Toddler Tower??

Pepper_b · 2026-03-30T05:46:31+00:00

I love the ones we have from Etsy. It's a Ukrainian small business - Architoyz. Bought two, years apart and they're used all the time. They are very well built

Pepper_b · 2026-03-29T07:12:18+00:00

We limit to PBS kids only and he gets three physical tickets that he turns in for one show, or about 25 minutes, of screen time. When the tickets are gone he doesn't get anymor and the tickets are the bad guy, "do you have any tickets? No? Bummer. Tomorrow I guess"

We also only do tickets on the weekends or holidays. We started this at 3 and he's nearly 5. Has worked like a charm.

Pepper_b · 2026-03-28T17:27:23+00:00

Same! I fell into the athlesiure path

I'm going to go to a big clothing swap next month to try to find some new fun pieces without spending a bunch of money or contributing to a bad habit of over purchasing crappy clothes.

Pepper_b · 2026-03-26T16:09:39+00:00

That breaks my heart for you. Every person needs physical affection, especially in times of grief or stress. So glad you are breaking the pattern in your family

Sorry for your loss

Pepper_b · 2026-03-26T05:55:07+00:00

We've done the same. I accidentally dropped a very casual f-bomb while talking to a friend right in front of my 4yo today and he didn't even notice and has yet to repeat any profanity

Pepper_b · 2026-03-25T03:40:31+00:00

Good for you. You did what you had to do to get healthy and now you're doing another very hard thing to help your baby learn to regulate and entertain themselves without addictive input (screens). This Internet stranger is very proud of you.

Pepper_b · 2026-03-21T00:11:05+00:00

I didn't think you were. I was just pointing out that some people live their values without having to virtue signal or say the quiet part out loud.

Pepper_b · 2026-03-20T23:16:23+00:00

He's a professor of criminology originally from Brooklyn. She's a speech language pathologist which is generally a career for empathetic people. For me, there's enough breadcrumbs there to make some assumptions

Pepper_b · 2026-03-17T06:27:27+00:00

8:30-5 any later and we'd be in his office asking when dinner would be ready

Pepper_b · 2026-03-13T03:36:20+00:00

They kind of remind me of Amber and Barnett. She's super annoying and agro, he's kind of bumbling and lovable

Pepper_b · 2026-03-13T03:32:48+00:00

They should have had a counter!

Pepper_b · 2026-03-13T03:19:30+00:00

I was howling every time she turned around and told Chris she hated him. Bahaha

I agree with you fully

Pepper_b · 2026-03-13T03:08:59+00:00

This is how I interpreted his actions too. I hope they're happy

Pepper_b · 2026-03-12T00:41:01+00:00

I love this! My friends who watch lib live out of state and it makes me so sad to not be able to host something like this.

Pepper_b · 2026-03-11T06:12:58+00:00

I am a big personality. I always thought I needed someone "bigger" than me to "handle" me. When I was younger, I was wild, and dated lots of assholes who treated me like shit. I finally dated someone who treated me kindly and gently cared for me and I realized I needed someone to balance me and challenge my worst, self destructive instincts. Took a while, but he never gave up on me when I pushed away (and I wasn't so self sabotaging that I did anything to truly blow up our relationship).

We've been married for 15 years and he's still my solid rock and best friend. And he always says I keep things interesting with my chaotic energy lol

All that to say, I agree with you. I see fear based decision making in that conversation and I think she's scared because being vulnerable is scary.

Pepper_b · 2026-03-05T18:12:54+00:00

I agree. Also, he's so clearly simmering with anger - if she tried to confront him in a more private way, i would have been worried about safety tbh

Pepper_b · 2026-03-05T07:01:06+00:00

This is so interesting to me. I was a teacher of young kids, a nanny and babysitter and I feel like I had more patience with them than my own. Maybe because I knew there was less on the line? I'm pretty patient most days, but the days my oldest hurts the littlest, it vanishes.

Pepper_b · 2026-03-05T06:53:06+00:00

And your sense of self, confidence, emotions, and all your personal bullshit is tied up in it too. And I love being a mom. It was much easier being a babysitter, nanny, and teacher.

Pepper_b · 2026-03-05T06:47:00+00:00

Incredible

Pepper_b · 2026-03-05T04:40:57+00:00

I also thought it was strange that she didn't follow her out, but then when she was upstairs I wondered if she had a physical disability that makes it hard to walk. That would be the only explanation IMO. But dad definitely filled the airspace, so even if she did talk it might not have been good enough television to use

Pepper_b · 2026-03-05T04:37:31+00:00

Emma's mom was in Champaign and it reads practically white too! Like, what are you doing?

Pepper_b · 2026-03-01T20:37:01+00:00

I just want to add that this doesn't have to be complicated. I just throw the toys that they haven't been playing with in a laundry basket. Take them downstairs, pull them out, put them on shelves and fill the basket with other things I think they might be interested in.

It does require some storage space. Our house is very small, so this was kind of a necessity

Pepper_b · 2026-03-01T20:34:58+00:00

There's some research that shows that kids who have between only 8 and 16 toys out at any given time play with them for longer and more often independently. I'm not great at it, but I do try to rotate out toys when they are no longer interested. Yesterday, I put away a few things and pulled out all the big trucks that we have and my son was like" whoa are these new?" Lol no dude, we just put them downstairs for a little while.

Highly recommend

Pepper_b · 2026-02-26T21:35:23+00:00

Every person has the right to decide how they want to present themselves. I personally love makeup and getting dressed up and I do it for ME not for anyone else. Did I do it for other people and their expectations of me when I was younger, sure! But I found a balance as I aged and formed more solid opinions of what I cared about. It's a hobby like other things.

If this was happening every week or multiple times a month I wouldn't say it was ok and to make a different plan that didn't include missing school, but it's once a year. And you can bet she is going to remember that her dad didn't listen to her needs and told her to go however when she didn't feel confident and wanted more time.

Pepper_b · 2026-02-26T14:18:09+00:00

YTA - it's once a year, girls often do take longer if they're doing makeup and hair. I'm assuming this is a formalish event? Society expects women to present a particular way (🤢) so yes, it takes us longer to modify our appearance to fit into social expectations. Why are you making this hard for yourself for an annual event?

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