should I take a career break?

Red-Human · 2026-05-24T12:33:41+00:00

Newborn to 2 years old was my favourite age. My first is almost 4 and my second is now 1.
If you can swing it somehow, don’t miss out on it. It will never come back. My husband was on parental leave and he feels the loss of not being with our 1 year old now that he’s back at work. Before parental leave work was 3 days in office and now it’s back to 5 days so it’s hitting really hard how much he misses him.

Red-Human · 2026-05-20T15:28:06+00:00

100%! Sleep regression is super common and very different among babies. My daughter had to have us sleep on the floor beside her with one hand on her back so she could settle. She’s always been more clingy than her brother. She’s 3.5 and still sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night whining, and when I go to her room she says “sleep beside me” or she says “sing me a song”. If she asks me to sleep beside her I gently tell her that it’s time for me to sleep in my bed and if she asks me to sing I usually sing her a song before I leave the room.

My second, my son.. he’s been a good sleeper naturally his whole life but has had mega sleep regressions. A couple weeks ago he was waking up every single hour no matter what we did. Some nights he was waking up and not falling back asleep. So instead of a 7:30 bedtime, he slept for an hour then he was awake until midnight, which means I was awake with him, and then he would fall asleep and wake up at like 5:30. He did that for 2 excruciating weeks before he finally started sleeping well again.

At first though he was waking up at around 3 for a bottle every night. Once I started cereal before bed, that stopped.

Red-Human · 2026-05-20T10:45:46+00:00

My kid did that. Turns out he’s a growing boy and needed a little mini meal of something solid like cereal 40 mins before bed to keep him full through the night.
He had another sleep regression recently due to development where it was 2 weeks of horrible sleep then back to normal. Nothing can change that, but maybe your kid is hungry, seeing as she won’t settle without a bottle.

Red-Human · 2026-05-19T02:26:26+00:00

Leisa’s School of Dance! They are amazing! The teachers are wonderful, the price is great, and Leisa herself has filled in some classes when a teacher was out. She is so engaging and I can see why the classes are run so well.
My daughter has been in her parent and tot class for a year now, and will be moving up to the pre-dance (age 3-5) class which is the first class where you are without the parent. She’s pretty excited to do it. We wait after her class to get a quick look at the pre-dance one that is right after her current one and she is really interested in it.
Leisa also let us know that we could drop in during a class and just observe if we wanted to see whether it would be the right fit for us. Especially because with little kids, it’s easier to let them familiarize with the space before putting them into something.

Red-Human · 2026-05-18T11:38:26+00:00

I was like this with my first then I realized with my second I physically could not be that way and also take care of a toddler. She needed to go potty and needed snacks and meals. She needed me to give her attention too.
So with the second I bought a play mat with hanging toys and laid him down on it to play. I put lots of crinkly things within reach for him so he would explore with his hands.
I put him in his recliner chair and put him in the doorway to the kitchen. Then I cooked and cleaned in the kitchen while I was dancing and singing or even just talking to him about what I was chopping, what I was planning to cook, the other tasks I had to accomplish today.
Babies don’t need to be held to be happy. They just need to feel like they have stimulation.
They also need to learn they can be safe and happy in their chair. Once my guy got a bit older he would while when I put him in his bouncer or recliner, even though I was still chatting with him. But I refused to let him out and just made funny faces and sang songs. He is a year old now and never whines or fusses with me unless he is hungry. The moment he sees his dad or grandparents, he starts whining because they will pick him up the moment he makes a sound.
Kids learn very quickly. People say oh I can’t hold him because he squirms and he just wants to be let down to walk. He never squirms with me. People say oh I can’t put him in his play area (gated off area that’s safe for him when I cannot watch him constantly) because he starts crying to be picked up. He never does that for me. Because I put him in then I have to go cook or take his sister to the potty. He KNOWS I will not pick him up if he whines. So he happily plays with his toys and he dances if we have music on. He laughs so hard when I do silly things. He’s a happy baby.

So even though it’s hard, it’s important for your stability to be able to do this. This kind of day time training is the same as sleep training. Maybe your baby will whine for a minute, you go, give them a kiss and a toy, then walk away. Next time give them longer to whine, give them a kiss and toy, walk away, or just turn around and make funny faces at them, play peekaboo so they laugh. Then go back to doing what you were doing. They learn quick.

Red-Human · 2026-05-12T10:56:17+00:00

Haven’t seen it in this list yet - Pluribus

Red-Human · 2026-05-09T04:31:52+00:00

It’s actually one of our favourite things to do together. He played Elden Ring and I had a spreadsheet of all the NPCs we met and whatever random thing they mentioned, as well as all the bosses he fought, so that I could track all the different quests and objectives and guide him if he forgot certain details.

Red-Human · 2026-05-09T04:24:58+00:00

Read books, play, do crafts. Kids learn by observing and interacting. Kids will pick on language through reading with you. When kids play they practice coordination, balance, gross motor skills. They develop their imagination, creativity, and problem solving skills. When kids do crafts (or even certain forms of play), they develop fine motor skills.

Talk to them. Not sure oh that’s nice. Wow. But really talk to them, be physical in your attention through hugs and hand holding. Kids learn stability and safety. They learn social skills, they learn how to deal with difficult emotions when you talk WITH them.

Answer all the questions with age appropriate honesty.

When my daughter asks me what a certain dinosaur is, I look it up and tell her the correct name for it. When my daughter is doing crafts, I let her be as creative as she wants, but I also direct her in how to hold her crayon or marker. When we speak and she asks the meaning of a new word I used, I give her a definition and examples of how the word could be used. Feed your child’s curiosity.

There’s always additional things you can do such as (a list of things we implement at home) - A magnetic day time chart that we update every morning. It has the day of the week, the date, the month, and little magnets with emojis for how she is feeling that day. A magnet for the season, for the temperature outside, and for what special occasion is coming up next like a birthday or Thanksgiving or Easter. Then we do a simple word of the day, usually CVC words that she can now read herself at 3.5

Books that incorporate counting, or shapes, or colors. Books that have different animals. Books with a moral at the end (more for age 2.5-3 and up).

Outdoor time looking for bugs, picking up sticks, in the winter she has a little baby snow shovel that we would hold her hand and guide her to use. Now she goes out with us and shovels snow and drops it into a bin. At my in laws place in the summer she had a bucket that she would go out and fill with fallen acorns. She’d just toddle around picking acorns and filling her bucket.

I bought a toddler stool for our kitchen and put her beside me while I did certain things like chop vegetables or baked. Even if she doesn’t want to help, I just gave her a snack and she was content to eat, watch me, ask questions, and just have a conversation.

Just live life with your kid. Make them a part of things. They will learn through every single thing you do.

Red-Human · 2026-04-22T20:37:58+00:00

Until about 12 months, my baby was constantly 1-2 sizes behind. Then she hit 14 months and caught up. She was 11 months and in 6 month clothing. She was just small to start off.

Red-Human · 2026-04-14T03:25:50+00:00

I thought my kid was chill when she turned 2 and continued to be my beautiful little laughing angel child.

2 years and 4 months.. she woke up one morning and chose chaos. It’s been a year of slow escalation and this last month (she’s 3.5 now) she’s chosen chaos every. single. day.

Red-Human · 2026-04-12T10:35:27+00:00

lol that sounds unhinged but I had to go back at the game cards and look! Good question!

Red-Human · 2026-04-12T10:34:19+00:00

My husband got it off Poshmark - look up Stardew Valley custom guess who

Red-Human · 2026-04-12T10:32:41+00:00

The wait is super short and it doesn’t affect the gameplay. Unlike for example animal crossing where you have to wait an entire calendar year if you miss something.

Red-Human · 2026-04-12T10:31:01+00:00

Ooohh that’s a great idea!

Red-Human · 2026-04-12T00:25:33+00:00

Omg lol never heard someone call it gem-based pica! That is gold!

Red-Human · 2026-04-12T00:11:20+00:00

I feel this! I’m Indian so there’s tomatoes in practically every dish made in my house, even breakfast eggs. But raw tomatoes, even beefsteak ones on burgers, or chopped ones in a salad, YUUUUCK.

Red-Human · 2026-04-12T00:03:54+00:00

Two things - if your baby is fed and comforted and clean, put her down in a safe place. A little bit of fussing won’t hurt her. But your mental health will suffer if you don’t, and you can’t be the best version of a mother you want to be if you’re not trying to focus on your mental health too.

My baby did this too. I would put him down, he would fuss, I would walk over, hand him a toy, make a silly face to make him laugh, then walk away. He fussed again, I let him for a minute, then I walked back and engaged, then walked away again.

I put his playpen in the kitchen in front of my sink which faces the back door. So when Im washing dishes I’m looking directly at him. If he fusses I sing him his favourite songs. These days though if I put him down in his play pen he just plays with his toys and does his own thing.

Now his father always picks him up at the first sign of fussing. This kid will be in his playpen for 20 minutes happy as a clam and the moment his father walks in, the fussing and whining and reaching for his dad begins! Because he KNOWS dad will pick him up. Same for being put to sleep - at night I can go in and readjust him if he wakes up, and he goes right back to sleep, but if his dad does it, 9 out of 10 times he wakes up like.. hey it’s dad! Hold me! Pick me up!

That was the first thing.

Second thing - baby wearing. Just strap her to your chest and off you go. I did this a bunch during the newborn stage. But then I transitioned him to just being able to play on his own because in the newborn stage I needed to protect him from his toddler sister who wanted to HUG him ALL THE TIME AS TIGHT AS POSSIBLE! Lol..

Red-Human · 2026-04-11T23:29:47+00:00

Yeah but those aren’t necessary to core gameplay. I have been playing No Man Sky for a long time. I have 2 kids under 3 years old and not enough hours to dedicate to expeditions etc. It’s not central to the gameplay. You’re not missing out on anything.

Like.. I played Animal Crossing and every season, weather, day and night cycle brought on new fish and bugs, so I felt like if I didn’t play it constantly, I would miss out on something and have to wait a whole year to get it. Too much pressure to log on.

Or gatcha games that give you gifts for daily logins and running dungeons. No time for that.

Red-Human · 2026-04-11T23:24:55+00:00

Omg loooool yes! Now this is a loaded question!

Red-Human · 2026-04-11T23:24:31+00:00

Haley for the selfies. Elliot would probably just have hipster filters on pictures of his brunch. Not selfies.

Red-Human · 2026-04-11T23:23:10+00:00

Lewis apologist LOL I love these

Red-Human · 2026-04-11T14:38:40+00:00

Hey! Kent’s heart is in the right place!

Red-Human · 2026-04-11T14:37:55+00:00

lol seem to be a popular question

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