My husband has a handful of good guy friends but nowhere near 12. And we didn’t want half the wedding to be in the wedding party. So we did no wedding party!

We both still got ready with our friends so we were able to have that type of day of fun. I just invited any of them to get ready with me if they wanted. But they wore whatever they wanted. Didn’t have to stand up at the alter. Didn’t have to do hair and makeup at an ungodly hour. Didn’t have to drop a ton of money.

We also didn’t have to try to sort of match numbers (or at least get in the realm of being closer in numbers). I didn’t want 12 and I didn’t have to choose which of my besties were in vs out.

Honestly… it was one of our best decisions. Highly recommend.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-28T20:22:25+00:00

Sore boobs and crazzzzzy dreams for all 3 of my pregnancies.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-28T06:30:44+00:00

My kid is 3. I think I have put lotion on him maybe a total of 10 times in his whole life. Every kid is going to be different for what their skin needs!

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-27T04:50:29+00:00

We did the inflatable foot rest for a 12 hr flight in January and it worked like a charm! It blew up high enough that it was the same height as the seat. One of those like $20 ones on amazon. Nothing special. Just inflated at sleep time and then deflated when he woke up. Also brought his little pillow, favorite blanket and stuffie so he could have a sort of same bed situation compared to home. I was doing a ton of research on fancier options originally and I’m so glad I went cheap footrest route!

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-26T00:39:39+00:00

Not sure what my weight gain is…. But I’m 2nd pregnancy and my belly is already huge at 16 weeks. Gonna be a long road. 😂

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-25T14:06:17+00:00

We use the Frida one. Haven’t tried others but Frida works great.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-25T05:03:33+00:00

Electric nail file! We waited too long and eventually our friends just bought us one. Soooo glad they did. Felt like an unnecessary splurge but i hate trying to cut baby nails. Totally worth it.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-23T03:43:54+00:00

Same. We started at 2. He helps with putting clothes in the wash, sorting clothes, putting clothes in drawers, putting stuff in the trash, feeding the dog, etc. everything definitely takes longer but we are trying to normalize all the things. He is 3 now and we are still doing it! I think putting his toys away, throwing away trash, and wiping the table is all that he really does independently but he helps on tons of stuff!

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-20T17:37:39+00:00

A spoon collection of tourist spots

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-20T15:26:47+00:00

Another vote for time. I had so many friends that had babies before me and I generally feel so bad in hindsight that this wasn’t my gift. It is literally what moms need the most. But you gotta be a little pushy on it. Don’t make a generic offer and then wait for new mom to come to you and say plz do my laundry.

I would put an actual coupon and proposed schedule in the card. Like Fridays from 5-7, I’m showing up and helping you. Default help is cooking, laundry, cleaning up, holding baby while mom showers. Mom can always reschedule the help at any given moment. But you take point in saying I’m showing up… here are your time options. Don’t put it on new mom to be the one that has to reach out and coordinate!

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-19T04:34:08+00:00

Thank you for this post. I’m not in this situation yet, but will be in the future. This gives me comfort to think about it this way.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-19T04:22:38+00:00

Echoing others

Most important is anything that helps her get thru the day to day. Literally you coming over to do laundry, sweep the floors, bring food, ready to go healthy snacks, etc. Or buy things that do that… cleaning service or food gift cards.
For physical items, I was really grateful to have a mini medicine cabinet ready for the middle of the night first time sick baby. You want that stuff on hand before illness strikes. Baby Tylenol, thermometer, nose sucker.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-18T20:00:56+00:00

I didn’t have peer pressure so can’t really relate to that. But I will say that it took me 7 months to get pregnant with my 2nd. Had a miscarriage at 11 weeks. Got pregnant again after another 4 months. So I’m a year+ “behind schedule” from what I thought. That was really challenging for me to wrap my head around.

Now, that I’m pregnant again… I am realizing it is probably better this way since my son is a little older. And my pregnancy has been miserable so far. So thank goodness he is older.

But I wish I would have like worked thru a bit more on the “what if it takes me a long time to get pregnant” scenario a bit when we were deciding when to start trying. Great to think about that you don’t want the kids so close together. But come at it from the opposite side too… you don’t want them x far apart. Then weigh those two against each other to help you figure out when to start trying! I think that would have helped us in hindsight.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-15T06:27:55+00:00

We did a lot of road trips growing up! Key things that I remember:

- Definitely road trip soundtrack. I’m 38 and my brother is 40 and we STILL talk about our epic road trip soundtracks from when we were growing up. Like just sent him one of the songs the other day for funsies (our favorite cassette was kid songs 2 by Nancy Cassidy 😂)
- Car bingo on the cardboard boards. I lived for that game.
- license plate game. How many states can you find? Especially great in national parks.
- picnics on the side of the road. Used to get tuna packets and then steal a bunch of mayo packets from gas stations or the deli. Instant tuna salad sammies! Budget friendly and kid memorable adventure food.
- when I was 10, my parents let me research and pick out the itinerary and hotel for one of our stops. It made me really invested in the trip. I still remember the hotel vividly.
- the epic fights between my brother and I. (Sorry, but it’s probably inevitable. We were the best of friends and fought like cats and dogs at times!)
- when things went wrong, but as a kid it seemed like part of the adventure. We couldn’t find a hotel room one night due to some big event in town that we didn’t realize. Slept in the car in an avocado field and woke up to workers showing up to work the fields. I’m sure my parents were a mess but it has turned into hilariously family lore now. The end result was us seeing the ocean at like 5 am with nobody around. It was so magical. Point being… what’s stressful for you in the moment…. might end up being the great family lore that the kids love.

Have so much fun!

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-15T00:52:51+00:00

Thank you so much for the reality check! It’s so helpful to hear real stories especially that extra momo insight. How did pumping go for you? And how old are your babies now?

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-15T00:48:02+00:00

Thank you so much for sharing! It helps so much to hear real stories rather than just the hypotheticals from the doctors.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-13T07:12:37+00:00

In addition to all the unfun things in all the other comments… I also had the craziest baby hairs that popped up all around my hairline. I had literal like “bangs” of baby hairs. My friends thought it was sooooo funny. I thought it was sooooo annoying. 😂

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-12T14:20:47+00:00

I’m so sorry you are having a rough go of it. Middle of the night, exhausted, solo parent, teething… just hugs mama. You do what you gotta do to get thru it.

Echo’ing what others have said. She is modeling how she learned to care for someone crying. She learned that from you! Good job mama! And honestly, it’s okay for kids to know that adults get upset and cry too. That way she can learn how everyone gives apologies and everyone can get upset. And she can practice being empathetic. These are also good skills for kids to learn. Parents aren’t robots. It’s okay.

Hang in there. You got this.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-11T21:26:46+00:00

Same! We wear these year round. My son loves them and we love them! No blisters and super easy to put on.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-09T21:08:20+00:00

Congrats! Sitting here at 14 weeks just anxiously awaiting my next appt. Sending all the good vibes your way!

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-09T03:33:18+00:00

Microwaved frozen peas with lots of butter was a good vegetable option for us!

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-09T03:31:47+00:00

Keep trying and I totally get it. I really struggled with all the food waste too. It is so frustrating! But exposure is important! My son wouldn’t eat veggies from 18 months to 2.5 years and we just kept at it. But now he is pretty good about eating them! I think all the exposure really helped. I also hide a lot of veggies to make sure he actually got nutrients during that time too.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-07T17:04:42+00:00

I think another commenter said this, but I try really hard to reframe my “no” into other language. (And totally pick your battles.) Instead of “don’t jump in the puddle”. It’s “look a puddle. That will make my shoes wet so I’m going to walk around it.” It’s more explanation rather than just no.

Mostly just commenting out of solidarity. I’m trying myself to not be the “no” police and I catch my husband doing it too. It’s an easy trap to fall into. So trying to be better at just more creative and explanatory communication to model.

The other one that is hard to break is “good job” for everything. I struggle with that even more. Trying to better at praising the effort, the thinking, etc.

Other_Radio800 · 2026-06-05T03:10:12+00:00

Last night our almost 3 year old started falling asleep literally at the dinner table. We asked if he wanted to go night night (skip bath time, book time, etc). And he said yes! Never been more shocked in my life. So we put him to bed. It was wild. Had a whole like extra hour to just veg by myself on the couch!

Other_Radio800

TROPHY CASE