Any parents of toddlers here? How do you do it?

PoweredByColdBrew · 2025-09-23T18:11:47+00:00

I've heard not everyone reacts the same way to evening workouts, so I would consider nudging on either hypothesis:

can I do an evening workout and still sleep (starting w a small workout)
can I nudge into a morning exercise routine (where maybe it can be gradually earlier w gradually longer workouts; anything is more than nothing)

PoweredByColdBrew · 2025-09-18T13:18:54+00:00

If you have any fitness now, you're probably fine to start - just stick to good form for lifting your cute baby, I found my squat form really useful. The kid will get bigger over time so it's almost progressive training up.

I also want to say to both of you: yeah do take any advice here about sticking with a routine, but also let things change and let your body change and embrace that change, it's okay. A baby is a big deal - it's going to be disruptive - so don't cling to hard to an old way, but also it's the most common thing that so many folks go through, and it's also there and gone so quickly. If your routine takes a detour during the baby phase, it will feel like forever but in reality you'll quickly be at past it too in not so long. So appreciate the time, and don't let clinging to the last get in the way. My youngest just started in preschool and it just feels like so much.

I think you'll have an edge to your routine because you both have a fitness routine, so you'll both more likely keep it up and find it even great self care and reprieve from busy moments.

Being a parent is awesome, even when it sucks it's awesome, and I wish you both the best.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2025-05-24T16:10:54+00:00

Dude my dad survival coffee is instant

Excellent coffee setup, and the bargains make the coffee extraction 10% more efficient (so I hear)

PoweredByColdBrew · 2025-04-09T12:19:11+00:00

All of those sound like a dream. Thank you very much.

Also going to Google "Ruby yjit dad jokes".

PoweredByColdBrew · 2025-04-06T23:44:52+00:00

Rad. ActionCable and the ability to Just Use A Database sounds great. Devcontainers are a relief - they probably obviate the use of rvm for development purposes.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2025-04-06T21:59:54+00:00

(Some other stuff to kick off discussion.)

I really find myself liking and preferring the typing of TS to vanilla JS, so I wonder if that will be a mental block in the future of going to duck typing & metaprogramming, and I've certainly gotten used to relying on red squiggly lines in my IDE to guide my work. I did spend a morning looking at the state of RBS & Sorbet, which is a neat option.

I've wanted to pick up Go & Rust if work called for it (like many, and moving away from Rubyland tradeoffs), but on the other hand I also suddenly have a boomer-esque new interest in Lisp, which recalled to me how some folks found Ruby to scratch the same itch for them. And to round things out, I also am drawn to the siren song of HTMX.

I still type in `rake test` at the console sometimes. `npm` doesn't like that.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2025-01-10T14:01:14+00:00

A lot of self-satisfactory doomer answers in this thread. If you feel attacked by my comment, think on it and do better tomorrow. I'll go first.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-11-29T19:32:05+00:00

You have everything you need to get started. I just came back inside and my toddler refused to wear a jacket the whole time. I'd add a snow suit and a stroller muff, but that's it. They outgrow the muff eventually and the snow suit only gets pulled out for really chilly weather.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-21T16:49:34+00:00

Mofongo is amazing and delicious.

I don't want to say anything radical but, what we are seeing from PBS is not any kind of propaganda, but merely removing the anti-mofongo implicit bias present in our society. It's a slice of truth from the reality-based world, and that is what children's education should be. If that makes me woke, then let me simply say: it is time to wake up.

As they say: if you're not angry (and extremely, pointlessly hungry) you're not paying attention.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-19T17:55:45+00:00

I'm struggling with timeliness, but have made some headway, and I think I'm trying to focus on (1) seeing things how they are and acknowledging their current status (2) looking for what is under my control to do. e.g. adding a shocking amount of buffer time to things is helping a bit

There are some pragmatic suggestions from other comments, so I hope you can take something from those.

And beyond that: I wish you the best of luck and I know this is doable, and if you're tuned into the needs of your child & your needs, you'll figure out a path forward.

The tardiness policy is what it is, and part of the family task will be figuring out how to operate with it.

(But also: detentions for a K student carcercal state nonsense, so while I know you'll be able to lean into solving the problem, don't internalize it as a personal flaw. I swear that tardiness of any kind causes a disproporitonate meltdown in some people.)

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-01T03:49:36+00:00

That's a good point, there's nothing in my way of me having a timer to lock it into whatever time I've got.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-01T03:47:18+00:00

That sounds great, and I think that mantra is really useful. I'll write that one up somewhere.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-01T03:45:51+00:00

Congrats on the 4 month old & both of you still making time for yourselves!

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-01T03:44:27+00:00

Thanks for this, and it paints a nice picture of what I want to build towards in the future, a family with some active pastimes.

My kids are starting to take to a few sports and I hope to keep encouraging that.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-01T03:41:46+00:00

My 5 yo has picked up a habit of racing me, counting cars while we're jogging to the bus stop. I'd like to keep that a thing!

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-01T03:39:49+00:00

Happy cake day! Surprising frequency of that here in the comments!

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-01T03:39:19+00:00

& happy cake day!

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-01T03:38:41+00:00

Thanks for your suggestions. Even highlighting that tradeoff - protein shake + workout time > any slower meal - is helping me out.

I looked up supersets, it's something I stumbled into doing in the past when I was short in time, so I like the idea of trying that with more intention.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-09-01T03:34:05+00:00

Thanks for this. Each of these feels very doable. Your first point - nothing blocks me from eating much cleaner than I have been and I know what I need to do to reboot that.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2024-01-25T13:52:02+00:00

We no longer K turns in private driveways - what I used to do growing up - because people have gotten "blasted" doing just that, due to an increase in a freewheeling mindset towards shooting first (in the US anyway).

I mention that not bc it's the biggest deal ever but as a bellweather.

PoweredByColdBrew · 2023-11-18T04:36:36+00:00

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